Yesterday's event on MLK at the old JCP Penney building was refreshing.  People came together to reminisce and imagine what could be.

Michael Allen gave an engaging talk featuring a stack of historic maps and images.  While acknowledging that since putting the Loop district on the National Register, not one historic tax credit rehab has been carried out, Allen challenged the gathering to think about how its future might improve, through engaging people and the many elements present in the area.  He offered a term for what it will take:  "Co-Making".  A concept suggesting we all have a role in preservation and community building.  

And it was mentioned that perhaps next year Martin Casas's weekend market event will move from the Lemp Brewery parking lot to the Wellston Station building?  And supposedly the old station is scheduled for its rehabilitation?

^ My understanding is that the hope is to have a SwapMeet at a rehabbed station in addition to the Lemp.

No, I didn't hear any. Actually, I was surprised to see how good of shape it's in, being used as mainly a storage facility.

From the outside it looks abandoned. The inside (what we could see - only about 10% of the space) was dry.

and said owner will suffer no consequences whatsoever.

Where exactly is the Wellston Loop? Outside of the obvious answer that it's in Wellston. 

I haven't explored this area of St. Louis at all.

KansasCitian wrote: ↑

Dec 31, 2020

Where exactly is the Wellston Loop? Outside of the obvious answer that it's in Wellston. 

I haven't explored this area of St. Louis at all.

6111 MLK Drive. Which isn't actually in Wellston. 

The Wellston Loop is where the street car turned around. That was just inside the city border. The building stands, though is in really bad shape. The retail corridor extends into Wellston a bit, but mostly within the city along MLK (once Easton).

Here's one of Mark Groth's Guides, which covers the entire Wells/Goodfellow area (which encompasses the Wellston Loop):

https://nextstl.com/2011/03/wells-goodfellow/

And here's Mark on a scooter tour of the entire stretch of MLK Blvd. (the Loop is at the end of the tour; the western end of the street). 

http://www.stlouiscitytalk.com/posts/20 ... t-louis-mo

There are tons of photos online, as this was once a legendary part of the Northside.  

I have explored a bit on the Northside, but not quite in this area. 

This area, though formerly "legendary," seems more bombed out and desolate than other areas. 

The most intact North city neighborhoods that I have truly explored are O'Fallon Park and perhaps Hyde Park. Old North, too. 

Wells-Goodfellow looks all but entirely hollowed out. 

I will drive by at some point during the day and check it out. 

I wonder what St. Louis could do to instill some hope in this neighborhood like we have seen injected into some of the neighborhoods just south and east of it. 

Yeah, unfortunately Wells Goodfellow is currently struggling with high crime. You do need to be aware of your surroundings if you go exploring there. I haven't had any trouble, but if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, you could get caught up in it.

I always make sure I am aware of my surroundings when I am anywhere on the Northside. 

I'm pretty choosy about when I ever get out of my car.

KansasCitian wrote: ↑

Dec 31, 2020

I wonder what St. Louis could do to instill some hope in this neighborhood like we have seen injected into some of the neighborhoods just south and east of it. 

Perhaps your answer lies within the question. Incentivize and increase investment (both public and private) in the neighborhoods adjacent to the Central Corridor (West End, Visitation Park, Academy, Fountain Park, Lewis Place, Vandeventer, Grand Center) and institutions like the VA and Ranken Technical College, and hope that any momentum they achieve is enough to overflow into neighborhoods further north and west.  

Ideally Wells-Goodfellow would have its own, endemic renaissance, but it's hard to see where that would come from or what would drive it.   To the east, in JVL and St. Louis Place, a $1+ billion investment is going in with NGA, but it's not even clear that that will materially help the surrounding neighborhoods, including ONSL, Hyde Park and Carr Square. Definitely a tough road forward for Wells-Goodfellow.  

Unfortunately even in the best of scenarios MLK is going to lose a lot more of its structures in the coming years. The past decade has been horrible for demolitions in the corridor and a high percentage of those that remain are ready to give up the ghost.

MLK will never again be the endless stretch of beautiful retail as it was in the past, that dream is dead. The city should focus on preserving 2-3 smaller stretches of retail. It has to be good too, like 14th St. Mall good.

N Sarah to Newstead seems like a good candidate. It has a number of long established businesses, some pockets of intact storefronts, Ranken's campus is nearby and there's been some recent investment (namely Vandeventer Place). 

Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church serves as an anchor for the Wells Goodfellow neighborhood. They have a huge campus, with lots of community activities and services. They have helped build over a hundred new apartments for seniors, and have attracted a Midwest BankCentre branch to their property. They also helped persuade McCormack Baron to develop a mixed income, affordable housing development (including the rehabbed Arlington School) in the neighborhood. 

https://www.friendlytemple.org/campus

Stltoday - Wellston Loop Station, among last pieces of the old St. Louis streetcar network, draws new interest

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/met ... 34767.html


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That's awesome. Getting some momentum in the MLK corridor is probably one of the most important things we can do for the future of the north side (at least the near north side)

Good to see the news about the Wellston Loop station. I drove by a few weeks ago and thought the condition was horrible. Hopefully they move quick on it.

I think they should set up something similar to the 14th street corridor in ONSL in areas around North St. Louis. I think having low cost rent for entrepreneurs and artists would be a great way to reinvent this corridor. It would certainly do more for the city than leaving these buildings abandoned and blighted.

I don't agree with everything Mayor Jones believes, but for the amount of money we give to developers for projects in already thriving areas more could be done to revitalize commercial areas in North and South City.

^It's such a neat old structure. And we really do need more investment on the north side generally. Further, in an ideal world it could still serve as a turning loop for a bus line. It'd be a great place to wait, or transfer to another line, or what have you.