urbanSTL

The Slay blog post regarding Union Station said developers had plans for redevelopment. The Centene post stated that Centene announced intentions to move downtown. In all fairness, a lot can happen between the planning stages and final implementation.

For this I hold responsible the current administration.

How? What is the mayor supposed to do? How does he penalize the PRIVATE owners of Union Station? CLEARLY, the blame can be placed on unruly teens who made it uncomfortable with people with money to shop there. doesn't anyone else remember the purported "gang" activity there?

I hope it can hit rock bottom- if it hasn't already- so that a new owner can come in and completely redevelop it...again... what about the Museum of Transportation having a satellite location here? The train shed full of trains again would be pretty cool imo. too bad we couldn't put the REAL train station back in again...

stlmike wrote:Does anyone trust Mayor Slay's pre-emptive announcements anymore?

No.

JCity wrote:I hope it can hit rock bottom- if it hasn't already- so that a new owner can come in and completely redevelop it...again...

Union Station is disappointing compared to what it could, what it should be; but it has a long ways to fall before it even comes close to its Escape from New York days.

And yet, without the announcements, how would we know what developers are proposing, what they have promised, etc?



In the case of Union Station, some posters wondered why the City (i.e., city taxpayers) wasn't doing "something" for this privately owned and operated shopping center/destination/landmark. Some posters have even been to Union Station recently. How much of the announced plan have the developers accomplished?

Well said Gone Corporate, I get tired of hearing people blame Slay for things such as this.



I agree, the soccer stadium idea is very cool!

publiceye wrote:And yet, without the announcements, how would we know what developers are proposing, what they have promised, etc?



In the case of Union Station, some posters wondered why the City (i.e., city taxpayers) wasn't doing "something" for this privately owned and operated shopping center/destination/landmark. Some posters have even been to Union Station recently. How much of the announced plan have the developers accomplished?

In regards to how much of the plan has been accomplished, the answer is absolutely nothing. They never even discuss it anymore.



As for as hitting rock bottom, Union Station is close and may make it another year or two, depending on what and how fast things develop downtown. Unless a serious developer steps in, the writing is on the wall.

One merchant has a sign in their window announcing the date they will be moving out, which is 6 months away.



As for the Hyatt, the word is they came extremely close to pulling out but was able to arrange a super sweet heart deal in return. Doesn't mean they can't sell the location.



So desparate times for US management, and you may note in the announcement in 2005 they were so proud of Jones Lang and LaSalle taking over management. But under their management the decline has escalated.



So as it stands right now, who will be the last to leave and turn out the lights. I am betting Jones Lang and laSalle will walk in one day and scratch their head and ask where did everyone go and turn out the lights.

I smell a prepackaged bankruptcy, but I could be wrong.

ben1040 wrote:Wait a minute. Did that say Señior Julio's?



Oh, dear.

I guess translated it can either be:

Mayor July

Senior July

Either way it loosely means old or elder I think.



Someone who knows spanish better may want to comment, but this is not their first spelling mistake. They couldn't spell tequila either in their original ads.



I actually called them about the spelling on Senior and asked what is the real name of the place. They tell me it should me Senor Julios but they incorrectly spelled it on everything they did and no one caught it and can't afford to change.



They definitely belong at Union Station and should probably lay off the Tequila or Tequilla as they spell it.

Gone Corporate wrote:Personally, I would have liked to see the whole area of Union Station under the awnings stripped out and have it turned into a soccer stadium, but I'm not going to blame Slay that that didn't happen.

Umm, wouldn't the giant wrought iron columns kind of get in the way? On the other hand, I suppose they could bring a whole new element of excitement to the game.

it should be the permanent home of Circus Flora. those guys/gals/kids are AMAZING.



either that or American Gladiators.

Mill204 wrote:Union Station is disappointing compared to what it could, what it should be; but it has a long ways to fall before it even comes close to its Escape from New York days.

I'm not so sure about that. At least back then Union Station was the venue for an apparently popular spectator sport...







More seriously, I remember how busy Union Station was in the late '80s and early '90s. It was a real magnet, and not just for visiting tourists; it was packed with St. Louisans on weekends and during the early evening when the "after work" crowd descended on the place. A few months ago, I visited Union Station for the first time in many years, and its current condition is so depressing compared to the way it was 15-20 years ago. Personally, I think JCity's assessment is largely accurate; the whole place needs to be redeveloped from scratch by a new owner. Merely tweaking the current facilities and operating procedures isn't going to work.



Something went badly wrong with the management of Union Station in the mid '90s (though I wonder if the perceived rise in "gang" activity at that time [which I remember being widely publicized in the local media] may have been a "canary in the coal mine" rather than the primary cause of the decline), and the place has been in a downward spiral ever since.

lamiaposta wrote:Someone who knows spanish better may want to comment, but this is not their first spelling mistake. They couldn't spell tequila either in their original ads.



I actually called them about the spelling on Senior and asked what is the real name of the place. They tell me it should me Senor Julios but they incorrectly spelled it on everything they did and no one caught it and can't afford to change.



They definitely belong at Union Station and should probably lay off the Tequila or Tequilla as they spell it.

Their website is a thing of beauty, I'll say that.



http://www.seniorjulios.com/



Their Wednesday promo $15 all-you-can-drink beer for the "Seniors." I wonder if you must flash an AARP card to get the special.



I know I'm going to sound like a pretentious yuppie, but Union Station could be a whole lot classier than this.

A good way to support the station!

Go have an after work dinner or cocktail/beer and enjoy the free movie!



Gatta give credit to Union Station for doing these events.

^That just makes me want to put as much distance as possible between myself and Union Station on May 2.



Seriously, what is their target market? White, suburban people over 60?

jlblues wrote: Seriously, what is their target market? White, suburban people over 60?

In fairness, there is probably a much larger target market there than that of non-white, suburban people over 60

actually, since none of you sound like you have ever been to a movie at Union Station's train shed... they draw a crowd... especially ones lke this.

We went down to see the Rocky Horror sing - a - long last year and the place was packed wall to wall with people... some standing and dancing - most bring chairs or blankets... was kind of fun.



anywho...



here's another event:

Actually, drag racing is pretty amazing. The top-tier cars hit well over 300 miles per hour, from a standing stop, in less than 5 seconds. The engines produce over seven thousand horsepower.



Pretty amazing, mullet or not.