Seen today

A lone green flier in support of Willie Marshall's campaign for Mayor blew against the locked revolving door to the currently-vacant first-floor space, once home to Grand National Bank, at the Continental Life Building in Midtown.

Down in Ward 25

We attended the debate tonight between 25th ward aldermanic candidates Dorthy Kirner (incumbent) and Steve Patterson. Whoa, what a cakewalk for Patterson! Kirner stumbled on even a simple fact like the address of a new daycare. She was dismissive of Patterson but obviously had not prepared for the debate; Patterson routed her at every turn, correcting her sloppy facts with precise details of the ward. At one point Kirner stated that sommon people shouldn't be allowed to serve on a police oversight board, getting the vocal response of an audience member that common people put the Kirners into office. Patterson made great points and continued his smart strategy of using the race to broadcast the importance of revitalizing the southside wards that are the hard-hit cast-offs of the 2001 redistricting: wards 20 and 25. Hopefully, he'll find victory next Tuesday so that the ward can be rid of the tired machine and its frontwoman Kirner.

By the way, Steve wrote in his campaign blog today:

"At this point I think it is safe to assume we will not see someone reopen [Western Lanes] as a bowling alley. We do need to think, as a community, what we'd like to see occupy the space."

Some news today.

OVER AT THE CENTURY BUILDING SITE

Masons are working quickly to close up the holes in the Syndicate Trust Building. Meanwhile, the Century basement is entirely excavated. The parking garage will sit on the basement floor, which will not be removed. So some part of the 1897 building will live on for the 60 years it will take for the parking garage replacement to collapse.

Oh, and the renderings of the replacement garage continue to show less and less detail. Perhaps the plan is to make the Old Post Office look better by building the ugliest downtown garage ever next to it.

THE LITTLE BUILDING THAT DIDN'T

Wreckers recently demolished the two-story storefront building directly north of Uncle Bill's Pancake House on South Kingshighway. The little building, respledent with braided terra cotta columns and other details, was the only traditional storefront building remaining between Connecticut (near Arsenal) and Beck (near Chippewa) streets. The building fell for a an expansion of the Uncle Bill's parking lot. Across the street, QuickTrip is building yet another new location.

PROGRESS, IN MY BOOK

A new Big Lots has opened in the once-moribund plaza at Kingshighway and Devonshire, behind the Department of Motor Vehicles office.

BUT WAIT!

Arch City Chronicle reports that both Payless and OfficeMax in the St. Louis Marketplace are closing.

THEM KIENLEN BUNGALOWS

I love the one-story bungalows lining Kienlen Avenue north of Martin Luther King Boulevard. They are sturdy and simple, and due to road expansions now sit almost directly on the sidewalk line.

IRENE AND DARLENE -- AND MIKE

I am spotting lots of paired Irene Smith for Mayor and Darlene "Unopposed" Green for Comptroller signs, including some in Shaw. In Ward 19, the pair often gets a third wheel -- Re-Elect Michael McMillan for Alderman signs.

UPDATE ON WESTERN LANES

Steve Patterson posted an informative update on the shuttered Western Lanes bowling alley in his campaign blog. Steve in running for aldermen of the alley's ward, 25, in the Democratic primary. If he wins the primary, he'll be the next alderman, because no other parties have any candidates. Don't forget to vote for him -- in just eleven days!

Some News Today

Moving Westward

Employees at the now-shuttered Western Lanes bowling alley at Gustine and Bingham in south St. Louis have told us that workers are removing its wooden lanes. These lanes will appear later this year at a new bowling alley at the St. Louis Mills Mall, located in west Bridgeton on the flood plain near the I-370 and I-270 interchange.

Needless to say, it will be awhile -- if ever -- we get to use those lanes again.

Hopefully the removal won't doom the venerable alley, the city's last remaining full-sized bowling alley until its closure at the end of January. I know that Western suffers from a discrete location, but good advertising and strategically-placed signs on nearby Gravois Boulevard could really help bring the place to people's attention if it reopens. A good remodeling wouldn't hurt, either, but I'd rather have prices low than fancy decor.

One rumor had a towing company buying the Western Lanes building and its huge parking lot, but the employees say that's not going to happen.

Bright Minds

Kudos to Rodney Burchfield, running for alderman in Ward 17, and Steve Patterson, running for Alderman in Ward 25. Both candidates are running thoutful, well-organized campaigns that are gaining ground rapidly.

Rodney has raised his profile with the launch of great new yard signs, T-shirts and a website. He's been meeting people door-to-door and at many small events, including a meeting today at La Dolce Via Bakery on Taylor Avenue. This meeting was hosted by state representatives Maria Chappelle Nadal and Rachel Storch (our representative, we're proud to report) and drew attendance from school board member Veronica O'Brien, Ward 17 Green Party Committeeman Don DeVivo and many Forest Park Southeasters. The tone was causal but the talk of issues -- eminent domain abuses, lack of affordable housing-for-purchase -- was serious.

