39° North Seeks to Become Creve Coeur’s District of Dreams

(Here it is!  My first article for West Newsmagazine! It was published around 9/23/19)

A map of St. Louis City’s and County’s innovation centers. [St. Louis Economic Partnership graphic]

The phrase “if you build it, they will come” often extends well beyond the motion picture fantasy plot of creating a baseball diamond in the middle of a cornfield. The ongoing 600-acre development project in eastern Creve Coeur and extreme western Olivette is a real-life testament to that fact.

A corny comparison? Maybe, but there’s more. The area’s dream revolves around the agriculture and biotech yields of ag-tech superstars Bayer and the Danforth Plant Science Center. And Creve Coeur has its diamond scheduled for completion in the near future – a folded diamond configuration for the Olive and Lindbergh interchange.

More details and artist renderings on all phases of 39º North were revealed at an Open House held at the Creve Coeur Government Center on Tuesday, Sept. 17.

Enhancing transportation

Creating the folded diamond is a major step for 39° North, but it was well needed, anyway, considering the Olive/Lindbergh interchanges were built by MoDOT way back in 1957. Mike Brown, of Access Engineering, explained that the design-build team will be removing unneeded and dangerous weave lanes on the existing bridges and adding others to make them more pedestrian friendly.

“The main road and highway construction will begin around April or May of next year,” Brown said. “The majority of that project will be totally completed in 2020. The idea is to divert more traffic from Old Olive and to remove the barriers so [commuters] can travel in all directions from Old Olive onto Lindbergh.”

In the short-term, commuters may experience increased congestion. 

“There will be some added traffic time for lane closures in the short-term but the benefits will definitely outweigh the brief periods of congestion and aggravation,” Jim Heines, Creve Coeur’s director of public works, said.

Another important construction phase that will soon follow is transforming Old Olive Road into a “Great Street.” That term seems confusing for people who grew up in the area or have had businesses in this general region for decades. After all, Old Olive Road has always been considered a mere side street that curved around from Olive Boulevard to Lindbergh Road, and a connector with Guelbreth Lane to the Jewish Community Center’s Millstone Campus. 

But Jonathan Ryan, a landscape artist with Clayton-based Christner Inc., offered a clarification of the term.

“[The term] ‘Great Street’ refers to conveyance for many modes of travel, not just cars,” Ryan explained.  “Regarding the Old Olive project phase, we’re kind of thinking it’s 2 to 5 years out.”

He added that Great Streets projects usually have a really good return on investment for citizens.

Brown added that Great Streets typically means streets with “great connections.” 

In this case, improving sidewalks on Old Olive and removing lanes will qualify Old Olive for the distinction.

A rendering of the proposed 39º North bio-tech Innovation district. [St. Louis Economic Partnership graphic]

“The new folded diamond will include two new signals, and all traffic will go through more smoothly,” Brown said. “Overall, it will be good use of the space without changing any of the development. The first project is for a guarded, safer pedestrian route. [There will] be a 6-foot sidewalk from Warson to Old Olive …on the south side for now and just a small part on the north side.”

According to Heines, there are two potential sources of funding for the Old Olive improvements: MoDOT’s Cost-Share Program and the Governor’s Transportation Cost-Share Program. Both have different timelines. 

Attracting new business 

There have been several key players in 39º North from the outset. Most have centered around expanding upon what corporations like Bayer and the Danforth Plant Science Center bring to the area’s playing field.

Some of the 39º North’s current businesses are: 

• Forrest Innovations, Ltd., which works to develop eco-friendly solutions for mosquito vector-control 

• KWS Saat, a global seed company 

• Evogene, a computational biotechnology company that uses computational predictive biology to develop life science products 

• Kalima Bio Agritech Inc., an Israel-based genetics and breeding technology company aimed at improving plant productivity  

Brazil’s Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira, which claims to be the world’s largest sugarcane tech company, chose BRDG [Bio Research & Development Growth] Park at the Danforth Plant Science Center as the home of its North American research headquarters. 

BRDG Park and the Helix Center, which is owned and operated by the St. Louis Development Partnership [SLEDP], are biotech incubators that provide companies with wet labs, dry labs, office space, workforce training and more. 

“The idea for 39º North was to build an innovative district around the agriculture and technology industries,” said Janet Wilding, the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership’s vice president of major projects. “But it’s also to make it a plant science academic incubator, like the Helix Center and BRDG at the Danforth Plant Science Center. Hopefully, with the changes we plan to implement, when [companies] graduate from there, they’ll want to stay and work here. The idea is to stage companies to come in [and] help them find capital to stay and grow.”

Wilding noted that agriculture is Missouri’s biggest industry at $88 billion in annual revenue. 

