Scenes from another successful Old North House & Community Tour and Homegrown Festival

Thanks to all who made this year’s Old North House & Community Tour and Homegrown Festival such a great success, especially tour committee chair, Maria Falconer (who somehow managed to evade all photographers, and, therefore, is not seen in any of our photos of the big day).  If you’d like to thank Maria, though, one option for consideration is to just stop in and buy something at Maria’s Rambles Gift Gallery & Boutique at 2611 N. 14th Street or from her online shop, Rambles.com.

The Homegrown Festival, the street party portion of the event, brought all sorts of fun to Crown Square, including live music, dance performances, refreshing beverages and snacks, arts and crafts booths, information from a variety sponsors and community partners, and exhibits inside Old North St. Louis Restoration Group’s Gallery.

It wouldn’t be a “House” and Community Tour without houses to show, and Old North specializes in a variety home sizes and styles.

One of the Habitat for Humanity Houses under construction at Clinton & N. 13th was on the tour.

Since Old North is also known for its gardens, of the private and community variety, we put those on tour, as well.

Tom Bratkowski had a chance to show the picnic table and benches he constructed for the 13th Street Community Garden.

In addition to the music and dance in the streets, the day provided opportunities to demonstrate various other arts initiatives.

The Old North Gallery featured photography of Benjamin Evans, as well as ONSLRG's before and after photos of historic buildings brought back to life from the brink of demolition.

Neighbors and visitors had a chance to see inside Northside Workshop, the soon to open art center at 1306 St. Louis Avenue.

Nancy & Ken Kranzberg (center) were present to view the progress they made possible at Northside Workshop, with Juan William Chavez (left), the artist who will run NSWS, and Sean Thomas of ONSLRG.

Contemporary Art Museum helped out with the opening of Northside Workshop, with Old North Grocery Co-op visible just across N. 13th Street from the new art center.

La Mancha Coffeehouse provided free cups of coffee to visitors to the tour.

Always a favorite part of the day, free ice cream courtesy of Crown Candy Kitchen (with Norah Ryan handling the scooping duties).

Perpetua Iron, a recently opened neighborhood business owned and operated by Old North resident Janet Sanders, was also on the tour.

An example of the ornamental iron items produced in Old North by Perpetua Iron.

The best part of the tour, however, is the chance to share with the world the warmth, friendliness, and community spirit of the people who live and work in Old North.

For more photos of the big day, take a look at our album on ONSLRG’s Facebook page by clicking HERE.

In addition to Maria, the list of others to thank could go on and on, but we should acknowledge the following:

• ONSLRG’s staff, Matt Fernandez, Jane Smith, and Sean Thomas;
• practicum students Michelle Wiegand, Becky Bitzer, Sheila Galvez, and Jennifer Gray;
• other planning committee members Vela Hermann & Thom Fletcher;
• Nevels Nevels for huge investment of time in laying out the tour booklet;
• Aida Rodriguez for bringing in the Lindy Hop and other social dancers;
• Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. and Ryan from UCBC;
• Officer Moran & other officers from the 4th & 5th police districts;
• Crown Candy Kitchen, especially Andy Karandzieff, for providing ice cream for all tour-goers and lunch fixings for the volunteers;
• numerous volunteers from within Old North, or friends of Old North, including Keith Marquard, John Thro, Curtis Berry, Kate Feit, Norah Ryan, Tino Ochoa, Nico Leone and Dave Eisenbraun;
• volunteer crews from Bank of America, FUEL for the City, and Step Up St. Louis!
• the generous residents who opened their homes and business owners who opened their spaces for visitors to see all that Old North has to offer, including: Janet Sanders of Perpetua Iron, Vela Vm Hermann & Chris Goetsch, Ben & Heidi Sever, Ernie & Jeannie Stanley, Doug & Marg Corey, Barbara Davis, Habitat for Humanity, Matt Fernandez, Tom & Susan Tschetter, James & Luz Maria Cox, Claire Wolff, Camille Clingan, Juan William Chávez & Kiersten Torrez of NSWS, Old North Grocery Co-op, including Sarah Kate Buckles and Melissa Breed, and the 13th Street Community Garden;
• La Mancha Coffeehouse for providing a free cup of coffee to tour visitors;
• Event sponsors:
• including Bank of America, Commerce Bank, Regions Bank, USBank, Reliance Bank, First National Bank, Duffe-Nuernberger Real Estate, M & I Bank (or BMO Harris), and Missouri Dept. of Agriculture;
• And, finally, thanks go to St. Louis 3Wheel Taxi for stepping up at the last minute to provide shuttle service when our previous shuttle commitment fell through!

