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Archive for May, 2007

Monday, May 7, 2007

Gardens and Green Spaces of ONSL

Day 36 of “45 Days in Old North”Above: the Hebert Community Garden will be one of the sites on the Old North St. Louis House & Community Tour this coming Saturday.

The comprehensive neighborhood revitalization being carried out by the community in Old North St. Louis involves much more than building and rehabbing homes. Among the neighborhood’s assets are ONSL’s many public and private green spaces. Some of these have been around from the earliest days of the community’s existence, as is the case with Jackson Park, the second-oldest public park in the City of St. Louis. Others are more recent creations, where residents have established community gardens on the sites of vacant lots left behind when buildings have been lost. The following photos illustrate ONSL’s physical beauty as cultivated and maintained by neighborhood residents.

Above: this side garden in the 1200 block of North Market will also be on the tour.
Above: the triangular Wingmann Park, between Blair, Wright & Dodier, is named after the late Jeanne Wingmann, a beloved long-time teacher and volunteer at Ames School.Above: the Ames School Butterfly Garden is the result of collaborative efforts between Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and Ames Visual & Performing Arts Magnet School.
Above: many of the community gardens and public green spaces have benefited from outside volunteers who work with community residents (as the SLU Alpha Phi Omega students did on April 28), with tools and resources from Operation Brightside, and ongoing support from groups such as Gateway Greening.

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Sunday, May 6, 2007

Talking about ONSL, from the District of Columbia to Columbia, MO

Day 35 of “45 Days in Old North”

Apparently St. Louis Magazine isn’t alone in thinking that Old North St. Louis has become “one of St. Louis’ most exciting up-and-coming neighborhoods.” The work underway in ONSL recently caught the attention of a Washington, DC, based blog called Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space. A posting on April 30 refers to our NewOldNorth blog and takes note of the “activists doing stuff in a concerted way to better their neighborhood.”

Meanwhile, a little closer to home, there has been a good deal of discussion about the Old North St. Louis House & Community Tour on the Urban St. Louis online discussion forum. One person reported plans to come from Kansas City just for the tour and another claims to be passing the house tour flyer around Columbia, Missouri.

Old North St. Louis has always been a warm and welcoming community. We look forward to welcoming many of these visitors to the neighborhood next Saturday!

Saturday, May 5, 2007

House Tour & Most Enhanced Celebration

Day 34 of “45 Days in Old North”

As mentioned a few days ago, Landmarks Association of St. Louis will recognize the North Market Place Apartments with one of its prestigious “Most Enhanced” Awards at a ceremony and reception on Monday, May 14. The presentation of this award will follow on the heels of the Old North St. Louis House & Community Tour, next Saturday, May 12. If you want to take a good look at one of the 9 North Market Place buildings that will be highlighted at the Landmarks event, come on out to the ONSL House & Community Tour because the building at 2315-31 N. 14th will be on the tour. One of the occupied apartments will be open for viewing and the community space at the corner (1400 N. Market) will have a full display showing all of the buildings in the development. Above: the building at 2315 N. 14th before rehab.
Above: the building at 2315 N. 14th after the rehab, with the management office for CAMCO visible.

As noted previously, tour tickets can be purchased at the ONSLRG office, at Crown Candy, or online at www.ONSL.org.
Advanced registration for the Landmarks “Most Enhanced” ceremony is available by sending a check for $15 to Landmarks Association, 917 Locust, 7th Floor, St. Louis, MO 63101. The at-door cost is $25 per person.
Friday, May 4, 2007

Support for the Old North St. Louis House Tour

Day 33 of “45 Days in Old North”

The Old North St. Louis House & Community Tour is just a week from Saturday. As usual, the tour will feature the warmth of the community, the beauty of the community gardens, and the architectural character of the neighborhood’s buildings. Also on display will be the support the neighborhood is receiving from corporations and organizations outside the neighborhood.

For the past few years, the house tour has been supported by dozens of contributing sponsors who want to be a part of ONSL’s renewal. So far, sponsors for the 2007 tour include the following:

  • Bank of America (lead sponsor)
  • A.G. Edwards
  • Bremen Bank
  • BSI Constructors
  • CitiMortgage
  • Clayco
  • Commerce Bank
  • E.M. Harris Construction Co.
  • First Bank
  • HOK Planning Group
  • Home Builders Association
  • Husch & Eppenberger
  • Kohner Properties
  • KRK Holdings, LLC
  • Mackey Mitchell Associates
  • Manzara Family
  • National City Bank
  • Public Eye
  • Rosemann & Associates
  • Southwest Bank
  • St. Louis Equity Fund
  • UMB Bank
  • Unico System
  • USBank
  • C. F. Vatterott

There is still room for other businesses and organizations to join this list. Give us a call at 314-241-5031 to learn more about the sponsorship levels.

