Historical June 1997 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Last year the cities of St. Louts and University City applied to the Missouri Highway Department for planning money to enhance the area around the Delmar MetroLink station Working with Arts and Transit director Sara Smith of Bi-State Development Corporation. they used the $50,000 they successfully sought to prepare a conceptual design for Delmar stretching from DeBaliviere into the University City Loop.
This year the team sought a much larger grant to carry out the plans to enhance the streetscape They were successful: The Missouri Highway Department awarded $750.000 for the Delmar project For the first time. there will be funds to back up some of the ideas contained in the redevelopment plan adopted by the city several years ago.
The Commercial Development Committee and the Skinker DeBaliviere Community Council will now work closely with a team of consultants to help redevelop Delmar.
The Johannes Cohen Collaborative is the lead consultant. George Johannes spoke recently at a neighborhood meeting about Delmar and said that the light rail station is to be an asset for the area as well as the strong existing businesses there He also mentioned the strength of the surrounding neighborhood. However. Johannes noted that a lot of the property is in undesirable condition and there are less than optimal usages.
He and the Delmar team want to create a sense of continuity over the whole area. Crossing Skinker is both a physical and perceptual problem.
This program will reshape the sidewalks and enhance outdoor opportunities Changing traffic patterns will make crossing Delmar or Skinker less formidable Right now it is 100 feet across Delmar. a very wide barrier A median strip will be introduced to make crossing easier and it will be a connecting visual symbol.
The median will continue across Skinker to the city limits.
The sidewalk will be expanded in certain areas from 12 to 20 feet. Pat Schucart, an artist and endowed chair from Washington University. is also part of the Delmar team
Original photograph caption
Alderman Dan McGuire(center)converses with Delmar business owner John Thomas and neighborhood resident and redeveloper Mark Gorman. Dennis Lussky,also a Delmar businessman,is in the background. Photo by King Schoenfeld.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, June 1997.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1997_06.pdf, printed page(s) 1; PDF page(s) 1.