Thank you again to all who put in so much time and effort to make the day possible and all who attended.

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Send This YouTube Link to Encourage Others To Come See Old North This Saturday

We’ve put together a brief, rapid-pace video of recent transformations in Old North as a way of enticing those who haven’t seen the neighborhood (or haven’t seen it in a while) to come on out to the Old North House & Community Tour this Saturday, May 19.  Take a look and please feel free to “like” it and send the link on to others if you think it conveys the dynamic pace and positive changes that have taken place in Old North over the past few years.

Thank you to Old North resident Joe Eisenbraun for allowing us to use his music in this video. For more about Joe and links to more of his music, check out our post from January 20, 2012.

If you’d like to pick up a pile of OId North House & Community Tour tickets to sell (or flyers or postcards to distribute), give us a call at the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group office at 314-241-5031.  Or if you’d just like to buy some tickets online via our secure PayPal account, click HERE.

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1 Week to Go: Old North House & Community Tour and Homegrown Street Festival on Sat., May 19

We’ve come a long way in the past 30 years.  In May of 1982 Old North St. Louis Restoration Group held its first house tour, featuring 3 occupied homes and 2 vacant city-owned buildings available for purchase.

This year, the Old North House & Community Tour will feature 8 historically rehabbed homes, 1 historically-sensitive relatively new home, 1 historic home in the midst of a complete rehab, 1 LEED-certified new Habitat for Humanity home, a neighborhood business that produces wrought iron fencing & other ornamental iron, a Crown Square commercial space, the neighborhood grocery co-op, a produce-growing community garden, and a soon-to-open neighborhood art center in a rehabbed 19th century building. Among the stops on the tour are 7 properties that previously have been recognized by Landmarks Association with “Most Enhanced” Awards.  And, back by popular demand, one of the stops on this year’s tour will be one of the three homes featured on the very first tour in 1982.  Come on out to find out which one.

Tickets are available for purchase online by clicking HERE or they can be purchased in person at Rambles Gift Gallery & Boutique (2611 N. 14th), Crown Candy Kitchen (1401 St. Louis Avenue), Old North Grocery Co-op (2718 N. 13th) or Old North St. Louis Restoration Group’s office (2700 N. 14th Street).

Because Old North is a community that embraces and celebrates diversity, we have two different flyers for this year’s tour.  Feel free to right-click and save the flyer below for forwarding as an invitation to all of your friends, family, and colleagues.

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Scenes from Brightside Blitz Clean-up in Old North

Thank you to all of the neighbors and other volunteers who came out today to help clean up debris and trash throughout Old North as part of the annual Brightside Blitz.

Among the volunteers caught in the act of cleaning up Old North’s alleys, streets, gardens and vacant lots were Dave Eisenbraun, Brian, Heidi Sever, and Gloria Bratkowski (pictured above, from left to right).

Below  is the “before” picture of the pile these volunteers cleared away, along with the back of the “No Dumping” sign which had been dumped on top of the pile. (photo courtesy of Heidi Sever)

Over in the Hebert Street Community Garden, aka the Johnnie Owens Garden, Jay Roberts and Eric Little (shown in the photo below) assisted Barbara Manzara with the re-staining and re-sealing the arbor.

Doug Corey cleared and chopped wayward trees and branches on Sullivan (above) and Ross Dorsey (below) worked the 13th Street Community Garden.

