Maybe I misinterpreted her, but I understood her as saying that closing the Park to traffic was a big hit to the Park's finances, and this was her justification. I would imagine some of this could also be under Recreation? That would make it 18% of op. revenueflipz wrote: ↑Jul 16, 2020That didn't sound right to me so I looked up their financials. In their 2019 annual report they list income from "Rental Program" 8% of their total or 205k. I don't know if this is only for the picnic tables and pavilions or if it includes some sort of rental fee from food trucks or the many other events. How much does it cost to rent a table? I think the pavilion rentals barely cover their own cost in upkeep and management.
https://www.towergrovepark.org/reports
Looks like the city provides ~50% of which some is for capital expenses but it doesn't break it down any further. That 19% of the budget might be to resurface streets in the park.
I think the neighborhoods around the park are wealthy enough to try and do a fund drive and get some sort of endowment going. 31% of funding already comes from private donors.
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either close it completely to traffic, or close the E-W access from Kingshighway and Grand and maintain the N-S access between Arsenal and Magnolia. that way people can still access the pavilions by car. it makes absolutely no sense to allow E-W traffic through such a narrow park given that it's flanked by actual streets 500 feet to either side. back when i was regularly walking my dogs in the park, there were days that were absolutely miserable with a**holes drag-racing back and forth through the park. there was one particular POS in an old white Accord or something that would fly back and forth between Grand and Kingshighway over and over, and it happened on multiple different visits to the park. i started obviously recording her as she drove by but it's not like traffic regulations are ever enforced any more so I never bothered to follow up.
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As much as I would miss the Tower Grove Ave access to the grove... blocking off the N/S access would remove 90% of the vehicle traffic... maybe more?
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Who do you think is supporting the park at current, out of curiosity?flipz wrote: ↑Jul 16, 2020Looks like the city provides ~50% of which some is for capital expenses but it doesn't break it down any further. That 19% of the budget might be to resurface streets in the park.
I think the neighborhoods around the park are wealthy enough to try and do a fund drive and get some sort of endowment going. 31% of funding already comes from private donors.
Maybe one of the crown jewels of the city and arguably one of the largest drivers of property tax roll increases in the last decade should be shouldered a bit more by city finances. But of course, it's always easier to default to "just get the "rich" people to pay for it." (and I'm staunchly blue at the voting booth)
I can't call to mind if the track record of comments Flipz, so sorry if that's strong or out of line which it very well could be. It would be really nice to see city resources invested responsibly for once. Especially when we ran a surplus last year (yes, I know we won't this year.)
EDIT: Totally take that off Flipz, a foundation is a good idea similar to Forest Park Forever. No reason not to. There's also no reason Tower Grove Park's budget cannot be funded entirely by city finances at this point. It's not like there's tons of amenities. There's the palm house and the tennis courts. That's about it. The city needs to get its head out of its ass.
We could get rid of 8 useless aldermen and eliminate the need to charge for rentals in the park completely and still have money left over. Someone put it on the ballot asap. Plus 1 vote.
What does more good for St. Louis? 8 sh*tty politicians or free park rentals for families and friends to enjoy? This stuff isn't difficult.
What does more good for St. Louis? 8 sh*tty politicians or free park rentals for families and friends to enjoy? This stuff isn't difficult.
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The Tower Grove Park Foundation has approximately $7 Million dollars per public filings.
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Absent our current interest rate policies that would be plenty to operate the park car free into the future. Too bad. Maybe the city needs to shoulder more of the burden from I don't know just spit-balling here...property taxes?mjbais1489 wrote: ↑Jul 17, 2020The Tower Grove Park Foundation has approximately $7 Million dollars per public filings.
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Maybe - some of that endowment could be restricted capital gifts, they likely have specific spending policies on unrestricted gifts.newstl2020 wrote: ↑Jul 17, 2020Absent our current interest rate policies that would be plenty to operate the park car free into the future. Too bad. Maybe the city needs to shoulder more of the burden from I don't know just spit-balling here...property taxes?mjbais1489 wrote: ↑Jul 17, 2020The Tower Grove Park Foundation has approximately $7 Million dollars per public filings.
They recently finished a master plan development. I imagine the next step would be to fund that Master Plan with a Capital Campaign, but I dont think that has kicked off to the public yet - they may be shopping for large private donors to get a base before that campaign goes public.
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Correct. I am speaking about the ongoing operating finances of the park.mjbais1489 wrote: ↑Jul 17, 2020Maybe - some of that endowment could be restricted capital gifts, they likely have specific spending policies on unrestricted gifts.newstl2020 wrote: ↑Jul 17, 2020Absent our current interest rate policies that would be plenty to operate the park car free into the future. Too bad. Maybe the city needs to shoulder more of the burden from I don't know just spit-balling here...property taxes?mjbais1489 wrote: ↑Jul 17, 2020The Tower Grove Park Foundation has approximately $7 Million dollars per public filings.
They recently finished a master plan development. I imagine the next step would be to fund that Master Plan with a Capital Campaign, but I dont think that has kicked off to the public yet - they may be shopping for large private donors to get a base before that campaign goes public.
The Turkish and Old Playground pavilions will see $1 million in renovations:
https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/ ... op-story-1
I just love little anecdotes about St. Louis like this:
https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/ ... op-story-1
I just love little anecdotes about St. Louis like this:
The park has 12 pavilions in all, with 11 of them built in the Victorian era. The newest, the Stone Shelter, was built in 1923. The park’s collection of Victorian-era shelters is considered to be the finest in the world, and a smaller version of the Turkish Pavilion can be found in Superkilen Park in Copenhagen, built to highlight the best features from dozens of parks worldwide.
If anyone is interested, this is what the Copenhagen replica of the TGP pavilion looks like:
![]()
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So they already have the fencing up on the Turkish Pavilion. Should be fun to watch that get restored up close.
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^Reputedly our version had a pigeon coop in the top of it at one time.
^^^Never really understood what they were going for with that roof paint job. Trying to make it look like a tent, perhaps?
Note the Danes spaced the stripes so they would meet at the corners, but then, they are more particular about such things.
Note the Danes spaced the stripes so they would meet at the corners, but then, they are more particular about such things.
The old creek/stream that runs through the park will be uncovered for the first time in 100 years.
https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/ ... VUFccP8XvU
https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/ ... VUFccP8XvU
Hopefully this will fix the part of the bike/walking path on the south side that frequently has water or mud.chriss752 wrote: ↑May 06, 2021The old creek/stream that runs through the park will be uncovered for the first time in 100 years.
https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/ ... VUFccP8XvU
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I always thought a river or stream through TGP like the English Garden in Munich would have been a great idea/addition. Along with an artificial surfing wave, and it sets up nicely for biergarten.
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I'm pretty excited about this, as I live pretty close to the park and walk there all the time.
Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk
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The Turkish Pavilion is getting its big paint job this week:
- Turkish Pavilion
![Image from iOS.jpg (1.41MiB)]()
I'm sure it'll look beautiful and I think they need to get all of them fixed up but at a pretty hefty price tag. Do you know by chance if they will add electricity?
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Grabbed a photo of the Old Playground Pavilion this afternoon. Both of them seem to be wrapping up - concrete poured on both.
Also - those inputs look like they might be adding Electricity re: comment from flipz
Also - those inputs look like they might be adding Electricity re: comment from flipz
Took a detour through the park and snagged some photos of the finished pavilions.
+3
