Update (12/7/19)
As the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center moves towards completion, (scheduled for May) exciting news regarding traffic calming infrastructure at its intersection emerges.
First brought to my attention via the Safer Streets for Kirkwood facebook page and corroborated by the city’s website, a raised intersection is coming to the corner of Monroe and Taylor. The basic idea of a raised intersection is operating at two levels, both practical and philosophical. The practical implication is that raised intersections essentially operate as a intersection-wide speed bump, compelling vehicles to slow down (and come to a complete stop at the accompanying stop signs) when basic traffic laws wouldn’t compel them to do so. Secondly, they make pedestrians more visible by raising them a few more inches into drivers lines of sight. On a more philosophical level is the basic question as to whether cars or humans should be given priority. At a traditional intersection sidewalks get cut off by roads. At a raised intersection, roads get cut off by sidewalks. The official description of the project (along with several other project descriptions) on the city’s website is as follows:
“This project includes the reconstruction of the E. Monroe Avenue and Taylor Avenue intersection to create a raised intersection to improve pedestrian accessibility and safety to compliment the new Kirkwood Performing Arts Center. The project will include drainage modifications, new curbs, sidewalks, ADA curb ramps driveway approaches and 2″ mill & asphalt overlay of E. Monroe Avenue between Taylor Avenue and Fillmore Avenue.”
Even if the theatre itself ends up being some kind of boondoggle, at least we got some new sidewalks (see below) and intersections (see above) out of it, and for that I am thankful.
Previous Story (05/31/19)
This blog post is about Kirkwood’s new 25 million dollar (and still growing!) performing arts center; but not really. Because the thing is that the theatre doesn’t really matter. The quality of performers that will grace its stage will probably be pretty low, the audience probably pretty damn old (not a spite, actually super grateful for their support of the arts). But what does matter is Kirkwood’s commitment to urbanity, to downtown, to density. The most crucial part is what Kirkwood does in the area surrounding the theatre. The first steps have been promising.
Design
When the performing arts center was first proposed there was debate regarding what it should physically look like. Thank god people didn’t interpret that to mean brick. Instead we are left with a contemporary serviceable design. It will be interesting to see whether the plaza fronting the theatre along Taylor serves effectively as a sort of communal backyard for the surrounding apartments and condos or essentially functions as dead space and a missed opportunity to build to the curb.
The most important feature of the structure however is how it fills out it the site and engages pedestrians. While the surface lot in the rear of the site (at the corner of Fillmore and Monroe) is disappointing, it is at least located where it does the least harm at the corner with the furthest to go as far as urbanity.
Larger Impact
Walkability
The surface lot is regrettable but the sidewalk added along Fillmore is exciting. This area of Kirkwood is criminally under-sidewalked but with the addition of new sidewalk on two separate portions of Fillmore perhaps the tides are beginning to shift. While currently probably not the biggest priority as at the margins each added sidewalk would only serve a handful of single family homes, adding sidewalks is important for two reasons. First, the more people that can walk to the theatre/plaza/downtown in general, the less parking you need. Second, if this area at the edge of downtown is destined to ever see denser infill a more complete grid could be well worth in terms of linking downtown and the Performing Arts Center to the other side of the tracks. Unfortunately denser development is likely a ways a way for these northeastern blocks as they are zoned completely R-3 single family.
Zoning
First, in a very positive —if overdue— development, city council voted unanimously on 3/7/19 to rezone large swaths of property surrounding the future from L1 light industrial to B2 General Business allowing for more people-oriented dense development. The impact of this rezoning was made ever more significant a little over a month later by a separate set of changes made to how B2 General Business is defined. Instead of requiring mixed use in which any residential buildings require ground-floor retail, the updated code allows for 100% residential buildings as an approved use. This change cuts red tape and makes it much more likely that new residential development get built in a time where the future of brick and mortar retail is uncertain. If you’re interested in the fuller context surrounding these city council votes, check ’em out here.
Stay Tuned
Now there’s word that a new residential development could be on the way. While any further details at this point are pure speculation, I have a few guesses. By process of elimination a multi story apartment building at 116/126 E Monroe (outline by a blue rectangle on the above map) seems the most probable. This lot is desirable for a few reasons. It is currently occupied by an unused parking lot so would require no demolition. It is also adjacent to the existing Kirkwood Glass building, a structure that appears to be on its last legs, and thus also easily torn down and tacked on to any development proposal with the inclusion of some corner retail. Directly across the street from the unoccupied lot is an entrance to an underutilized Kirkwood Station parking garage possibly allowing for a shared parking agreement. This location is already fairly urban, filling in a missing tooth and adding to the street wall here could go a long way to expand the limits of what people consider “downtown” and thus push the boundary for where denser development is considered “tolerable.”
Out of the plots recently rezoned by city council 212 South Taylor (see blue star on map above for location), current home of the Kirkwood Utilities Department, appears the most viable. Although the lot is oddly shaped and currently occupied, this location is probably less divisive than a proposal for the current recycling center would be and more attractive for potential renters than the industrially isolated 345 South Fillmore, the home of Kirkwood’s Street Department, would be. Additionally 212 S. Taylor is closer to the farmers market and is directly across the street from existing residential lending itself to more of a communal, neighborhood feel.
Stay tuned for further details, I’m excited to share what’s to come.