Catering to new residents

In addition to work space, people need to find comfortable living space within an environment which they feel like they fit in. An earlier 10-year plan for 39º North anticipated the construction of 400 residential units, 540,000 square feet of office and laboratory space as well as 86,000 square feet of retail space. That initial part has been quite a few years in the making.

“We’ve had a lot of development lately in that area,” said Jason Jaggi, Creve Coeur’s director of community development. “Two new residential projects are The Vue and Vanguard Heights, [the latter of] which was formerly the long-standing Hamilton [Christian] Church.

Meanwhile, Wilding was excited to mention an added plus to the 39º North dream. She said Olivette recently finished its master plan to revamp its parks. Warson Park is near the northeastern boundary of 39º North while Stacy Park is less than half a mile to the east of the development area and ready to be connected to the Centennial Greenway, a project of the Great Rivers Greenway.

“It will travel through Olivette and Creve Coeur all the way past the area by the Maryland Heights Aquatic Center to link to Creve Coeur Park,” said Julie Padberg-White, leader of the women-owned FPA Group, which helps communities and organizations plan and program for their futures.

“It’s about quality of life by linking the trails and offering different ways of using green areas.”

The Olivette area connections are being funded by Great Rivers Greenway after being finalized through SLEDP and Reitz & Jens, Inc., a St. Louis-based engineering firm. Those walking and biking trails are also a major plus in attracting and keeping so many new workers in the area after arriving from countries on every continent. 

“The younger generation won’t accept just getting in the car all the time,” Paul Reitz, principal of the Consulting Engineers firm, said. “They want to be able to walk out of their apartment and walk or bike anywhere. We try to create those paths.

“The ultimate goal is having just dedicated walking trails. The greenways are like a relay – take the baton from Forest Park to U.City, then pass it off to Stacy Park, then the next leg around the Aquaport, then to Creve Coeur Park.”

Reitz knows that the dream of 39º North won’t just snowball on its own and that it’s important to keep the momentum going.

“We’re like Cortex was 10 years ago” he said, referencing St. Louis City’s 200-acre innovation, and technology incubator. “The hardest thing is to keep the excitement about it.”

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

     My life has been chock full of highlights!  How many Americans can boast travel in all 50 states and all but three Canadian provinces and territories?  Then there are the endless highlights from following all four major sports religiously since 1963!  I also home schooled for six years, have had some incredible workplace experiences and hundreds more in friendships, relationships and family life!  What more could I want?

     For me, Wednesday, August 28, 2019 could be another Red Letter Date!  I left my full-time job right at my 3 p.m. end time and motored south, then west to a previously obscure address near Spirit of St. Louis Airport.

     I ended up going into a room with a couple dozen article clips from a previous life.  They were of a variety of subject areas and types from back in the 1980s and ‘90s. I met with the managing editor and the associate editor who loved my resume from the online application, and my published clips and enthusiasm even more.

     So, after having more than 3,500 articles published from 1979-1999 for the West County Journals, West End Word, Limelight, St. Louis Sun, Chicago Tribune, Cincinnati Enquirer, Buffalo (NY) Courier-Express, Des Moines Register, Washington (DC) Star, Baton Rouge (LA) Advocate, St. Louis Small Business Monthly, Maryland Heights Community News and Issues, Sports St. Louis, The Sports Journal of Calgary, Alberta and several more publications, plus the online Yahoo Contributor’s Network….I became a freelance reporter for West and Mid Rivers Newsmagazines.  

     The immediate requirement was that I have to cover the twice monthly municipality meetings.  I chose the city of Ballwin, and have already covered one of its Board of Aldermen meetings.  This week, it’s a Creve Coeur Open House for a follow up piece on a huge, ongoing project.

     I am excited about most freelance writing projects.  So, if you live in a municipality in the western half of St. Louis County or the eastern half of St. Charles County, you may see several pieces from me online or in issues delivered to your home.

     Also, turning this into somewhat of a begging blog, please keep your eyes and ears open for other freelance writing ideas.  I am quite adept at people features; event coverage, including ones involving charitable organizations; plus content writing and many areas of technical writing and White Papers.  I also did editorial work for four different publications.

     So, if you have any good St. Louis area freelance leads, please ONLY email me at JiffyJeffy55@aol.com.  I promise to still see you at social and networking events! Thanks!

Reliving the Past at the Du Quoin State Fair

     Back in the early 1960s, our family of five drove the 100 miles southeast from our Olivette home through and to an off-and-on rain.  Our destination was the Du Quoin (IL) State Fair.

     I still remember walking through those closed off streets, going on fun kiddie rides, playing games and eating on the go.  So, when my girlfriend Pam mentioned she wanted to spend just one day away this Labor Day weekend, the choice was a simple one for me.

