Toby Weiss | B.E.L.T.

07/06/200504/01/2018

The Doors of St. Louis Hills

St. Louis Hills is so enchanting, so perfect that it’s like being on a movie set. A sweet, nostalgic movie about the perfect city neighborhoods your grandparents lived in. Or being on a television show set, that lost episode of Family Affair where swinging city bachelor Bill decides Buffy & Jody need greenery and open air, but it must be in an urban setting.

It’s a gorgeous place, the architecture alone is deserving of the coffee table book treatment. The houses distinctly divide into two characters: pre-WW2 and post-WW2. If it were an album, it’d be Heart’s Dog & Butterfly. On the “Dog” side, there’s one really cool and queer detail that needs a spotlight: The Doors!

Most all of these ranch houses appear to have been originally built with matching front and garage doors. Decades of home improvements have sullied the mix, but enough remain to turn hunting for them into a leisurely sport.

Biking through the neighborhood on a holiday weekend morning, I collected as many doors as I could without making anyone uncomfortable. They are hastily taken, usually in poor lighting, and lots of the (most choice) garage doors were up because the owners were working in and/or out of them. I don’t have the time or the funds to do it properly, but still, it had to be done, because I just love them so damn much.

FRONT DOORS

GARAGE DOORS

MATCHED SETS!

Special Note: Architecturally, the North Side & South Side of St. Louis City have many mirroring neighborhoods, but not nearly as many Door examples remain in the North. I’ve also seen versions in both North & South County, but nowhere is there a better concentration than St. Louis Hills Estates.

07/04/200506/20/2017

Independent Shoes

Trautwein’s Shoes
5227 Gravois, St. Louis, MO
Along the business section of Gravois in the shadow of Bevo Mill, storefront buildings are springing back to life thanks to the Bosnians, and the older businesess that have hung on up to this restoration renaissance.

But Trautwein’s closed sometime during the summer of 2003, and no one can figure out what to do with “the body.” The display window is a haunting reminder of what used to be, with shoes, decorations and declarations trapped like flies in prehistoric amber.

The mounted and laminated article in the window is from an April 12, 1989 South Side Journal, celebrating the shoe store’s 100 years of business. They moved from South Broadway to this Gravois location in 1923. In late 2002, I coveted a pair of shoes in the window and walked into buy them. It was like walking back into a time I’m too young to truly know, but the sense memory was overwhelming. One of the old men told me the shoe I wanted was not available in my size – check back in about a month when the new shipments come in. By the time I remembered to “check back,” the place was permanently closed.

While taking the above picture in summer 2004, the owner of a carpet business across the street came over to see what I was up to, and he filled me in. The elder Trautwein had died, the slightly less elder Trautwein was about to, and his daughter just didn’t know what to do about the store. Carpet Man then went into a mean-spirited diatribe about how Bosnians “buy all this stuff up,” and he wasn’t too pleased when I pointed out how they’ve brought this business section back to life with that horrible “buying up” habit of theirs.

Late fall 2004, and vandals busted in the front door, so now it’s borded up. Summer 2005, a deep mound of trash collects in front of the door. Somehow, some of the display shoes have toppled over, and the windows are beyond grimey. The daughter’s lack of activity has turned this place into a heartbreaking shrine, a fading momento of another era. It’s an unfitting ending; someone needs to show some respect and bury the body.
Before the door boarded up, I got this photo of the interior:

This just breaks my heart…literally.

Former Dreamland Shoe, Co.
Business District, Maplewood, MO
In 2002 (about a year before Trautwein’s demise), Dreamland was “Forced To Vacate After 53 Years.” At the time, a man at the hardware store a few doors down told me the building’s landlord had bigger plans that brought in bigger money. From the “after” picture (above, right) we see that T. Rohan Interiors expanded into the space.

Before it disappeared, I took quite a few shots of it, and in the process learned from a passerby that Dreamland was once supposedly a favorite of local drag queens because they specialized in large-size women’s shoes when no one else did.

While composing a daytime color shot, the owner unexpectedly walked out of his store and into the frame. I was stunned by this serendipitous event, and tried to say something, but I was overcome with sadness for him, and choked up. At least I have the photos of what he once had.

