I happened to be driving down Midland Boulevard last week and noticed that that the demolition of the Midwood Hotel is now underway. I posted in May that St. Louis County is considering installing a roundabout at the intersection of Midland and Woodson. The hotel is being demolished as if the decision to build the roundabout is fait accompli. However, it appears that the public process for the decision has only recently begun.
According to an Overland online calendar, there was a public information meeting held by the City of Overland and the St. Louis County Department of Highways & Traffic (not to be confused with the Bicycle Department) on August 19th. The calendar says that the conceptual design of the roundabout was to be presented. If anyone happened to go (or knows of an online link), we would love to see the proposal. Also in late August, the City of Overland set up an email account for residents to post comments about the proposal, and so far there seems to be no announcement of conclusions.
Demolition of the building is being completed from front to back.
Downtown Overland along Woodson is very intact at walkable south of Midland.
Although Midland is a wide boulevard, a renovated Midwood Hotel could have acted as a real catalyst connecting the main downtown area with the area north along Woodson.
The continuity of the downtown at the intersection is already challenged with what appears to be a fairly underutilized park complete with gazebo at the southwest side opposite the Midwood.
The intersection is also challenged by big dead space in front of a Quick Trip on Woodson immediately behind this shot (and by the Quick Trip itself). The grass area is mostly part of Quick Trip's parcel up to the cut-off turn lane from Woodson to Midland.
Sad to see the "Mid-Wood" go, I have never seen anyone in the tiny park Overland just installed across the street. A few years back a mayoral candidate talked up making downtown Overland the next Maplewood...all that has been done is to put in red colored sidewalks along Woodson Road where most of the businesses are empty...not sure why a roundabout is needed there. "don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you've got til it's gone..."
ReplyDeleteThis one kills me. Grew up near here and the Midwood was always a mystery - seemed kind of shady, semi deserted, but there were always lights on inside (some red ones, too!)
ReplyDeleteIn the 60s, that was a solid corner, buildings to the sidewalk on 3 of 4 corners. now only one. Although the Woodson strip looks fairly solid, actually about half the original buildings are gone, and virtually all the old Mom and Pop shops are long, long gone.
Have you been to overland lately? no one wants to waste money in that town. the city government is a joke and the police department is too lazy to perform a routine traffic stop. The Midwood was a squatters paradise and could be compared to pruitt-igoe before it was torn down
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