Thanks to all others who put in hours of hard work while managing to avoid the glare of cameras - today and on the numerous other days of service to the community!

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Old North Bustling with Activity, including Bike To My Lou and Volunteers from SLU’s Showers of Service and Dept. of Corrections

VOLUNTEERS ASSIST WITH CLEANING UP, SPRUCING UP, AND BOARD-UP TASKS

Old North neighborhood volunteers received considerable help today from students from St. Louis University and another group of volunteers brought to the neighborhood by the Missouri Department of Corrections’ Office of Probation & Parole.  SLU’s annual Showers of Service program is a day of service sponsored and planned by the SLU chapter of Alpha Phi Omega.  For several years now, this program has sent dozens of students to Old North St. Louis Restoration Group to be deployed throughout the neighborhood for various volunteer projects where they can work side by side with neighborhood residents on community improvement projects.  As shown in the photos below, this year’s range of activities included alley clean-ups, boarding up vacant buildings, clearing empty lots, and a lot of work in the neighborhood’s numerous community gardens.

ONSLRG's Community Development Specialist, Matt Fernandez, a SLU grad with a bachelor's degree in Urban Affairs and a Master's in Urban Planning & Real Estate Development, inspired the students with evidence of life & employment after SLU.

The results of the volunteers’ work can be seen all over Old North…

The Johnnie Owens Garden at the Hebert Street Community Garden

Aida Rodriguez appreciated the help she received at Wingmann Park

The quasi-free-range residents of the 13th Street Community Garden are enjoying the cleaned up conditions around their home

Thank you to Alpha Phi Omega at SLU, to the Dept. of Corrections’ Office of Probation & Parole, and to neighborhood residents, including but not limited to James & Luz Maria Cox & family; Keith Marquard, Aida Rodriguez, Ernie Stanley, Chris Goetsch, Vela Hermann, Graham Lane, Ben Sever, Matt Fernandez, Ross Dorsey, Thom Fletcher, and many, many others.

BIKE TO MY LOU BIKE RIDE PASSES THROUGH OLD NORTH

A large contingent of cyclists passed through Old North this afternoon as part of the Bike to My Lou bike ride.  The free community ride and festival took riders through some of downtown’s adjacent neighborhoods - and we thank the organizers and sponsors for including Old North on the itinerary!

HABITAT HOMES UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Meanwhile, work continues on the 12 Habitat for Humanity homes under construction at N. 13th and Clinton.

A GOOD DAY FOR BUSINESS

Businesses in Old North enjoyed the flow of customers brought in by the various events going on in the neighborhood and the beautiful spring weather.

La Mancha Coffeehouse

Therapy Boutique

Crown Candy Kitchen

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Trivia Night on April 14 for North City Farmers’ Market and 13th Street Community Garden

Join friends of the North City Farmers’ Market and Old North’s 13th Street Community Garden on Saturday, April 14th to show your support and provide these good community causes with some financial means to keep up their good work.

Because of limited space, those planning to attend the trivia night fundraiser are encouraged to RSVP for the event by calling ONSLRG at 314-241-5031 or sending an email to info@onsl.org.

Both the market and the garden are projects of OId North St. Louis Restoration Group, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.  All contributions to support the market and the garden are tax-deductible and should be made payable to Old North St. Louis Restoration Group or ONSLRG, with a note or reference in the subject line for NCFM or 13th St. Garden.

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New Year Brings More Media & Outside Attention for Old North

The new year is barely two weeks old, but Old North has already received a good deal of attention in 2012 from a range of outside sources, including some publications with national readerships.

The latest moment in the spotlight came when HUD’s Best Practices website posted a feature on Old North’s Crown Square on Friday.  The Crown Square redevelopment earned its place as the latest in a series of reports on “best practice” developments around the country because the project resulted from a strong partnership between Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance (with support from the City of St. Louis), a genuine community-based planning process, and a commitment to affordable and mixed-income housing, historic preservation, and various other sustainable development principles.  Click HERE or on the image below to read the full report.

