urbanSTL

DeBaliviere wrote:

stlmizzoutiger wrote:

buckethead wrote:Earlier this week they started doing some demo work in the Dillards building.



I've seen the bobcat going in and out and filling the construction dumpsters around the back of the building daily.

Is that the same bobcat that was seen in the Bottle District?

I saw a couple of cougars walking out of The Dubliner. Meow!

thats awesome news, now hopefully that awful bridge will be coming down soon so we can see the whole facade

^ I just hope that bridge comes down in our lifetime. The longer it stands, the more frustrated I get. No, forget frustrated, pissed is the word.



I'd like to see the Stix Baer & Fuller name reused on this building somehow. I'm barely old enough to remember it, but I do fondly recall shopping there when it was Stix Baer & Fuller and (thankfully) there was no St. Louis Centre linking it to nearby Famous-Barr. IIRC, Stix never had prominent signage like the rooftop signs or the numerous plaques like those at Famous-Barr, however. I don't like calling it the Dillard's building, since Dillard's didn't do a damn thing to make that store viable. At least Macy's is trying to make a go of the erstwhile downtown Famous-Barr, and it seems to be paying off so far.



Anyway, I'm glad to hear that at least some work is starting on the ol' Stix. I'm still ready to volunteer my services to begin demolition of that ghastly skybridge. One determined person with a sledgehammer can accomplish a lot.

There has been a lot of activity inside the dillards building for the last few weeks. Mostly all demo from what I can tell.



I'm sure removing the skybridge will happen but that's going to be a little more complicated. You'll obviously have to close Washington Ave.

buckethead wrote:I'm sure removing the skybridge will happen but that's going to be a little more complicated. You'll obviously have to close Washington Ave.

That's the plan. Metro has even changed its bus routes to accommodate skybridge demolition and ongoing work at the Arcade Building. The question is, when exactly will the street be closed for demolition? I haven't heard anything about permits being issued, and the massive NRA convention will be here in a couple of weeks, so I can't imagine demolition taking place anytime soon.



I wouldn't be so frustrated if it the article at the beginning of this thread wasn't dated February 2005, although the previous owner never progressed beyond merely talking about demolishing the skybridge, so we can't blame Pyramid for the entire length of the delay (initially they said it would be down after the first of this year- I guess they're still right about that).

An aside...



I'm not crazy about Pyramid's banner on the skybridge. Their signage should do more to tell people who are visiting St. Louis that St. Louis Centre will be redeveloped with new condos, shops, etc. Tourists/conventioneers are probably still left wondering what the heck is going on there. At least show us some renderings of what it will look like in the future.

314, MetroBus routes have only been detoured off 8th Street for work on the Arcade-Wright. Otherwise, MetroBus routes currently remain on Washington underneath the skybridge. But once Rider Alerts about detours for the Wash-Ave skybridge are posted here, it will indeed be a happy day for St. Louis!

DeBaliviere wrote:An aside...



I'm not crazy about Pyramid's banner on the skybridge. Their signage should do more to tell people who are visiting St. Louis that St. Louis Centre will be redeveloped with new condos, shops, etc. Tourists/conventioneers are probably still left wondering what the heck is going on there. At least show us some renderings of what it will look like in the future.

Great idea. Too bad the skybridge is gonna be blown up to oblivion soon.

southslider wrote:314, MetroBus routes have only been detoured off 8th Street for work on the Arcade-Wright. Otherwise, MetroBus routes currently remain on Washington underneath the skybridge. But once Rider Alerts about detours for the Wash-Ave skybridge are posted here, it will indeed be a happy day for St. Louis!

#$%&! I guess those rider alerts I saw stapled to the boarded-up windows of the old Stix Baer & Fuller building were just for the Arcade-Wright detour. I didn't get a chance to look at them, so I was just hoping that they were also for the skybridge.



Pyramid's goals for 2007 are quite ambitious. I cannot help but have my doubts. I'd just be happy if the skybridge came down at this point before other work commenced, and then they could move the huge banner to cover the hole on the north side of St. Louis Centre as they work to repair the Stix facade.



DeBaliviere, I agree more signage is needed. And BTW, welcome back!

ThreeOneFour wrote:DeBaliviere, I agree more signage is needed. And BTW, welcome back!

Thanks!

We took a spin through downtown last night, and noticed that lights were on at the erstwhile Dillard's/Stix Baer & Fuller. Looks like demo work has begun inside!

I noticed a survey crew set up at 6th and Washington this morning with one of those thingys that survey guys look through. Don't know if they were checking out St. Louis Centre, the Dillard's Building, or both.

there's no other word for that device except for "thingy." All I know is that Indiana Jones used one to locate the map room. Of course he had to use the staff and medallion to locate the ark's chamber after that ... but the thingy helped.

All of the equipment is being moved out of Gold's Gym.

^

That's great!



Now, about that skybridge...

MikeL wrote:I was told that Pyramid is building a sales office at the corner of 7th and Washington in the Dillards building that will be ready soon. Also all of the asbestos was pulled out of the Dillards building when they built the St. Louis Centre.

That explains the activity I saw the other night- the windows were unmasked at the 7th and Washington corner- and it looked like demo work was either in progress or it had just been finished in that part of the building.



IIRC, the upper seven or eight floors of the building were completely gutted when Dillard's bought Stix Baer & Fuller. Does anyone know for sure?



FWIW, I hope the name Stix Baer & Fuller is used at least in part for the building's new name, just as developers in Cincinnati did with the former McAlpin's (another downtown department store that was carelessly euthanized once Dillard's acquired that chain).

Drove by today, they had a 1st floor window out. There were ladders and equipment inside.

The black covering has been removed from a few of the first floor windows near 7th Street, and you can now see inside. There was a construction crew doing some work there when I walked by.

They have now scraped the black paint off or replaced several of the windows near the corner of 7th and Washington now and you can see that they've installed a marble floor and lots of drywall. The space is HUGE. Does anyone know if the entire building will be condos or if there are other uses planned?

^ installed a marble floor or unearthed the original... just curious...

^

I saw it too - I think it's the original floor.

I know I saw some new tiles being installed, but maybe they were just patching it into the original stone floor.

I'll have to check out that flooring- that sounds promising. I wonder if the original columns are visible, and if so, I wonder about their condition.



On a somewhat-related note, I was stoked when Macy's remodeled the downtown store formerly known as Famous Barr, but I wish they would've gone one step further and exposed the original columns...oh well.



I think the ground floor space that Stix Baer & Fuller and Dillard's used to occupy would make a fantastic location for Borders, although I think Cardinals owners will be talking about tearing down Ballpark Village for a new stadium by the time that Borders gives downtown St. Louis the faintest hint of consideration.

ThreeOneFour wrote:although I think Cardinals owners will be talking about tearing down Ballpark Village for a new stadium by the time that Borders gives downtown St. Louis the faintest hint of consideration.

I don't know, they have one in downtown Detroit, and our downtown is in better shape than theirs right now. I believe the Detroit store is part of Campus Martius, which is a pretty cool development that was completed a few years back with housing, office space (Compuware's HQ, Ernst & Young, etc.), retail (Borders, Hard Rock Cafe, etc.) and a neat little park/skating rink. Kind of like a smaller version of Ballpark Village - well executed.



Of course, Borders is also based out of Ann Arbor, so that might have something to do with the decision to put a store there.