07/03/200504/01/2018

Odds ‘n Sods

New Target Under Construction
Hampton & Chippewa, St. Louis City
As a person who procures rather than shops, I only care about retail if it’s dead or dying, but the sight of the new Target going up makes me happy. I prefer to spend my money within the city limits, and with this store down for renovation, I’ve had to either drive to the county for necessities and sundries, or go to Walgreen’s. Aside from Walgreen’s being over-priced, they have a propensity for devouring south side bowling alleys, so I’m real uncomfortable about shopping there. I never realized how important that one city Target was to my financial, political and geographical life until it was gone. October 9th can’t come soon enough!

Major Brands’ Warehouse
Southwest Ave. @ Hwy 44
A section of aluminum siding came loose, exposing the glass that’s hidden beneath it. Every time I pass it, I imagine the very moment the siding came off…
Blasts of sunlight found the workers within, all of them looking up quizzically to the rays of light pouring through the tiny rectangle patch. Then their eyes twinkled with hope as a celestial choir sang of the beauty of blue skies, fresh air and natural light.

Directly behind the beverage distributor’s warehouse is the exact same version belonging to BSI Construction . They decided to leave the rows of glass exposed, and it’s a handsome reminder of America’s factory architecture, which had a utilitarian grace of its own. All that natural light cuts down on the lighting bills, operable windows can cut down on cooling bills. Nowadays, these kinds of measures are called Green Architecture; it used to be plain old common sense.

Revisiting Inappropriate in Brentwood
It now has a For Sale sign up, meaning it’s a spec house. Suprised, because I assumed it was being built for a specific childless family, since it has no backyard at all.

About 3 blocks south of this intersection, at High School Road & Litzsinger, are some completed houses that sprang up from a teardown. Since this market trend is only getting stronger, I hope other developers can be as conscientious about what they insert into existing neighborhoods as the developers who built the examples below. The scale, proportion and placement of surrounding homes was taken into consideration, and the new houses have made a genial effort to slide in gently. Here’s proof that it can be done appropriately, which makes the inappropriate even more offensive.

07/01/200512/02/2025

Behlmann Farms

A tad north of Jamestown Mall in Florissant, case MO, medicine the Behlmann family’s horse farm was sacrificed so another Insta-Suburb (just add water and sod) could help tame the greenery problem that has plagued this part of the county for over a century.

After the horror of construction crews ripping out hundreds of mature trees, it was easy to ignore this settlement going up, because it looked like more of the same. But at the entrance to the fledgling Behlmann Farms (did the family insist their name be used, or is it just the tradition of naming a place after the feature exterminated?) standing far apart from the rest of the class is this unusual structure:

I say “unusual” because it’s actually very attractive. One could go so far as to call it Italianate without the slightest bit of sarcasm. The developer somehow got the courage to revive the grand tradition of American Revivals, a roughly 100 year period in our country’s residential history where homes were based on various centuries of European architecture.

Everything else in the subdivision (above left) follows the played-out trend of too much windowless vinyl rudely interrupted with some off-color remarks by sheets of brick façade, and don’t forget that the garage is waaay more important than the front entrance. McBride & Son did throw a bone of courtesy to mailmen when they constructed these lovingly crafted Mailbox Kiosks (above right). But these examples further highlight just how special the model home is:

It has a detached 3-car garage building and its own mailbox! This one house is staging its own Urban Retro Revolution, and if I had truckloads of disposable cash, I’d have even more of these houses built, just to keep that freak flag flyin’… until I saw this on the very back side:

WHAT?!?!?!?!
Did they exhaust the brick budget too early? Is there a zoning law that requires a certain amount of vinyl must be used? Did they purposely design this to be the chive on the tooth? What is the logic behind this? Look, if someone is going to pay nearly $300K for this house, the least they could do is carry out the brick theme on all sides of the house!
Man, talk about getting’ punked…

06/26/200506/22/2017

Busch Stadium Farewell

Last Season at Busch Stadium
Downtown St. Louis, MO
Breaking down the elements into outline form, I aesthetically love the current Busch Stadium because it lends a delicate airiness to the Lego blocks of the downtown skyline. The beginnings of the new (to the left, above) juxtaposed with the old stadium highlights Chunky vs. Sleek, and considering how huge our bodies, cars and houses are, a chunky new stadium makes perfect sense.