     This past September 1 got off to a comparable start as the skies alternated mist, drizzle and moderate rain on the first half of our drive.  Luckily, it cleared up for the remainder of the day, including the 7-hour and 15-minute visit back to my early childhood days! But due to motion sickness and eventual direct, intense sunlight, I traded rides and games for memorable entertainment in this true, small town feel event.
                                   

     Entering the main gate at 11 a.m. sharp, we first perused the food booths of Main Street and Grandstand Avenue.  We were immediately concerned with the overabundance of corn dogs, but settled into a picnic table inside an R. Buckminster Fuller designed geodesic dome to eat chili cheese fries and pizza.

     About the pizza…That latter booth offered cricket pizza, mealworm pizza and scorpion pizza.  Yes, they were real dead pieces of those critters.  Nevertheless, Pam opted for the traditional thin crust, non-authentic, fake cheese variety. 

     We then explored the map I had printed out and the schedule Pam printed, then walked back to the Bairds Petting Zoo tent.  The schedule showed it as a 4 p.m. event, but it’s a petting zoo!  Surely, we could enter at any time!  We did and had a blast!

     Although the fair’s people food was definitely overpriced, not so for us actually hand-feeding the animals!  Soooooo much food poured out for every quarter that each hand held enough food for two animals!  With palms up, we were thrilled to feed several goats, donkeys and cows, including the Scottish Highland variety!  
                       

     Our only disappointment for the day was an absolute positive for the fair.  The purpose of the Duck Derby Parade was to sell ducks with money going to the Special Olympics, and to be raced in the Duck Derby Dash just two hours later.  Well, the ducks were completely sold out before the day’s parade even started!  There was still a very short parade featuring a huge yellow duck!
                                                                  
                                                               

     We spent equal time in the Democrat and Republican Party tents and explored a few gift shops. The day’s entertainment also featured four different bands playing a fairly wide gamut of music, but we saved the three best forms of entertainment for the very end! 

     First was the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show.  Of course, there were three lumberjacks dressed in red and black checked shirts.  I can’t even remember the man’s name, but his narration was extremely comical as the audience sat in two long bleachers with several dozen others overflowing onto the sides and well behind the bleachers on a slightly shaded hill.

     Perhaps his name was Paul as in Paul Bunyan or Jack as in LumberJACK.  There was no ox named Babe, but two young babes named Gretchen and Anastasia, who for the most part, were locked in competition against one another. There was axe throwing, log rolling, log sawing and log splitting competitions in this “Land of Lincoln” event.
        

     In fact, for the latter, they asked three men from the crowd how long it would take Anastasia to split entirely through a log of about 7-8 inches in diameter.  The first guy guessed two minutes.  I guessed 40 seconds, thinking those people were pretty experienced in this kind of show.  The final guy guessed 90 seconds.  It took Anastasia 55 seconds.  So, I went up there, was interviewed and claimed my large wood chip prize!
            
                                

     Although it appeared to be a rabbit-eared wood item, another parting gift, when turned upside down, was a chair given to a lower grade school girl.  It was chopped by Lumber Jack. Still, the best gift was the silly commentary and play on words from all three performers!

    The next event on our itinerary was experiencing some of the thrills and chills of the world famous Nerveless Nocks.  Created in Switzerland back in 1840, the group is known to have performed death-defying acts in far too many places to note.

     On this afternoon, we observed a version of the Extreme Motorcycle High Wire Aerial Thrill Show with a lady daredevil hanging from a trapeze below a la the famous Flying Wallenda family!  The motorcyclist even turned sideways with the daredevil following suit.  For this and their other acts, they made sure to note, “Don’t try this at home!”
                                                          

     Next, a man in the group stacked up 10 chairs atop one another and stood at the top displaying sensational balance!  Their final act of the day was a lady doing all types of scary balances from a swing below an extremely high parallel bar.  OK. That’s my description of this ‘You Have to See it To Believe It” event!   Visit their web site, https://nervelessnocks.com/, for some more accurate details of their incredible history and all they do!                                          

     We closed out the day with a walk to the extreme northeast section of the fair site for the Whippoorwill Rodeo.  This was quite a thrill for me since the only other rodeo I had ever seen was when I took my son to the Professional Bull Riders event at the St. Charles Family Arena well over 15 years ago.

     Prior to the event, they had a special ceremony that started with a Native or Indigenous American riding out in full headdress.  That was a serious moment, but also brought to mind a t-shirt at one of the fair’s gift shops.  It had labeled photos of Wolf Robe, Red Cloud, Geronimo, Chief Joseph and Sitting Bull under large words that read, “Homeland Security” and atop the words, “Fighting Terrorism Since 1492.”

     Sure enough, the rodeo Indian was followed by a cowboy riding in.  Moments later, there was a lengthy prayer followed by an encouraged sing-a-long of “The National Anthem.”

