Historical November 1991 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Following various public meetings concerning Delmar’s future and surveys of Delmar businesses and area residents, the Delmar Commercial Committee—JoAnn Vatcha, Steve Brammeier, Sam Green, Cynthia Holman, George Johannes, Loretta Lloyd, John Reeve, Lana Stein, Dennis Townsend, and Jack Wright—will begin drafting a redevelopment plan.
This plan will cover the area between the city limits and DeBaliviere. Committee members hope to address the attraction of new businesses, landscaping and street design, and—based on resident input—may seek to prohibit certain uses in the future. Debra Smith, a master’s degree student in architecture and urban design at Washington University. has aided the committee by surveying businesses on Delmar and neighboring residents.
She commented recently about some very preliminary findings from both of these surveys. Smith indicated that many residents expressed an interest in having a grocery store or a drug store on Delmar.
A number also wanted a fullscale public library.
In general, respondents viewed restaurants and retail establishments as desirable.
Residents appeared to like the idea of creative board-ups for vacant buildings and in general wanted better building maintenance on Delmar. Landscaping— trees and plantings—also had strong support.
A number of people wanted to prohibit additional liquor stores on Delmar and about half did not want additional pawn shops. Similar comments were expressed at the public meeting at the SDCC office on Oct. 22. Referring to the survey of businesses on Delmar, many owners or managers felt that the street lacked a positive visual image.
They generally favored increased landscaping but wanted to work on building conditions first. Although they worried about vandalism, they spoke quite positively about the level of police protection they enjoyed. Smith cautioned that these survey results are preliminary. Additional surveys are still coming in. (If you would like to fill one out, they are available at the SDCC office.) Smith has yet to perform computer-based data analysis.
The committee is very appreciative of her efforts and will pay heed to them as they draft a plan for the area. Comments from area residents are always welcome.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, November 1991.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1991_11.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
