One Last Invite to Join Us TOMORROW (Sat., May 18) for Old North House & Community Tour… AND Announcing Another Crown Square Commercial Tenant

We’re down to the last few hours before the big day, so we’ll issue one last invitation to all friends of Old North, former residents, current residents, fans of urban revitalization, advocates for sustainable development, historic preservationists, arts enthusiasts, and anyone who just happens to like Crown Candy Kitchen: please join us on Saturday between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. for our annual Old North House & Community Tour. The forecast shows beautiful weather for tomorrow.  Come on out to enjoy a pleasant stroll though the walkable, architecturally rich, historic neighborhood of Old North St. Louis.

It'll be a gorgeous day in Old North on Saturday, according to the hour by hour forecast from the experts at Weather.com.

For those who are new to St. Louis or just aren’t familiar with how neighborhood house tours work, here’s what you can expect from the Old North House & Community Tour:

The Old North House & Community Tour is a self-guided tour, so you’ll be able to use our tour booklet to decide which stops to visit and in what order - or you can visit all of the sites on the tour in the order presented in the booklet.  And, you’ll be able to go at your own pace, whether that means enjoying the nice, summery weather as you walk leisurely between stops or as you catch a free ride from one of the roving, environmentally- friendly bicycle rickshaws from St. Louis 3Wheel Taxi.

For more on what will be featured on the tour, take a look at our posts from Thursday (click HERE) and Tuesday (click HERE).

Registration for the tour - where you can buy tickets, trade in your already-bought tickets for the tour booklet or pick up tickets you purchased online - will be at the new and improved Crown Square corner plaza at the southwest corner of St. Louis Avenue and N. 14th Street, pictured below.

The first official performances on the plaza’s stage will take place immediately following a brief dedication ceremony at 10:30 a.m.   Scheduled to perform are local musician, poet, and spoken-word artist, Chris Ware, and later by Old North’s own favorite steel drum musician, Jamaica Ray.

We also want to share the reminder that the public is invited to celebrate the official start of work at the 5 Sustainable Land Lab projects in Old North, with a ceremony scheduled for 9 a.m. at 1318 Warren (just east of 14th Street at the south end of Crown Square).  Mayor Slay will be on hand to congratulate the winners of the competition, and representatives from all 5 of the projects will be present to show off their sites and discuss their projects.

Although the “day-of” ticket prices of $12 should go into effect after midnight, the advance ticket price of $10 can still be obtained by purchasing online up until about 6 a.m.  So act now!

And, now for some other big news we’re thrilled to share…

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FIRECRACKER PRESS ANNOUNCES PLANS TO SET UP SHOP AT CROWN SQUARE

Earlier today, Firecracker Press issued the following press release:

The Firecracker Press is excited to announce, in addition to its location at 2838 Cherokee Street, the expansion of a second location at 2612 North 14th Street, in Crown Square. The expansion will take place over the Summer of 2013 with a Grand Opening to be announced later this year.

Founded in St. Louis in 2002, The Firecracker Press has become a cultural institution for printmaking. With a gang of antique printing presses (some dating back to the 1800s), a rich collection of St. Louis printing history, and a talented group of designers and printers, The Firecracker Press has made its mark regionally and nationally. Handmade, letterpress posters for music and art shows, custom business cards, stationery, wedding invitations, and books are just a few of the things that The Firecracker Press crafts. Using printing presses that are found and restored, The Firecracker Press prints from hand-set wood/lead type and uses hand-carved woodblocks to create imagery that’s rooted in history yet freshly modern. Its Southside, Cherokee Street location will remain while The Firecracker Press plans to expand a rotating list of events, classes and demonstrations at the new Crown Square location.

The Firecracker Press location in Old North will be in the former Sobel Department Store building at 2612-24 N. 14th Street.

Their announcement further describes their plans for the space in the heart of Old North, just across Montgomery from Old North St. Louis Restoration Group’s office:

The new space, nearly 8000 sq. ft., will host a large collection of printing presses and tools, a retail storefront with a variety of posters and design-related home-goods, and a 100 person capacity venue for music, readings, and events. The Firecracker Press will continue to offer the same high quality, unique, independently minded services that have made them well-known. The expansion will also bring the opportunity to collaborate with other organizations including Old North Restoration Group and its affiliates, and with Studio STL, which will be sharing a portion of the space for its non-profit, children’s writing programs. The publishing arm of The Firecracker Press dovetails in exciting ways with the mission of Studio STL. An arts center for writers, thinkers, and makers will grow where The Firecracker Press and Studio STL overlap, with more to come.