Steve Patterson has been working his ward -- walk or drive down Grand Boulevard and see his signs, one after another -- and also spoke at a great event at Gallery Urbis Orbis downtown on Friday. That event drew together some of the city's leading urbanists and cultural movers-and-shakers and accomplished the goal of emphasizing the importance of Steve's campaign to the entire city.

Question

How exactly did Rollin Stanley get to be the head of the St. Louis Planning and Urban Design Agency?

Pevely Cares -- And So Does Bellon

The Pevely Dairy is completing tuckpointing and brick replacement on its landmark plant at Grand and Choteau. Meanwhile, Don Bellon is painstakingly rebuilding the front wall of a storefront building in the 4100 block of Manchester in Forest Park Southeast. Slowly, the Choteau/Manchester corridor rejuvenates.

Steve Patterson launches campaign website

Steve Patterson has launched a website for his campaign for 25th Ward alderman in St. Louis.

St. Louis needs him on the Board of Aldermen. Without his victory, expect four more years of status quo: one step forward, two steps back.

Saint Louis, 2005 = Moscow, 1945?

Saint Louis may be gearing up for the worst election in its history. It seems that only one party will be on the ballot in the April general election, unless there's a surprise filing by a Republican, Green or independent before this Friday's filing deadline. Up for election this time around are the offices of Mayor, Comptroller and Alderpersons in the the odd-numbered wards.

I can't remember a time when the Republicans didn't have a symbolic mayoral candidate. They have had two bright candidates in the last two elections, Michael Chance in 2001 and Jay Dearing in 1997. I wonder what happened this year? They should be gaining ground as newcomers to the city with affluence and independent minds flow in.

Alas, these newcomers seem to shun involvement in municipal politics. Perhaps they are used to the suburban tendency to not know much about the workings of your burg. Perhaps they are living in private space, and are accustomed to casting their votes with their consumer choices, not at the ballot box. The public sphere is waning as it is, and as long as the roads get paved and the police respond in a few minutes, most people don't notice who is in office.

That's a big shame, because the Slay machine is more vulnerable than people think. Look at the failure of the charter reform jihad. In 2003, Bud Deraps ran as a green for the 24th Ward aldermanic seat against incumbent Tom Bauer and received 29.4% of the vote without yard signs, billboards or any serious coverage from the Post-Dispatch. Not to mention the fact that Ward 24 is still very conservative, as its choice of Bauer shows. Bud had a few hundred dollars and eager volunteers. With a little more effort, he may have won.

In 2005, people could challenge many of the alderpeople on bad development plans they have pushed: Joe Roddy (17th), who won't rest until every poor person is pushed out of his ward, and Matt Villa (11th), champion of the anti-urban strip mall at Loughborough, come to mind. Phyllis Young (7th) helped destroy the Century Building -- shouldn't preservationists be lining up to challenge her, if not to win then at least to make her show more respect to their political power?

And there ought to be a multi-faceted challenge to Francis Slay that included the primary and general elections. I'm not sure that Bill Haas, who has filed in the Democratic primary for mayor, has much of a base or a strategy. Irene Smith, another Democratic challenger, should raise some good points and is African-American like most of St. Louis is. She could make a dent in Slay, but I'd be surprisd if she wins the primary.

What is needed is a challenger in the general election who doesn't have to work through the Democratic Party -- which is firmly behind Slay's re-election.

The left in St. Louis is too fragmented to find an opposition candidate. For one thing, the black left -- which will support Smith -- has no real ties to the white left, despite some claims by patriarchal white leaders that they are forging alliances with black St. Louis. And the Bosnian and Latino voters, who have legitimate issues to raise against the Slayers, don't fit in with either dominant group in polarized St. Louis. The Bosnians could be a huge political force in "white" parts of south city, but so far they have not broken into the system.

If St. Louis is to restore its vibrance and continue to attract smart young people, it needs a better political structure than this one. Young people are liberal, but they aren't going to be interested in machine-style mono-party politics. They may show reluctance to get involved at first, but sooner or later they'll realize the importance of the municipal election. They will want competition and choices -- exactly what won't happen in 2005.

Ah, well. Scan the Election Filings -- if you wish.

At lest the non-partisan school board race gives some hope. More about that later.

The silver lining in St. Louis

I would like to thank the voters of the city of Saint Louis for soundly deafeating the charter alteration amendments on Tuesday. I wasn't sure how these would fair, and admit being surprised at the resounding defeat. This makes me hopeful.

I am surprised and disappointed that Green Party Sheriff candidate Don DeVivo only received slightly over 10% of the vote against the corrupt and unpopular incumbent Jim Murphy. Even the Post-Dispatch would not endorse Murphy in the primary, but the paper went on to completely ignore the race -- and the race for Public Administrator -- entirely. At least the Arch City Chronicle cared enough to endorse DeVivo.

The city will never change if even the worst Democrats aren't effectively challenged.

At this rate, Slay is a shoo-in for a second term.