Category Archives: special events

Tropicanniversary For Real on March 15

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Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet or hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds, but it sure did mess with Tropicanniversary!

Snow and ice canceled our first date, and having to accommodate league bowlers who also got snowed out messed up the second date, so we’ve moved everything to a (hopefully) less snow-filled mid-March. March 15th to be exact.

Like our streets, everything remains iced so it stays fresh for you in March. The same great raffle prizes (like retro bowling shirts and kitchen accessories), the same reduced bowling rates (.95 cent shoe rental, for starters) and drink specials await us all. We’ll also announce a special Members-Only house party that takes place at the end of March. So plenty of reasons to sit tight until Mother Nature gets it right.

Official Modern StL T-shirts and decals also debut on March 15th.

St. Louis Mid-Century Modern Events

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If you love Mid-Century Modern architecture in general, and St. Louis’ stash of MCM specifically, then set your sites on this coming week. You have 2 opportunities to be with others like you.

# 1.

Modern StL makes it social debut on Thursday, November 18th, from 5 – 8 PM at Atomic Cowboy. Our group has put together 25 atomic-minded gift bags which will go the first 25 people who join up. There will be a raffle for two Geneva Jelly Watches. Meet the people who want you to be a part of celebrating St. Louis MCM (that would be the Board Members), and mix and mingle with other folks who absolutely have the best taste in design and architecture because they came out to support Modern StL.

#2.

I am very honored to be invited by the Landmarks Association to be the closing act of their  Mid-Century Modern Master Series. On Sunday, November 21st at 3 PM at Landmarks, I present St. Loves MCM: Embracing Recent Past Preservation.  This venerable organization describes it best on their website:

From Mad Men to Design Within Reach, it seems as if America is embracing mid-century modern (MCM) with a passion.  With the Arch as out global calling card, it’s time for St. louis to embrace and protect its MCM heritage.  Join Toby Weiss as she showcases some of St. Louis’ best MCM buildings and looks at ways to ensure their preservation.

The lecture will begin at 3:00 PM in the classroom at Architecture St. Louis at 911 Washington Avenue, Suite 170. Seating is limited to 50 people.  We strongly encourage reservations as we cannot guarantee seating without one.  To reserve a seat, please call 314.421.6474 or email: landmark@stlouis.missouri.org.

It is always a great pleasure to hear from and meet B.E.L.T. readers because we all have so much in common. Now in November, we have two chances to “Gabba gabba, we accept you, one of us!” I hope you can make it to one or (preferably!) both events.

B.E.L.T. is an RFT Best Of!!

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A huge, tears-of-joy sobbing thanks to the Riverfront Times for naming B.E.L.T. the Best Local Website.  And another round of gasping gratitude to all the Facebook friends who broke the news to me on my Wall. That gave me a bigger jolt than the espresso I’d yet finished.

This is especially poignant because I’ve been feeling guilty about not having enough time to post, lately. Plus, I’ve been working on my magnum opus – a mid-century modern study of Hampton Avenue – ALL of Hampton Avenue, which turns out to be much longer and much more cram-packed with MCM goodness than previously known.

I’ve got blisters on my feet from surveying it, the librarians now know me by name from all the City Directory research I’ve been doing, and there’s not enough hours in the day to complete it. And I wonder “WHY do I invest so much time in this avocation?” Then B.E.L.T. gets a nod like this, I feel all Sally Fields-Oscar inside and realize that my love for St. Louis is not a wasted effort.

Deeply, truly – thank you.

Join with City To River on August 18th

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On August 17th, 2010 we get to see the 5 design concepts for The Arch grounds. On Wednesday, August 18th, you should come to the Schlafly Tap Room to see the designs up close and leave your comments.

This event is sponsored by City To River, a grassroots coalition of St. Louis City residents who love our City so much that they are working overtime to make it even better than it already is. This makes me so proud that I get misty eyed. Seriously.

Ray Hartmann was right about City To River when he wrote in the August 2010 issue of St. Louis magazine:

“What’s most amazing about the idea (of removing the highway) is how it’s come forward as the evolving dream of a bunch of heretofore-unknown, regular-guy, not-all-that-connected citizen bloggers. I met with three of them – Rick Bonasch, Paul G. Hohmann and Alex Ihnen – and still can’t tell you who’s in charge. They are as ego-free as any group of activists I’ve met in three decades on the job.”

This Wednesday is your chance to meet these 3 stand-up guys (and all the other wonderful folks in the group), and to see and participate in the future of The Arch grounds and the strengthening of our beloved Matriarch of the Mississippi.

If you’re on Facebook, here’s the invite to the event.

And if all this wasn’t enough to draw you out, there’s also St. Louis Trivia, hosted by Matthew Mourning and Randy Vines!

This is the place to be on Wednesday, August 18th. I’ll see you there!

Cherokee Street Sidewalk Sale, June 27, 2010

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This Sunday, June 27th is the Cherokee Bizarre Bazaar & Flea Market, in the 2800 block of Cherokee Street. Be sure to walk a few blocks west and check out the Fort Gondo Sidewalk Sale, as well.

Fort Gondo‘s Galen is clearing out his basement cram-packed full of retro furniture, lamps, soda pop history and tandem bikes and throwing it out onto the sidewalk in front of his store.

Buy something from him during 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and your money does double good:  half goes to pay for nuptials, while the other half helps Friends of the San Luis pay down their last remaining dollars to the lawyers.

