Vanishing STL has learned that several large St. Louis parking syndicates have teamed up to purchase what remains of Laclede's Landing to build a giant Central Riverfront Parking Facility to replace the Arch parking garage and supply Downtown with parking for eternity. Great Rivers Greenway also learned of this plan, and in response, has snapped up vacant lots and entered bidding wars for parking lots that will be turned into additional park space that will "help provide better connections for people to the riverfront and newly renovated Arch grounds". The parking syndicates were able to get one of the areas oldest National Register historic districts delisted due to the quantity of demolition that has taken place.
Laclede's Landing in 1967 when the National Register district was listed.
When asked about the need for the giant parking garage facility, a spokesman for the parking syndicates replied that "people have been complaining about parking in Downtown St. Louis ever since that 40 block parking lot along the river was turned into a park with that big shiny thing in the middle of it. We're going to solve this parking problem once and for all". When asked if the garages would support future development above, the spokesman said "We don't know about demand for new office or residential uses. We're in the parking business."
The parking syndicates are reportedly in talks with MODOT about building new flyover on & off ramps directly into the new garage complex. When asked about the expense of this, a spokesman for MODOT said "Once the new Musial I-70 bridge opened up, we've been looking for a legitimate reason to keep the stretch of highway that divides Downtown St. Louis from the Arch and the river. The new flyover ramps into the Central Riverfront Parking Facility will give us a great reason to keep this stretch of highway.
The design looks nice. Ill never have to worry about parking again! ;)
ReplyDeleteWhile I am cognizant of the date--barring any dramatic development announcements--this is likely the fate of most of these lots. What a sad picture this is compared to the earlier state of the landing. Hell, I remember my dad (a sales agent for another company seeking business with Switzer's) brought home some finished product one night in the early 70's, still warm from production and in the bag.
ReplyDeleteYay!! You can never have too much parking downtown!!
ReplyDeleteJust when I think I've heard about every weird fetish imaginable....I realize StL has a Parking Fetish. Or maybe it's more like Hoarding Parking Spaces?
ReplyDeleteI wonder what percentage of spaces are filled on the busiest of days?
Jeannette, yes St. Louis has a serious parking fetish! Someone did the math and found that typically there are somewhere between 4 to 5 parking spaces for every car. Its quite ridiculous. Before the 9th Street Garage replacing the demolished Century Building, someone studied how many spaces were empty on a regular basis, and it turned out that within a few blocks there were literally hundreds of empty garage spaces every day!, but the developer demanded parking right across the street. to this day there are several levels of that garage that are never filled, although in late 2015 some residents of the Arcade Building will be parking there.
ReplyDeleteThey're planning to demolish all of those buildings for more parking spaces? You've got to be kidding me!
ReplyDeleteSublunar, No this was my April fools post for this year.
ReplyDelete