Joe Lonero, owner of the Corner Coffee House in Ferguson, is once again donating the use of his trolley for use as a shuttle at the tour.

For more information on the tour and how to get tickets, visit www.ONSL.org.

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Thursday, May 3, 2007

Congratulations and Thank You to Our Interns Brian, Amanda, & Matt

Day 32 of “45 Days in Old North”

This week we bid farewell to our fearless and determined interns, Amanda Goldsmith and Matt Fernandez from St. Louis University, and Brian Backscheider from Washington University. All three have exhibited a great deal of flexibililty in tackling almost any task we assigned them while having to fight for desk space and time on the extra computer. Over the past few months, we have asked our interns to gather information from public and university libraries, make trips to City Hall and other city agencies, produce maps, research funding sources, prepare and distribute press releases, deliver house tour posters all over town, and embark on countless other adventures related to the Mullanphy Emigrant Home.

On May 18, Brian will graduate with a degree in engineering, and on May 19, Matt will graduate with a degree in urban affairs and Amanda will graduate with a masters in public administration and a law degree. Matt will continue at SLU in the fall, this time as a graduate student, and may return to us for a summer internship, while Amanda will begin her career with a local law firm, and Brian will return to his native Ohio to pursue a graduate degree in urban planning. Congratulations and thank you to Brian, Amanda, and Matt!

Amanda and Matt at the computer designated for the interns.Brian at Irvetta Williams’ desk while she was away from the office.

-posted by Sean Thomas

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

North Market Place Apartments to Receive "Most Enhanced" Award

Day 31 of “45 Days in Old North”

Further evidence that we’re not the only ones noticing the significant neighborhood transformation underway in Old North St. Louis: Landmarks Association of St. Louis will present one of their 2007 “Most Enhanced” Awards to Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and our development partners, the Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance (RHCDA), for the preservation and rehabilitation of 9 historically significant but crumbling buildings in ONSL.

With all of the good rehab working going on throughout St. Louis, why would Landmarks Association select the North Market Place Apartments for this honor? Consider the before and after pictures for the buildings at 1436-1440 Monroe and 1211-1215 North Market:

Above: 1436 Monroe was collapsing into the street before the partnership of ONSLRG and RHCDA initiated the historic rehab of the building and the abandoned and crumbling building next door at 1440 Monroe.
Above: 1436 and 1440 Monroe are now beautifully restored as apartments - and home to six families.

Above: 1211-1215 North Market was a burned-out shell that hardly anybody believed could be saved.
Above: 1211-1215 North Market is once again an example of ONSL’s unique and attractive housing stock - and home to three families.
Please join us in celebrating these achievements as we receive the “Most Enhanced” Award on Monday, May 14. The ceremony and reception will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Lucas School House, 1220 Allen. Advanced registration is available by sending a check for $15 to Landmarks Association, 917 Locust, 7th Floor, St. Louis, MO 63101. The at-door cost is $25 per person.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007

PubDef Comes to Old North

Day 30 of “45 Days in Old North”

The bloggers behind PubDef paid a visit to the Mullanphy Emigrant Home today to capture an interview and collect some video footage. According to their own description, PubDef “is a non-partisan, independent political blog based in the City of St. Louis, Missouri.” The blog will feature a report about the Mullanphy preservation efforts on Wednesday.

Above: Dan Martin (left) and Antonio French enjoy a view from the Mullanphy building’s south end picture window, just before the arrival of a late afternoon thunderstorm.

Below: Antonio French turns the camera toward the spectacular Downtown skyline.

To view their report, visit www.pubdef.net tomorrow.

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WHAT'S NEW IN OLD NORTH

Welcome to the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group's blog. What's New in Old North chronicles the dramatic transformation under way in the neighborhood of Old North St. Louis. As a neighborhood just north of Downtown St. Louis, Old North is becoming a dynamic urban village of new and historic homes, a landmark eating establishment, beautiful community gardens, and a diverse, friendly, and engaged community.

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