In the Spring of 2003, I was part of a small committee who tried to save Busch Stadium. A new stadium was going to be built, but we came up with alternate uses for the existing stadium, in hopes of keeping it and incorporating it into “Stadium Village” (any more word on that promise?). If the owners had situated the new place just a few blocks further south, the existing place could have served as St. Louis’ version of the Roman Coliseum. History preserved and reutilized for all manner of public events, retail and restaurant establishments, and a natural meeting and hanging place. The owners could have saved millions on demolition costs, and still made money from rental fees.

During this same time, I had a marketing job interview with a downtown architecture firm. Half way through the interview, it was revealed that the firm was part of the stadium demolition team, and thrilled to be partnered with the powerhouse HOK because of it. My gut reaction was “I’m staring into the eyes of Beelzebub,” and I mentally shut down, purposely steering the interview into the ground. Even though I was desperately unemployed, I didn’t want to be considered for the job.

I’ve never been down with the concept of allowing sports and retail profits to dictate civic and community evolution. Old vs. new, this story is filled with truth, propaganda and sentimentality. It was the sentimental angle that brought me to the ball park on Saturday night to visit the place one last time, take tons of photos, and say goodbye.

I choked up quite a few times while reflecting on both my personal past with the stadium, and the glorious baseball history that’s soaked into the concrete walls. I got lost in the sad poetry of crudely painted RedBirds (above left) and historic home run spots (above right) that won’t – and can’t -make it to the new stadium.

And I’ve never taken for granted these views from the stadium. No matter the decade, it’s always thrilled, even when a particular game didn’t. The arc, the Arch, the sweep and swirl of energy, and all the pieces that combine to turn a structure into the nucleus of a proud and glamorous era.
I don’t want to give this up.
Why are we giving this up?
Yes, I know the truth, the propaganda and the spreadsheets, and I resent the owners’ tugging on this city’s raging sentimental streak as they milk this season’s long goodbye. But I suppose there’s money to be made from that, too.

Speaking of money, I highly doubt that I will ever pay to see a game in the new stadium because A) I won’t be able to afford it, and B) I refuse to put my money in their coffers because C) we all originally voted against this idea. If someone pays my way, I’ll visit the Retro Brick Theme Park, and stare wistfully off into the distance where the last graceful cookie cutter stood, remembering how much I loved the old place… It’s going to be a long, mournful summer, and a bittersweet fall (since the Cards will go the distance).

06/22/200504/01/2018

Don’t Try This At Home

Elaine, at Studio Staicoff in Portland, wrote:
“I especially liked the photo of the Royale bike rack. (though it’s begging for a graffiti addition…is there a pool to see how fast it’ll happen? See attached.)”

“With your permission, I would like to forward it to my friends at the Bicycle Transportation Alliance here in Portland. They’re a non-profit advocacy group that does good things for bicyclists in Oregon. I’m a member, and I’m volunteering on a project with them. I sit on a citizens advisory committee that is overseeing a major downtown mass transit improvement project. I’m representing the BTA and bicyclist interests on the project. So I get to say things like…”we need cool bike racks and here’s an example of one.”
Do you know who made the Royale rack?”

Does someone know exactly who crafted – and designed – the rack?

06/21/200504/01/2018

Celebrate STL

Original Keller Drugs marquee
Photo by Ken Konchel
In a previous post, helpful commentators filled in the missing info on the Hardt Building, and I finally found the photo of the old sign. It’s from the postcard version of a print by my absolute favorite architectural photographer under the age of 90 (Julius Shulman being my favorite, and he’s about 93), Ken Konchel.
Big bear hugs to Mr. Konchel for gladly allowing me permission to run his photo.

The Royale
South Kingshighway @ Juniata, St. Louis, MO
They installed the coolest bike rack!!!
It’s advertising and public art for the new tavern, and convenient for imbibing urban bikers. All this without being forced to do so by laws we don’t have. Well played, and much appreciated.