For more details about The Firecracker Press and their plans for the space at Crown Square, click HERE to read the full news release.

The leasing of 2612-24 N. 14th Street follows the recent leasing of 2606-08 N. 14th to Blackmun Footcare, which opened just last month, and the leasing of 2601 N. 14th to Kennedy’s Pet Shop, which is now in the midst of interior build-out.  Both Blackmun Footcare and Kennedy’s Pet Shop will be open for tours on Saturday.

With just a few spaces left, anyone interested in leasing commercial space at Crown Square should contact leasing agent Susan Sauer of Duffe-Nuernberger Realty by phone at 314-571-7654 or by email at ssauer@ndconsulting.com.

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Rain Postpones Land Lab Groundbreaking But Can’t Dampen Enthusiasm & National Exposure

Due to the drizzly weather today, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Sustainable Land Lab project has been postponed until a later date.  Watch for details later on the re-scheduled date.

Despite the rain, work crews from some of the Land Lab projects were on-site today to begin transforming the empty lots into attractive and functional demonstrations of positive re-uses of vacant land in the city.

The Mighty Mississippians crew was willing to brave the elements to begin planting on the lot at 13th and Montgomery.

The Bistro Box team installed a signboard to show visitors what will be coming to the northeast corner of 13th and Montgomery.

Although the ceremonial kick-off didn’t happen, that hasn’t stopped the buzz and outside interest in the project.  Yesterday the American Public Radio program, Marketplace, broadcast a story about the Land Lab on public radio stations across the country (including St. Louis Public Radio, 90.7 FM).  Click on the image below (or HERE) to read the text version of the story or to listen to the story online.

Thank you to St. Louis Public Radio reporter Adam Allington for getting this story out to the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, at the corner of N. 14th Street and St. Louis Avenue, work is being completed on a major upgrade to the Crown Square plaza space across the street from Crown Candy Kitchen.

Made possible with financial support from Equifax Foundation and the Regional Business Council, the project was planned and coordinated by Rebuilding Together St. Louis.  Volunteer crews fromScottrade and Equifax put in a lot of labor over the past few days to achieve these great improvements.

With covered outdoor seating, we look forward to attracting some of the customers at Crown Candy who just can’t wait for a table inside and other visitors to the community.  And, the covered stage area will also be a great amenity for our live music and other performers who come out to the North City Farmers’ Market and other events throughout the year.

Thank you again to all of the volunteers, Equifax, Scottrade, Rebuilding Together St. Louis, and all who contribute their time and resources to help us beautify and improve Old North!

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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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Happy Holidays from Old North…& Part 1 of an Award-Winning Year in Review

As we wish you all a belated Merry Christmas and best wishes for the holiday season, this is also a good time to thank all of our friends, partners, and supporters who helped make possible another full year of events, awards, and new business openings in Old North.

Among the top stories of 2011, perhaps the biggest was the news that…

OLD NORTH’S POPULATION GREW BY 28% OVER THE PAST DECADE

The Census Bureau released figures showing that Old North had reversed at least a half century-trend of population losses and actually grew by 28% between 2000 and 2010.  We start off with that bit of news because no matter how impressive anything else might be, Old North wouldn’t be a viable or sustainable community without people wanting to live there.

This achievement was made possible due to the efforts of many people and organizations over many years.  Part of the credit no doubt goes to the good folks at the Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance (RHCDA) who agreed to partner with ONSLRG in producing housing units in parts of the neighborhood where no one was living in 2000.  It would seem to be obvious that a change from 0 residents at a particular parcel of land to ANY residents at all would result in a population gain, especially when multiplied numerous times throughout the neighborhood.  However, at least one published report about the neighborhood’s growth generated a few of skeptical comments from readers who clearly have not been in the neighborhood at all or at least in a long while.

While there’s no need to respond to every skeptic out there, it’s occasionally encouraging for us and our supporters to demonstrate what the changes have looked like in Old North.  And since a lot of our more recent photographic evidence has focused on vacant buildings transformed into nicely rehabbed homes, the following shots show new houses that have sprung up on formerly empty lots.

