Wednesday, February 15, 2006

StL Evolution Critiques Ballpark Village

Over at StL Evolution, blogger Matt Fernandez gives an upbeat overview of the Ballpark Village project. He even makes the point that locating the ballpark right next to Highway 40 is turning out well.

Ballpark Village represents another $450,000,000 investment added to the city's renaissance, including 1,200 condo units in four towers on a newly restored street grid. Naysayers take note: at present, there is more construction happening in the City of St. Louis than anywhere else in the region.

During the '90s, everyone was talking about the revitalization of downtown, LoDo, Denver**, with downtown baseball and loft conversions leading the way. Now, in the '00s, it's the revitalization of downtown St. Louis that is making national news.

**(Click on the LoDo link and note the similarity between our new ballpark and Denver's...)

Maybe the promoters of 2004 were right?

1804: Lewis and Clark
1904: St. Louis World's Fair
2004+: St. Louis Is Back

1 comment:

Rick Bonasch said...

Baseball is a huge part of the personality of this town. Now, when people cross the Mississippi River into downtown STL, they will know they have arrived at the heart of Cardinal Nation.

The brick constuction fits well with our city's red brick heritage, and the tall vertical arches on the exterior walls, along with the flat iron arches around the top, make a nice connection between the Cupples Warehouses and the Eads Bridge.

Criticize the cliche design, but I will be looking forward to the outstanding baseball sightlines. And remember, this ballpark could have very easily been built way out in Earth City or somewhere around Collinsville, Illinois.