On January 5, Builder Magazine posted a story on their website about the desirability of walkable neighborhoods and used Old North St. Louis as their featured example of a community that has benefited from improvements to its walkability.  The article cited Old North’s comprehensive approach to redevelopment and offered several photos from Old North, including a community garden, the North City Farmers’ Market, historically sensitive new homes at North Market Place, and the streetscape at Crown Square, to illustrate the elements that have made Old North not just more livable for current residents but also more attractive to prospective residents.  Click HERE or on the image below to read the full article.

Eleven Music Magazine’s January issue has hit the streets with Old North as its “Neighborhood of the Month”, which is nice recognition, especially for the Crown Square redevelopment of the former 14th Street Pedestrian Mall.  (Although the piece includes a mis-quote about the age of the neighborhood - indicating that the neighborhood was a separate village from St. Louis from 1860 - 1940, rather than the real dates of 1816-1841, we’ll forgive that because of the overall positive tone of the piece and the fact that the actual quote may have been difficult to hear during the interview, which was recorded at Old North’s La Mancha Coffeehouse, with the sound of an espresso machine and various diners’ chatter in the background.)  Click HERE or on the image below to read the article.

Visitors to hotels throughout the St. Louis area are picking up this month’s issue of Where Magazine-St. Louis, in which they’ll read about 6 new independent retailers “worth your time,” including Old North’s newest Crown Square establishment, Rambles Gift Gallery & Boutique.

Where Magazine is available at concierge desks and in-room at medium-to-high end hotels and other select businesses, but it’s also available online to provide travelers (and locals) with “the most complete guide to the city’s top restaurants, shops, shows, exhibits, and tours.”  The online version (seen below) also features a photo of the interior at Rambles.  Click HERE or on the image below to see and read the online version of the review of Rambles.

Thank you to all of these publications for sharing our story with the rest of the world!

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Part 3 of Highlights of Old North’s Event-Filled Year in 2011

On Wednesday and Thursday we reviewed Old North’s population gains, the new businesses that have set up shop in the heart of the community, and some of the events that took place in Old North this year.  (Click HERE to see Part 1 and HERE for Part 2) Now, we take a look back at even more events and high profile developments that took place in 2011…

VARIOUS EVENTS SPONSORED BY ONSLRG OR OTHERS AT ONSLRG’S GALLERY

The first ever Open/Closed conference in March held its opening and closing events with standing room only crowds at ONSLRG’s gallery in March, including a presentation by Juan William Chavez on bee colonies at the former Pruitt-Igoe site and a screening of The Pruitt-Igoe Myth.

On September 29, the founding meeting of the Community Builders Network of Metropolitan St. Louis took place at ONSLRG’s gallery, with a convening of executive directors from community development corporations and key partners from throughout the St. Louis area.

The first-ever Old North Holiday Market took place on Dec. 17, thanks to great planning and coordination by our practicum student Molly Johnson.

ARTS EVENTS AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

Missouri Immigrant & Refugee Advocates held their second annual exhibit at ONSLRG’s gallery from November 18 through December 11, this time featuring the work of two artists, including former Old North resident, Seitu James Smith (shown in the photo above).

Also for the second year in a row, Cinema St. Louis hosted several film screenings for students from schools in Old North (including Ames Visual & Performing Arts Magnet School, shown above) as part of their St. Louis International Film Festival.

In February the St. Louis Rescue & Restore Coalition held their exhibit, “Freedom from, Freedom to” at the ONSLRG Gallery to raise awareness about human trafficking and the fact that slavery still exists in our world.

Starting with an opening reception on September 1, the ONSLRG Gallery hosted the ReBuild Foundation’s “(en)Visioning Hyde Park” exhibit of photographs taken by young participants in their summer photography program.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS THROUGHOUT OLD NORTH

Work finally got underway at the historic building at 1306 St. Louis Avenue, where a partnership between Ken Kranzberg and ONSLRG is rehabbing the long-abandoned building to accommodate Northside Workshop, a new community art center established by award-winning artist Juan William Chavez.  Watch for an opening in the spring of 2012.