Stop by and buy at 3151 Cherokee Street, and tell ’em the ghost of the Hotel Deville sent ya.

Beer, Bands, Bricks & Kitsch

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New Additions to the Soulard Stable Hootenanny…

FILM

Bill Streeter will show am exclusive sneak preview of footage from his documentary Brick By Chance & Fortune: A St. Louis Story.
He’ll also air some of his favorite Lo-Fi Saint Louis clips.
Details straight from Streeter’s fingertips.

PRIZES

Galen Gondolfi of Fort Gondo is donating a choice pile of kitsch bric-a-brac as $1 a ticket raffle prizes.  Items will be on display and small enough to cart of while drunk, if you win one.

Michael Allen has a beautiful summary of why we’re fighting and celebrating.

What Anti-Wrecking Ball: Soulard Stable Hootenanny
Where Stahl Stable, 2412 Menard Street, 63104
When 8:00 p.m. this Saturday, May 22
Cost $10 benefits the Friends of the San Luis and the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation
Bands Union Electric, Leadville & Pretty Little Empire
Beer 2 Schlafly kegs

Soulard Stable Hootenanny, see ya there!

Come to the Soulard Stable Hootenanny, May 22

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Our journey through St. Louis City Preservation Rights is coming to an end, and with the final attorneys’ bill in hand, we’re throwing a party to pay that down and celebrate a small victory.

The story began with trying to save the San Luis from demolition. It came down.

The reasons it came down seemed in violation of laws already on the books, so we took it to court. The judge said we had no standing to protest this.

Because this was a gross misunderstanding of the laws already on the books, and because this ruling put future buildings in the same jeopardy, we took the case to the next highest court.

Here’s a news report of what went down in court the first week of May.
We’re waiting for the final written judgment, but our group who filed the suit – and our attorneys – are pleased with the tone of argument in court on that day, so we’re closing up shop on this particular preservation adventure. And we’re feeling good about the safety of the rights of St. Louisans to protect worthy buildings from bad decisions.

The Anti-Wrecking Ball crew would love for you to join us on Saturday, May 22, 2010 from 8 p.m. – 1 a.m. at the historic Stahl Stables in Soulard for some music, mirth, raffle prizes and beer!

$10 at the door gets you a beer and 3 kick ass St. Louis bands:
The Union Electric
Leadville
Pretty Little Empire

There will be cash kegs of Schlafly to drink from after you finish the complimentary brew, along with some raffle prizes and special features that are still being firmed up as we type.

All proceeds go to our noble and benevolent lawyers and the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation. So we can all get tipsy and rock out knowing we’ve all done our small part to protect our rights and the next building threatened by a wrecking ball.

If you’re on Facebook, here’s the official invite.
And click here for even more information.

Julius Shulman Film Releasing on DVD

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Guess what I just bought?
Yep, Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman releases on DVD May 25th. It has extra footage and deleted scenes, just as Eric Bricker promised when it was first shown here in November of 2008.

You can pre-order the DVD from now until May 25th, and it’s $25 flat, shipping and handling included. You’ll receive it 2-3 days after the 25th. Here’s where I went to order it, just now!

Yeah, I’m geeking out. But I’ve waited a long time to own this and freeze-frame till the remote fries out.

RELATED
B.E.L.T. Julius Shulman Compendium

Blogger Round Table, May 5, 2010

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I am jazzed about being invited to participate in one of the events during the week long Chautauqua Art Lab 2010. Learn more about all events happening this week.

At 7 PM on  Wednesday, shop drug May 5th at at the Open Lot in Lafayette Square (1310 S. 18th St., cheapest 63104) , 6 St. Louis built environment bloggers are gathering at the request of host Jordan Hicks to discuss “Built Environment | Blog Ecosystem | Media Landscape.”

The participating bloggers are:

Alex Ihnen of urbanSTL

Alderman Antonio French of PubDef

Jami Schoeneweis of 56 Houses Left

Michael Allen of Ecology of Absence

Rick Bonasch of STL Rising

…and me!

Questions being asked of us include: Who is our intended audience and how well do we reach them?  How do our online projects affect our professional positions? What set of ethics do we follow?

This event is free. We hope to see you there.

Lindell MCM Walking Tour, May 1st

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Saturday, May 1st, 2010 at 10 a.m

Join Michael Allen (Ecology of Absence) and myself for a walking tour of mid-century modern buildings on Lindell Boulevard in the Central West End, St. Louis, MO.

This second edition of our tour is part of the Open Streets 2010 event, and is co-sponsored by the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation.  This tour is free, while the knowledge and appreciation of Lindell’s thick and rich stock of MCM buildings is priceless.

Here’s an overview of some of the buildings you will see up close and narrated.

Meet us at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 1st, at the Pope statue in front of St. Louis University’s Pius XII Library, 3650 Lindell Boulevard (the Pius XII is a breathtaking MCM beauty – check it out here).

The official leg of the tour is from Pius XII to the former Housing Authority building (recently saved from the CVS wrecking ball) at Sarah & Lindell. We will take a short break stop, and continue with the unofficial portion of the tour from Sarah to Kingshighway.

Join us at 10 a.m., or catch up with us at any point on the walk. Look for a large group of people completely smitten with the mid-century modern treasures of the Central West End.  We look forward to sharing the riches with you!