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Placemaking

Urban Chestnut Brewing Company Bier Garten Opens to Rave Review

Published on Friday, 08 June 2012 12:29

Written by Alex Ihnen

I haven't actually read any reviews of the UCBC bier garten. That "rave review" is mine. UCBC announced yesterday on their blog that the bier garten would have a soft opening and I managed to stop by for a liter. The short of it is that this is an authentic Bavarian bier garten, an open courtyard with communal tables, a beer hut, 1/2 and 1 liter steins, the whole deal. That's great in its own right, but what's really exciting about the UCBC bier garten is that it's truly a "place".

We don't do beer reviews here at nextSTL, so I'll leave it at the beer being really, really good. But one of those "reallys" can be attributed to the new space. Just like you swear that margharita pizza you had on the shore of Lago di Como was the best ever created, the beer simply tastes better here. Place influences taste. This is where UCBC got their bier garten right.

Yet, even a few months ago, the idea was far from a sure thing. The Central States Life Insurance Company building (that white stucco Mission Revival place you would have sworn was a church) next door was for sale. It went into foreclosure and UCBC spent some time seriously considering purchasing it. For what, they didn't exactly know, but they wanted the parking lot for a bier garten. Still without plans for the building itself, they were ready to buy when they learned someone else has swooped in and bought it for $575,000.

Washington University Researchers Explore, Explain St. Louis Open Streets

Published on Friday, 20 January 2012 12:51

Written by Alex Ihnen

The Open Streets events in St. Louis have always been a lot of fun. The effort has evolved quickly and become a popular happening in a summer calendar already jammed with events and festivals. The positive impact is apparent enough, but how can such an event be measured? Lucky for us researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, aided by funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, have focused their quantifying abilities on Open Streets.

Open and shut: the case for Open Streets in St. Louis

Construction to Begin on St. Vincent Greenway

Published on Tuesday, 18 October 2011 09:34

Written by Andrew Faulkner

Earlier this year I wrote about the challenges to walkability in the West End/ Cabanne neighborhood. Although progress of removing street barriers depends solely on the finite resource of political will, and the West End’s long blocks are a structural deterrent to walking, Great Rivers Greenway is moving forward with plans to connect Forest Park to UMSL with the St. Vincent Greenway.

Residents, dignitaries, and political leaders from St. Louis City and the West End neighborhood broke ground last Thursday for Phase II of the St. Vincent Greenway. This phase, a 2.2-mile section of the eventual 6 mile Greenway follows the existing Ruth Porter Mallway from DeBaliviere and Delmar to Etzel and Blackstone. Construction on the trail was delayed to allow coordination with the engineering on the Loop Trolley project.

Will Anyone Make a Water Color of the QuikTrip: The Loss of Place in St. Louis

Published on Monday, 03 October 2011 09:18

Written by Alex Ihnen

Another unique building in the City of St. Louis is about to meet the wrecking ball. The building at the northeast corner of Chouteau and Vanedeventer Avenues in The Grove will be demolished for a QuikTrip gas station. It seems that every time our city loses a thread in its urban fabric, I'm asked, "how did this happen?" Well, here's how:

QuikTrip is continually scouting locations in the city for new stations. A recent desire to demolish historic structures on South Grand in the Compton Heights neighborhood was met with significant neighborhood opposition and the company moved on. The site in The Grove is owned by Don Bellon of Bellon Wrecking. Largely using pieces from his business, Don had put together a collage on this corner that one might expect to see in Soulard, on Cherokee or Morganford.

The corner where three significant city thoroughfares meet isn't what it once was. The 1925 photograph shows a bustling city with streetcars, multi-story businesses built to the street and plenty of pedestrians. However, the QuikTrip corner of tomorrow will be a placeless, soulless scar. Despite the losses, one knows where one is when approaching the intersection today.

Instant Icon: City Garden Gives St. Louis a Signature Public Space and More

Published on Wednesday, 08 June 2011 13:20

Written by Alex Ihnen

City Garden is what the St. Louis Arch grounds is not: accessible, interactive, alive, comfortable. It's part of the city. It's also been an instant and unequivocal hit in the press and with the public. This was loudly reasserted recently as the park was awarded the Urban Land Institute's prestigious Amanda Burden Award. As for the park itself, it's a challenge to write anything new. To read some of the best press coverage visit the City Garden media page. Sculpture Magazine has more on the park's 24 sculptures.

Personally, the park has become a place I take every visitor I host in St. Louis and my family makes regular weekend trips on MetroLink to the 8th and Pine station to explore downtown and inevitably end up at City Garden. In a downtown blessed and cursed with numerous plazas and parks, this two-block oasis is the place to be. It holds a magnetism that isn't matched in the region. And in case you may have any doubt about this, is there any better indicator than City Garden becoming the place for prom, engagement, wedding and family photos?