Visible Evidence of Progress

Crown Square
As reported earlier, the financing for the complete redevelopment of the former North 14th Street Pedestrian Mall is a done deal. Work on the residential component started in August, and over the past week, ONSLRG and our development partners at RHCDA closed on the financing for the mixed-use component, which will make it possible for the historic rehabilitation of almost every building on the 2600 and 2700 blocks of N. 14th Street for commercial space and market-rate apartments. The first sign of actual construction at the commercial side of the Crown Square redevelopment took place today with the removal of the Park’s Drug Store sign from the building at 2718-20 N. 14th Street. The landmark sign will be kept in storage and re-installed upon completion of the building.

Mullanphy

Meanwhile, 11 blocks to the south, masonry contractors have begun laying concrete block along the south opening of the Mullanphy Emigrant Home building. This work is just the latest demonstration of ONSLRG’s commitment to stabilizing and preserving the storm-damaged anchor of the Mullanphy National Register Historic District. The work underway right now is made possible by significant contributions of labor, equipment, and supplies from the Masonry Contractors Association. All of this work, however, required major expenditures for extensive foundation rebuilding, insurance, taxes and other repairs that have totaled more than $75,000 to date. Since these expenses have exceeded our financial contributions, we still could use additional donations. Please consider supporting this worthy endeavor with a donation (by clicking on the button along the right column or by visiting www.SaveMullanphy.org for more details).

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• 14th Street Mall, Historic rehabs, Mullanphy Emigrant Home

Mullanphy Building Foundation Complete

The new foundation for the south side of the Mullanphy Emigrant Home has now been completely poured. This consisted of a completely new foundation for the south wall, and a concrete cap for a portion of the east wall. This will now allow the masons to come in and place concrete block up both the north and south sides. The scaffolding will be going up very soon. The walls will eventually receive face brick, but the focus right now is just getting the openings closed up.

The Mullanphy Preservation Effort has made great progress, but we still are in need of a lot of assistance. To find out how you can help out or just to find out more about The Mullanphy Emigrant Home head over to www. savemullanphy.org. You can also see pictures of all the progress that has been made so far on our Flickr page in the Mullanphy Set.

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• Historic rehabs, Mullanphy Emigrant Home, Pictures, Renovation

Crown Square Progress Report

Framing, masonry, mechanicals, and some finish work is the story in Crown Square right now. Not a whole lot has changed in the past few days because of the well deserved break for Thanksgiving. Some windows should start arriving late next week so some buildings will start to have a nearly complete look. More buildings will be starting soon as well. As always, more photos can be found on our Flickr page in the Crown Square set.

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• 14th Street Mall, Crown Village, Historic rehabs, Pictures, Renovation

Crown Square Financing Complete and Photo Update

Tuesday was another big day in Old North St. Louis. RHCDA and ONSLRG closed on the financing package for the commercial component of the Crown Square project. This portion includes 38 market rate apartments including some live-work units, and about 33,000 sq. ft. of retail space. The buildings included in this component are all on the 14^th St. Mall. Construction will start immediately, but will mostly be interior demolition and stabilization for a while.

In other news, construction on the residential component of the project is moving right along. Framing, brickwork, and mechanical installation crews are all over the site. Finish work is proceeding in the two buildings on the 1300 block of Warren. The first shipment of windows will be arriving on site soon as well.

In preparation for interior demolition, trim samples were removed from some of the buildings on the Mall on Tuesday. You can see some of the interior of 2600 and 2601 N. 14^th St. in the photos (buildings on either side of the south end of the Mall). Keep in mind that the Peters buildings (JcPenney, 2600) was pitch black except for our flashlights and camera flashes. Complete darkness and a poor floor are not good, so some of the shots are a little blurry. In all, there are 88 new pictures. See the rest on our Flickr page in the Crown Square Set.

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• 14th Street Mall, Crown Village, Historic rehabs, Pictures, Renovation

Crown Square From November 13, 2007

Your photographer has been a bit busy lately, but I just wanted to alert our readers that may care that the update photos for the week including November 13 are now up. Pics can be found on Flickr. Even if they do not get posted right away, there will be pictures from every week, typically taken on Tuesdays.

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• 14th Street Mall, Crown Village, Historic rehabs, Pictures, Renovation

ONSL on Fox 2

Fox 2 aired another story on Old North St. Louis tonight. Crown Candy, Crown Square, and North Market Place were featured.

You can watch the video at Myfoxstl.com.

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• 14th Street Mall, Crown Candy Kitchen, Crown Village, Historic rehabs, Infill housing, North Market Place, ONSL in the news, ONSL people, Videos

Crown Square Construction Update

A little later than normal, but here is last weeks Crown Square update. Current work includes framing, mechanicals and utilities, drywall, and cabinetry and trim. Photos are from Thursday.

Check out more pics from Thursday and other days on our Flickr page under the Crown Square tab.

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• 14th Street Mall, Crown Village, Historic rehabs, Pictures, Renovation, real estate

ONSL On Channel 4 (Updated)

An interview with Old North St. Louis Executive Director Sean Thomas will be part of a story on the north side Metrolink corridor that will air tonight at 5:00 and 6:00 on KMOV Channel 4. The story will focus on how the possible Metro expansion will benefit the neighborhood, specifically tying in to the Crown Square development.

We will hopefully be able to provide a link to the story later tonight. Check out the story on kmov.com.

Lisa Manzo of KMOV talks with Sean Thomas and someone riding through the neighborhood. Crown Square construction can be seen in the background.

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• Crown Village, ONSL amenities, ONSL in the news

ONSL Works in Progress Tour - Sat. Nov. 10

Construction along N. 14th Street (as shown at 2712-14 N. 14th above) will be highlighted on the Works in Progress Tour on Sat., Nov. 10.

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• 14th Street Mall, Historic rehabs, Renovation, real estate

Iron Horse Trestle Meeting Recap

Great Rivers Greenway held a public meeting last Thursday seeking input from residents of St. Louis for the proposed conversion of the Iron Horse Trestle into an elevated hiking and biking trail. The Iron Horse Trestle is a long-abandoned railroad bridge that crosses Interstate 70 and enters Old North St. Louis at 11th and Tyler.

Some of the ideas presented included separate bike and walking paths, using the trestle to generate its own power for lighting, green roofs on adjacent buildings, and restoring native vegetation on ground level portions. Plans also include areas for observation and markers with information about the area. The trestle will connect to the North Riverfront Trail as well as the McKinley Bridge. The bridge connection is currently being rebuilt and will open soon.

A few more images are available here, courtesy of Steve Patterson.

Some of the participants awaiting the presentation

One of the boards displaying some of the possibilities

Design Possibilities. Courtesy of Great Rivers Greenway.

Design Possibilities. Courtesy of Great Rivers Greenway.

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• Iron Horse Trestle, Pictures, Public Meetings