James S. McDonnell Planetarium
Forest Park, St. Louis, MO
It’s the first day of summer, and I’m all aquiver with excitement over Mother Nature’s promise, when the one thing that stopped me dead in my tracks was the man-made Planetarium. It’s such a pure shape, elegant in its simplicity.
To my mind, the STL Modern Troika is the Arch, the Planetarium and Busch Stadium. They represent a 5-year period where St. Louis made assured and cultured statements with its civic architecture. For a brief moment, our city was emboldened by the future, and on this gorgeous summer day, I saw this sight (above), and felt the same.

06/19/200504/01/2018

Inappropriate in Brentwood

High School Road & Lawn Avenue
Brentwood, MO
There’s an imposing, sore thumb underway in the heart of suburban Brentwood. A subtle, horizontally meandering ranch (much like the one remaining across the street) went up for sale, and someone bought it to do that trendy Teardown thing.

The trouble with Teardowns is precisely described here, and this intersection neatly captures the concept. A mixture of appropriately scaled bungalows, ranches, 1.5-story and 2-story homes get a dose of steroids in the form of a new construction that could be described as…well, Post-Modern Greek Colonial Federal Anti-Lawn Revival. While it’s no taller than the houses directly next door to the west, it does have that bloated, too-much-high-fructose-corn-syrup look common to deep West County McMansion developments.

That the new construction is trying to elbow the other houses out of the way is most evident when approaching the house from the back (pictured below). Heading north on High School Rd., first you see a long row of garage doors spring out of a cluster of trees, then 2 gigantic bay windows pop out like Double D’s on Olive Oyl. Mere feet away from the stop sign intersection, and you can literally feel the compression, a massive wall of doors and windows slamming into the street, threatening to bulldoze the bungalow across from it.
Every time I drive past, my left shoulder instinctively flinches away to keep from hitting it. I worry that the neighbor’s vegetation might not adapt to having the sun blocked out. Does the rest of the neighborhood find this is a welcome addition?

06/16/200506/22/2017

Northland Shopping Center

Northland Shopping Center
Lucas-Hunt Road & West Florissant, Jennings, MO
Northland is a personal and architectural obsession of mine. If you want back story and photos, go here. An architect pal o’mine understands my obsession, and I thank him for publishing wreckage updates when I couldn’t bear to. In this space, I will visit various aspects of Northland’s demise, but for this moment, some hard news.

Wednesday, June 15th was the Ambassador’s last night of business at Northland. They are still trying to find a new location, and are even contemplating building a new place from scratch since relocating has turned into more of a hassle than anticipated.

As Northland dies and Buzz Westfall’s Plaza on the Boulevard rises from the ashes, Sansone is actively recruiting tenants to fill in the details of what Target and Schnucks will anchor. The Ambassador (and a subsidiary of Spruill’s International Catering) wanted to sign on with the Plaza, which seems like a win/win situation for all parties involved.

But the Ambassador was given a “no thanks.”
London’s Wing House – a successful outlot building nestled right into the West Florissant and Lucas-Hunt corner – must also leave (and this, after the owner dropped a big chunk of change on remodeling).

The Ambassador, Spruill’s and London’s Wing House are privately owned minority businesses with a sizeable and loyal clientele. They kept Northland alive for the last several years. But they are not corporate chains, so they are not welcome at Buzz Westfall’s Plaza on the Boulevard.

Even though this news doesn’t shock me, it still really pisses me off.

06/14/200504/01/2018

Cycling & Religion

At the southern-most start of the Riverfront bike trail stand these majestic piles of…what? Not sand…the white pile looks like finely ground rock. But the blue pile? I just don’t yet know what they are. Anyway, the sheer height and weight of the white mountain against a gorgeous azure and fluffy white sky was a spiritual moment, and reminded me of this:

Church roof at Old Halls Ferry & Redman Road
Black Jack, MO
The church has changed names and denominations many times over the years, so forgive me for not keeping track of proper names. This roof is a North County landmark, especially at Christmas time, when spotlights alternate green and red across the spires. To those of us who grew up in North County, we took this futuristic sight for granted. It was simply a natural part of the topography, much like the big white pile on the bike trail. Biking and religion made a connection in my heart, now a convert.

In that vein, the Urban Review has a fine series of what I call “The Bike Rack Rants.” I’ve assembled the results; it’s an entertaining must-read for urban bikers.