urbanSTL

eh, good one Central...



i thought that was the purpose of the screen. That was THE item that was going to make this park unique. what will now be the attraction? will there be tables and chairs at this park ala Bryant Park in NY? how will this park NOT turn into the dead zones of 90% of the other city parks downtown? This park looks very cool, but maybe a building would have been better..

Workers were testing the waterfall this morning. It looked very nice. Can't wait for the sculpture to be installed.

-RBB

u2acro wrote:

Grover wrote:^ I hope the screen is used as often as possible. I would love to see Goonies playing as I walk from the Metrolink to Rooster for french toast one Sunday morning!

I would watch Goonies every damn day if I could. And if it were showing outside, I KNOW I'd be able to pull my friends in from the near 'burbs to watch it downtown.

I'd rather watch The Sandlot

looks like the plaza is complete. The sculpture is installed!

Hopefully this will look better once the water is turned on, otherwise it doesn't look much different than a big box parking lot with a few trees planted in the islands. There is way too much paving on the site, one of the reasons I prefer the city garden to this space.

The water is in the pools now. The lighting is pretty dramatic at night. Let's hope there is money to maintain this "private" space. As it is now, I think it is a very effective addition to downtown.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 1:55pm CDT

Old Post Office Plaza to open Friday

A decade after city planners conceived of the plot of land as a park, the $8 million Old Post Office Plaza will officially open Friday...



...

The location was picked, in part, as a way to ensure that sunlight into the rehabbed Old Post Office isn’t blocked, Cloar said.



The park features a sculpture of the torso of Greek legend Icarus by artist Igor Mitoraj, a three-story waterfall and a zinc-paneled wall.



Cloar said he hopes sports fans attending the women’s Final Four basketball tournament at Scottrade Center this weekend will visit the park, which will feature bands, dancers, a magician, a puppet show and other family-friendly entertainment as part of its grand opening celebration.



Downtown Now! will contract with the Community Improvement District to maintain the park, which will cost $50,000 a year. The U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp., the St. Louis Brownfields Cleanup Fund and the Gateway Foundation also supported the project.



http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... rround=lfn

southcitygent wrote:Hopefully this will look better once the water is turned on, otherwise it doesn't look much different than a big box parking lot with a few trees planted in the islands. There is way too much paving on the site, one of the reasons I prefer the city garden to this space.

That's what I thought when I looked at it yesterday morning, although at that point it was snowing heavily and the water feature wasn't operating. I hope the screen will work, because if it won't, it's one hell of a waste.



The screen and water feature are the things that will make the space inviting, because without them, it's rather barren in my opinion.

The fountain looked great on Friday night when I walking the dog. The space is very modern and beautiufl at night I may add.

Come on, guys; OPO Plaza is cool and all, but it will never draw the crowds that Kiener Plaza does.



Kiener is a natural gathering place. It's large and made for crowds. It's close to the Arch and the Stadium. It's centrally located and offers great views of Downtown in all directions. It's bordered by two major hotels (well OK, the Hyatt is a block away), four major office buildings (counting the vaccant General American), and two significant historic structures.

I'd have to agree with Framer on this. I don't see OPO plaza as a large crowd meeting place. It was never designed for such.

I see this as a decent gathering space for DT workers and residents, especially on nice days. But really think the niche for this plaza is for special events. I have already seen a couple of wedding parties stop for photos on weekends and know they are heavily marketing the plaza specifically for special events.



I think the new City Garden will become the area of choice for larger crowds to gather as a meeting place, especially if there is a decent restaurant that goes in there. The layout of the would-be restaurant is very inviting to grab some food and then walk out and spread out on the surrounding steps. I think this place could be packed on any given work day as well as game days but we'll see.

Grover wrote: I think OPOP will operate more like downtown's living room - lots of smaller events.

Right. And Kiener will continue to host the big events, festivals, sports rallies, etc. In other words, it will continue to serve as the heart of Downtown activities.



Irocktheparty makes a good point about the new sculpture park. It'll be interesting to see how many Downtown sun-worshipers shift their noontime respite there from Kiener.

My plaza can beat up your plaza.