Just last week nextSTL was the first to report that Urban Chestnut Brewing Company is moving into The Grove with a footprint eight times larger than their first location opened just two years ago. Now we have significantly more detail regarding UCBC plans for the challenging Renard Paper Company building on Manchester Avenue between Taylor and Newstead.

The oldest portion of the building was constructed in 1947 (Manchester/Taylor corner), with significant additions in 1986 and 1990. The more recent additions present a flat cinder block wall to the street. The plan by Trivers Associates shows a more open entrance at Taylor and four large windows restored on the south facade. The most significant structural change to the building will be a small outdoor area facing Manchester at the building's midpoint. Roughly the easternmost 40% of the facade will remain intact, but be painted with a bright UCBC mural.

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In the most decentralized of American cities, much of the urban fabric that prospered until at least the Great Depression (if not later) suffered such devastation in the second half of the twentieth century that one could claim it was wiped off the face of the earth. Huge swathes of what were once densely settled neighborhoods are all but gone, having lost more than half of their population since 1950. When one ponders the type of city that has suffered this fate, chances are it sits in either the industrialized Northeast or Midwest: places like Cleveland, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and even Chicago. In Detroit, the condition of nearly complete depopulation may afflict as much as half of the land within the historic city limits.

Another Midwestern city that has endured almost as profound of a loss as the Motor City—but mercifully manages to escape the damning headlines most of the time—is St. Louis. At its population peak in 1950, it had 850,000 people. As of 2010, that number had plunged to 320,000—an over 62% drop in population, and, amazingly even a bit greater than Detroit’s 61% loss over that same time frame. In stark contrast with Detroit, where the depopulation stretches in all directions from the city center, in St. Louis the majority of population loss has exclusively afflicted the north side of the city. Many of the neighborhoods south of I-44 are as intact and manicured as they were in 1950, like the serene Italian-American neighborhood on the near southwest side of town known as The Hill:

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It may not be immediately clear to everyone how significant the difference is between the image on the right and that on the left, but it should be. The image to the left as taken well after the Arch grounds were cleared. A widened Third Street serves as a downtown boulevard. One can see human-scaled commercial buildings on its west side. One sees the Old Cathedral as connected to downtown. The image to the right shows a completed Interstate 70. The difference in appearance, the new disconnectedness is stunning. No longer does it seem that any human-scaled activity belongs here, and in fact, it no longer exists here. To some, the difference above may seem less than definitive, but it's made all the difference on the eastern edge of downtown St. Louis.

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{conceptual rendering of Drury proposal for Laclede's Landing infill - image by geoffksu}

The Drury Development Corporation in partnership with the Lawrence Group are in the preliminary design stages of transforming the two block surface parking lot in the southwest corner of Laclede's Landing adjacent to Eads Bridge and Third Street. The site has been discussed as the location of a parking garage if it is determined one is needed to replace the North Arch Garage. CityArchRiver plans to demolish the Arch garage as part of the revamp of the grounds.

The Drury proposal is considering a residential tower in the southwest corner bordered by Eads Bridge, Second Street, Lucas Avenue and Third Street, with an attached two-level parking structure and a separate parking structure at the block just north bordered by Morgan Street Brewery, Second Street, Lucas Avenue and Third Street. The new parking structure could consolidate parking for Bi-State (Metro), Abstrakt Marketing Group and Landshire employees, who currently use the Arch garage and scattered surface lots. Metro is currently considering moving out of Laclede's Landing.

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