Other than the bragging rights that come along with positive Census numbers, more people also means more people power for community building.  We’re not just improving the streetscape of the neighborhood, we’re infusing the community with more social capital.  And for that, part of the credit goes to the long-term residents who have created a welcoming atmosphere that attracts others from outside the community, including many who could choose almost anywhere in the region.  So, part of the credit also goes to the people who have made that choice to move into a community that is still a work in progress and have quickly joined the efforts to make the community a better place.

This has been good news for Old North, but also good news for the City of St. Louis as a whole because some of these people have moved into Old North from outside the city limits - or even from outside the St. Louis Metro area.  People such as:

Nevels & Eulonda Nevels and their daughters, who moved into Old North from Richmond Heights.  The Nevels family contributed not only to the quality of life in Old North but also to the whole city through Eulonda’s job with the YWCA and Nevels’ teaching job at St. Louis Public Schools, which selected him as their “Teacher of the Year” for 2011.  (Watch for a future blog post about that later.)

Chicago native Tino Ochoa & his wife, Zoila Rendon.  Tino has taken on many volunteer responsibilities over the past 8 years or so in Old North, and because of his commitment and passion, he was recruited to serve as chair of ONSLRG’s social outreach committee, then to serve as a member of the executive committee, and most recently as ONSLRG’s Board President, while juggling law school, and now, his more than full-time job with law firm of Bryan Cave.  Meanwhile, when not supervising social work practicum students working for ONSLRG, Zoila has put her MSW to work at other non-profits, most recently assisting BJC Hospital.

Graham & Viveca Lane, who moved to Old North from Kansas - and quickly shared their discovery with a national audience through an article published in Money Magazine in January of 2008.  While Viveca has been answering the call of duty in the airs over foreign lands (including Libya), Graham has contributed countless hours of service to the community through neighborhood clean-ups, building-board-ups, various construction chores at the Old North Grocery Co-op, and as a board member - and now Board Vice President - with ONSLRG.

Ben & Heidi Sever, who moved into Old North from Webster Groves.  As an attorney and jewelry-maker, Ben and Heidi could have taken their talents just about anywhere, but they chose to move into Old North so that they could bring life and charm back to a crumbling, city-owned empty shell of a building on N. 19th Street, and chronicle the thrills and challenges along the way through a cool blog with a name that reflected the condition of the building at the time they took it on:  www.3walls.net.  While Heidi brought a new jewelry-making business to the city, Ben has contributed much of his time to various neighborhood initiatives, and as chair of ONSLRG’s Real Estate Committee, has overseen (with Graham Lane) improvement efforts that require healthy doses of muscle and sweat (and thus, this band of volunteers has earned the name, The Macho Action Group).

Old North’s new residents have arrived from different directions and taken different paths that led to their new homes on the north side of the city, but the common denominators for many have been a desire to live in a community that is in the midst of a revitalization — and a desire to get involved with that process.  That doesn’t happen by chance.  Attracting people with talent and a sense of responsibility takes a lot of time and effort.  Marketing the community, providing assistance to current and prospective residents, and facilitating opportunities to get involved are just a few pieces of what Old North St. Louis Restoration Group does in pursuing a mission to “revitalize the physical and social dimensions of Old North in a manner that respects the community’s historic, cultural, and urban character.”  ONSLRG wouldn’t be able to do that work without consistent financial support over many years, including from the City’s Community Development Administration, and more individual, corporate, and foundation contributors than can be named in this space.  THANK YOU to all who have supported this ambitious agenda.  And, if you feel compelled to help us continue that work throughout the coming year, please click HERE to make a secure, online tax-deductible contribution.

Check back tomorrow for more of our list of highlights from 2011.

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Smart Growth Award Attracts Media Spotlight & Other Positive Buzz for Old North

Since the announcement on Thursday that the revitalization of Old North had won this year’s Overall Excellence in Smart Growth Achievement from EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities, a number of news outlets and various websites and blogs have covered the story.

To see the video about Old North that was prepared for the award ceremony, click HERE.  In addition to Sean Thomas of ONSLRG, the video features comments from Archie Cole, owner of Head Hunters Barber & Beauty Salon; Veronica Holden, neighborhood resident and owner of La Mancha Coffeehouse; Graham Lane, neighborhood resident; and Maria Falconer, owner of Rambles Gift Gallery & Boutique.