Another art-themed public investment happened at the intersection of Warren and N. 14th Streets with the painting of a street mural by Lucas Rouggly and volunteers recruited through his Love the Lou organization.

Completion of Jackson Park Improvements & Ribbon-cutting Celebration… thanks especially to Miranda Gilstrap and Trailnet.

(Other green space work, including Wingmann Park improvements and 13th Street Community Garden work, will be in the next post.)

Habitat for Humanity continued their home-building in Old North with 12 homes under construction along N. 13th Street and along the 1200 and 1300 blocks of Clinton.

Due to time restrictions, that will have to do for today’s post.  But there still is much more to come.

And, as mentioned in the past two posts…THANK YOU to all who have supported the many components of our comprehensive, neighborhood-wide revitalization strategy.  To help us continue that work throughout the coming year, please click HERE to make a secure, online tax-deductible contribution.

We invite you to check back tomorrow for the final segment of the Old North Year in Review.

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Old North’s Sarah Kate Buckles & Veronica Holden to Receive EarthDance Mission Awards

At a ceremony and celebration tonight, Sarah Kate Buckles, manager of the Old North Grocery Co-op, and Veronica Holden, 13th Street Garden Coordinator, will receive an EarthDance Mission Award.  You can join in the celebration and show your support for Old North St. Louis Restoration Group’s comprehensive healthy food access initiatives.  The event is scheduled for this evening (Saturday, September 24th), 7 p.m.-11 p.m. at Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room.

Sarah Kate with customers in the Old North Grocery Co-op

Veronica at the North City Farmers Market

The EarthDance Mission Awards, inaugurated in 2008, honor ordinary Saint Louisans who embody the EarthDance mission: to grow and inspire local FARMS—Food, Art, Relationships, and Music, Sustainably!   Each year EarthDance recognizes a local farmer, artist, community activist and a musician, each of whom make our region socially dynamic, healthier, and more inspiring, in an eco-conscious manner.

The Mission Awards Ceremony is open to the public, and will feature tributes to each of the award winners, live musical performances from The Lulus of The Folk School of Saint Louis,  and The Phat NoiZ Blues Band, and dancing.

The 2011 EarthDance Mission Award winners were selected by a panel of judges consisting of: Kelly Childs of Slow Food STL; Jean Ponzi of The EarthWays Center; Roseann Weiss of RAC; and Lew Prince, founder of Vintage Vinyl Records.

Sarah Kate and Veronica were selected to receive the award in the “Community Activists” category.  The announcement from EarthDance explains:

The 2011 EarthDance Mission Award for Community Activism will be shared by Veronica Holden and Sarah Kate Buckles, partners in an effort to increase access to fresh food in Saint Louis’ Old North neighborhood. Buckles is the manager of the Old North Grocery Co-op, and Holden coordinates the adjoining 13th Street Community Garden. The garden’s ultra-local produce is sold affordably at the Grocery Co-op as well as the North City Farmers Market.  Most of the grocery’s waste products are recycled into mulch and fertilizer for the garden.  Holden and Buckles credit the Old North community for supporting both projects a great deal, and they are pleased that the EarthDance Mission Award will bring attention to the achievements of this north side neighborhood.

Veronica was hired by Old North St. Louis Restoration Group in 2009 with funding support from Missouri Foundation for Health to coordinate the then-newly established 13th Street Community Garden so that fresh, local produce would be available for the North City Farmers’ Market.  Sarah Kate was hired by ONSLRG in June of last year to manage the then soon-to-open Old North Grocery Co-op.  Sarah Kate’s position is also made possible by a separate grant from Missouri Foundation for Health.

So, if you see Veronica at the market or Sarah Kate at the co-op, be sure to congratulate them for this great honor.  Or, you can celebrate with them tonight.  Tickets to the EarthDance Mission Awards Ceremony are $15, and may be purchased at the door or in advance at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/189898.

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Join us THIS SATURDAY at North City Farmers’ Market

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