Byline: Mary Pat O’Gorman, SDCC President
The Skinker DeBaliviere Community Council met on Monday, March 10. One agenda item was the creation of a neighborhood engagement process to discuss future funding for the neighborhood including funds for the Council, the Skinker DeBaliviere Community Housing Corporation, as well as potential neighborhood projects. The Council created a Steering Committee to establish the neighborhood engagement process. The Steering Committee will be charged with:
- Developing a neighborhood engagement plan to discuss neighborhood funding including the creation of a special business district;
- Engaging the Skinker DeBaliviere neighborhood in discussion of the potential projects which could be funded by a special business district;
- Making a recommendation to SDCC about whether the neighborhood would support the creation of a special business district.
Initial members of the steering committee are made up of SDCHC and SDCC board and staff members. This initial 5-person group was tasked with identifying and selecting 6-10 additional residents of the proposed district to serve as steering committee members with consideration given to geographic representation to broadly represent the proposed district. It is hoped that this initial group will make their selections by the middle of April. We recommend that any residents interested in serving on the steering committee express their interest in being considered by April 13 by contacting the SDCC Office.
There will be much more information from this steering committee and opportunities for public input in the coming months.
SDCC welcomed Karen Kelsey as its new Administrative Assistant in February. Many will already be acquainted with Karen as she is a long-time resident of the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood, having originally moved here in 1977. She lived in the 6000 block of Kingsbury Ave before moving to Kingsbury Square in 1986, where she currently resides in her third home on the 5700 block of Westminster Pl with her partner, Tom Urbom. You can catch Karen at the SDCC office generally from 10am to 4pm on Mondays through Thursdays. Drop by or call and she will gladly bring you up to date on the rest of her family!
SDCC’s annual meeting will be held on Monday, April 27 at 7pm at the SDCC Office. All are invited to attend and learn about Council activities. Light refreshments will be served.
Breaking ground with a model of the trolley on Limit, where the City of St. Louis and University City meet, were dignitaries and folks from throughout the region. Pictured are: Susan Trautman, Great Rivers Greenway; Mayor Francis Slay, City of St. Louis; Mokhtee Ahmad, Region 7 Director of the Federal Transit Authority which is providing $32 million in funding for the project; Joe Edwards; University City Mayor Shelley Welsch; John Nations, president and CEO of Bi-State Development Agency. Also participating was Les Sterman, President of the Loop Trolley Co.
“Without a doubt, the Loop Trolley will be a real economic and tourism boon to the St. Louis region,” said Edwards. “The Loop Trolley will connect communities east and west, and also north and south, with clean, electric transportation and encourage pedestrian friendly neighborhoods and development.”
Construction of the Loop Trolley system is set to begin in March 2015 according to Chris Poehler, administrator of the Loop Trolley Transportation Development District (TDD). Construction will start in March with the installation of a permanent roundabout near the Lion Gates in University City (Trinity and Delmar Blvd.) to increase safety, improve traffic flow and create an attractive, landscaped entrance to the Delmar Loop.
The trolley track construction is expected to begin in late May 2015, starting on Delmar Blvd. near Kingsland. Traffic will continue to flow through The Loop business district during construction.
Contractors include KCI Construction Company for track and civil infrastructure; Wissehr Electrical Contractors for the trolley overhead contact system and lighting; and KCI Construction Company for rehab of the maintenance/storage facility. Kwame Building Group is the construction manager for the project.
The 2.2-mile fixed-track electrical trolley system will run along Delmar Blvd. and DeBaliviere Ave. connecting The Loop restaurant, shopping, and arts & entertainment district to Forest Park, with a stop at the Missouri History Museum. The Loop derived its nickname from the streetcar system that serviced the area until 1966.
The project includes construction of the roundabout, the trolley tracks, an overhead contact system, 10 station stops, a maintenance/storage facility, and rehab of vintage trolley vehicles.
On the eastern end of the trolley route, the Loop Trolley TDD is working with Great Rivers Greenway to extend the St. Vincent Greenway from Delmar along DeBaliviere Ave. south to Forest Park Blvd., with new landscaping and multi-use paths. The trolley will run adjacent to the greenway.
The Loop Trolley construction is scheduled for completion in mid-2016 and is expected to begin service in late 2016 to allow for testing and training.
For more information and construction updates, join the email list at www.looptrolley.com, email info@looptrolley.com and follow facebook.com/looptrolley and twitter.com/looptrolley.