Local radio stations St. Louis Public Radio and KMOX, aired stories about the award, and a couple of Post-Dispatch columnists (Deb Peterson and Tim Bryant) reported about it on their blogs (although the Post didn’t cover it in their print edition), as did the St. Louis American (which highlighted a congratulatory message from Congressman Lacy Clay).  Meanwhile, the St. Louis Beacon will include the news about the award in a more comprehensive article on the neighborhood, coming soon.

As visitors to ONSLRG’s Facebook page know, the most upbeat statement about Old North getting the Smart Growth Award, however, came from a source well outside the St. Louis area.  Kaid Benfield is one of the nation’s leading advocates for smart growth and someone whose job is to think about these issues related to sustainable development.  As director of the Sustainable Development & Smart Growth Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C., Kaid reports on policies, programs, and developments across the country, as well as in other parts of the world.  After attending the awards ceremony in Washington on Thursday, Kaid wrote an article on “The Best Smart Growth Projects in America,” and referred to Old North as “one of the country’s very best revitalizing neighborhoods.”

The article by Kaid Behfield featured a photo of ONSLRG Board President Tino Ochoa and former 5th Ward Alderwoman April Ford Griffin at the 2010 Old North House Tour.

Noting that his enthusiasm has grown since first learning about Old North a few years ago (from former ONSLRG board president John Burse), Kaid added the following assessment:

“Although Old North was all-too-recently considered by many to be a place to avoid, there is nowhere in the region that this writer would now rather be.”

and…

“We are lucky to have other great revitalization stories in America, but I don’t know a better one.”

For the full story, click HERE.

Thanks again to all who made this award possible, including a long list of outside partners and supporters, the board and staff of Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, and most of all, the determined, resilient, and generous residents of Old North who have contributed their time, energy, ideas, and passion over many years.

The Smart Growth Achievement Award recognizes the accomplishments to date and the process that got us here, but by no means does it mean that the job is done.  If you’d like to help us continue the revitalization of Old North, click HERE to make a tax-deductible contribution or click HERE to learn more about volunteer opportunities.

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Old North St. Louis Selected for National Award for Excellence in Smart Growth Achievement

This morning in Washington, D.C., the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Sustainable Communities announced that the revitalization of Old North St. Louis is the winner of the 2011 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement.  The National Award for Smart Growth Achievement recognizes communities that have successfully used the principles of smart growth to preserve and enhance their quality of life while helping to protect public health and the environment.  Of the five projects or communities selected for awards this year, Old North was recognized with the Award for Overall Excellence in Smart Growth.  St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and Old North St. Louis Restoration Group executive director Sean Thomas were on-hand to receive the award from John Frece, Director of EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities.

The Award for Overall Excellence in Smart Growth is the highest award under this program and “recognizes an outstanding comprehensive approach to growth, including built projects, supportive plans and policies, and effective community participation,” according to the selection committee.  The committee further notes that “This award is for the best overall approach to implementing smart growth on a variety of fronts—not just for a single plan or project, but at the neighborhood, corridor, city, county, or regional level.”  Last year’s Overall Excellence award recognized collaborative efforts among New York City’s Departments of Transportation, Health, Design & Construction, and Planning toward improving that city’s livability.

Among the factors that contributed to Old North’s selection was the neighborhood’s 28% population increase over the past decade.  A winning project not only shows that a comprehensive approach is in place, but that it has significant impacts.  Because the overall achievement award is not for one specific project but for the collaborative and strategic efforts over several years, credit for this achievement goes out to a wide range of groups and individuals who worked together on multiple projects.  On behalf of the Board and staff of the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, we especially thank the residents of Old North who, over many years, have scraped together limited resources and put in countless hours of service to the community.

Specific initiatives that have contributed to the neighborhood-wide revitalization include the $35 million, 27-building Crown Square redevelopment of the former 14th Street Pedestrian Mal, and with it, 80 new households in an area that had largely abandoned and a growing number of new locally-owned businesses; the new homes at North Market Place and the historically-rehabbed North Market Apartments, which salvaged 9 previously crumbling, abandoned buildings; the cultivation and maintenance of community gardens throughout the neighborhood; the North City Farmers’ Market; and last year’s opening of the community-owned Old North Grocery Co-op.

Partners who have worked with ONSLRG to help make these great things happen include multiple agencies of City of St. Louis (such as the Community Development Administration, St. Louis Development Corporation, Land Reutilization Authority, Planning & Urban Design Agency, Cultural Resources Office), Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance, University of Missouri-St. Louis and MU-Extension; Missouri Foundation for Health, Ken & Nancy Kranzberg, Gateway Greening, Operation Brightside… and so many more than can be listed here.

Although this award recognizes past achievements, the real benefit is that it will help shed more light on an area that has even greater potential for more growth.  In fact, the work to continue the revitalization is already in progress.

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Crown Square Wins Another National Award

On November 15, the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association announced that Old North’s Crown Square redevelopment of the former 14th Street Mall was among the winners of their annual J. Timothy Anderson Awards for Excellence in Historic Rehabilitation.   At the awards ceremony in Boston, NHRA presented the award for “Best Historic Rehabilitation Utilizing New Markets Tax Credits” to Crown Square.

According to NHRA’s website, the J. Timothy Anderson Awards “honor outstanding rehabilitation and preservation projects based on several criteria, including overall design and quality, interpretation and respect of historic elements, and market success.”   The $35 million Crown Square development was made possible with New Markets Tax Credits, which were used as part of the complex array of financing for the portion of the project that included commercial spaces and the market rate apartments along the 2600 and 2700 blocks of N. 14th Street.

Crown Square was developed by a partnership of Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance, with E. M. Harris Construction Co. as the general contractor and Rosemann & Associates as the project architect.

For information about the award-winning residential spaces, contact the Kohner Properties management office for Crown Square at 314-588-7267 (or send an email to crownsquare@kohner.com).  For leasing information about the commercial spaces, contact Susan Sauer of Duffe-Nuernberger Realty at 314-571-7654 (or send an email to ssauer@ndconsulting.com).

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Crown Square Featured on National Trust for Historic Preservation Blog

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has put the spotlight on the Crown Square redevelopment of the former 14th Street pedestrian mall once again with a feature on the NTHP’s PreservationNation blog earlier this week.  Click HERE to see the post that ran on Feb. 15 as part of the NTHP’s series on projects that received awards at the National Preservation Conference on Oct. 29, 2010.

As noted in our post on October 19, Crown Square was selected for their National Trust/HUD Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation.

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Old North Flickr Set Features Highlights from 2010

The collection of Old North photos on Flickr now includes a set dedicated to highlights from the activities and events of 2010.  Check it out by clicking here.

Some of these photos will be included in the slideshow of 2010 highlights that will happen at the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group’s Annual Meeting & Pot-Luck Supper, which will start at 6 p.m. on Monday evening.

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National Spotlight on Old North & How YOU Can Help Us Continue Revitalizing the Neighborhood

First National Public Radio shared the story of the Old North Grocery Co-op with their listeners across the nation on August 12.  (If you missed it, you can still read the transcript and/or listen to it on NPR’s website - and we owe a special thanks to Veronique LaCapra of St. Louis Public Radio for bringing the story to the attention of the producers at NPR).  Now, the Crown Square project is catapulting us into the national spotlight once again. 

Marvo Entertainment Group, an independent documentary production company, came to the Crown Square ribbon-cutting / street fest on July 29 and is using their footage from that as a promotional piece for their upcoming national television series on community revitalization efforts across the country.  This 5 minute video is currently posted on their website as a representation of the approach they’ll be taking in their national television series, and eventually will become a part of a full-length episode that will air on TV stations throughout the nation.  In the meantime, you can watch it and re-live the excitement of that evening right here: Promo for Old North St. Louis on America Revisited. Thank you to Marvo Entertainment (especially Sam Koltinsky) and Ironbridge Productions for selecting Old North as the starting off point for their new series. 

If you found that video inspirational and would like to see more redevelopment throughout Old North St. Louis, we’ve got a simple way you can help make that happen.  We’ve registered Old North in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “This Place Matters” challenge.   With just a few clicks on your computer, you can help ONSLRG earn $25,000 to continue our efforts to save and preserve endangered historic buildings in Old North.  To vote for ONSLRG in this national challenge, start by by clicking on this link to the ONSLRG page on the This Place Matters website.

Once you’ve cast your vote for ONSLRG, you can help us spread the word by forwarding the link to everybody in your contacts folder.  And if you’ve got Facebook or Twitter accounts, feel free to use those vehicles to encourage even more people to vote for us on the This Place Matters challenge.

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