     The actual radio’s narration was handled by a serious announcer and his comedic but corny sidekick.  They were very descriptive in explaining the rules and scoring details while also poking fun at several of the male and female performers alike.

        
                                                      

     We loved the calf roping, bronco bull riding, barrel races, the overall fast action and even the slapstick humor of the microphoned clown who roamed the infield.  The rodeo itself and the entire 2019 Du Quoin State Fair certainly took me back to earlier, more simple days—WAY back to when I was a very young grade school child!

Sensational and Surreal Start of Summer Season 2019!…part 7: Fantastic End- of-June Mini-Trip Weekend!

     Still on a high from the Blues recent Stanley Cup championship and victory parade, it was time to get back into the normal routine.  There was daily work, but still fun times in the following 13 days.

     On Sun, June 16, it was Festa Junina—a Brazilian event at Kirkwood Community Center. 



















Next was the Volcanic Ash concert at Faust Park, worked from start to finish on my 72-page photo album for our post-Christmas Tulsa area trip, went to the Cardinals 4-2 win over the Angels on June 22 to join in on the Albert Pujols standing ovation following his home run. 

Later that night, went to The Family Arena with several friends to see the Silver Bullet and Big Love tribute bands.

     Followed those activities with purchases of Blues Stanley Cup memorabilia in June 23, attended a big wine and cheese house party on June 25, made dinners and all the while made detailed plans for our June 29-30 Evansville weekend mini-trip.

     Few people would consider Evansville much of a hot spot, but I had already traveled in all 50 states, including most major and secondary cities within a six-hour drive of St. Louis.  I have long been a big time travel researcher and a trip planner.   In fact, I even used a good deal of my Junior High Study Hall time to plan detailed vacations for my own family and that of several of my classmates. 

     My girlfriend Pam was looking for a city that wasn’t as large or hectic as most we had visited, and I did find quite a few real gems in Evansville!

     On Saturday, June 29, we left at 7:30 a.m. and drove non-stop the 175 miles to the Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden in that southeastern Indiana town.  We were there from 10:20-1:30, and especially loved feeding the giraffes and going into the Budgie Walkabout, featuring several dozen small birds with a variety of colors, resembling parakeets.

    

The Children’s Enchanted Forest was also interesting.  I enjoyed looking in on a variety of both physical and learning activities for kids.  This was the first extremely hot weather weekend of the year, reaching a 105 heat index.  Since Pam hates hot weather while I hate cold temperatures, she waited inside The Rain Forest Grill while I toured the Amazonia section.  It featured gorgeous flora, colorful toucans, short-tailed opossum, Amazon milk frogs, Brazilian Rainbow Boa, giant cockroaches, Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula and the brightest orange-colored birds I had ever seen!

     The zoo also featured a large ship with adjoining bumper boats, a Discovery Center, a giant animal-themed carousel, huge Galapagos Island tortoises and the beautiful Port Victoria area with large-swan boats in the lake’s waters, and flowers galore lining the adjacent walkway!

     One thing the zoo grossly lacked was decent eating areas.  So, we drove to the closest food source:  Taco John with really good food & a variety of lemonade flavors for just $1 apiece!

     Our next stop was the Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science.  It far exceeded our expectations, featuring a fantastic variety of local, national and international art.  There were also good displays of local, regional and national history with a terrific Abraham Lincoln area, plus terrific hands-on science exhibits!

     There was also an extensive display of World War II memorabilia and description of how a small city like Evansville played such a major role in the war effort.

     There were exceptional astronomy exhibits with award-winning space program artwork in a juried competition dubbed, “By the Light of the Silvery Moon.”  But the piece de resistance was the planetarium show.  As a long-time astronomy nut with a Celestron 8-inch reflecting telescope from the mid-1970s, I was incredibly impressed by the 45-minute planetarium show, “Space Next” in the strangely-shaped Koch Immersive Theater!  Both the audio and the images were astounding!

Leaving there at 4:50, we walked about 200 feet to the Ohio River, then about the same distance to the Mickey’s Kingdom playground, given to Evansville by the Elks Club. After exploring that site for about 15 minutes, we walked back to the car so I could make two nights’ reservation at the Comfort Inn East.

     After settling in to our room, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner in the great atmosphere of Mission Barbecue!  There was military, police and firefighter memorabilia on every wall!  There were several dozen medals of honor, patriotic photos, flags and this giant wall sign:  “Choose the Harder Right Instead of the Easier Wrong.”

     Pam and I have never been on any trip of more than a single day without some live music event.  So, our final stop was the Tropicana Casino.  We enjoyed great music and some dancing to The Herchel Bailey Band, featuring sounds from the Motown era through the 1970s.

     Since it’s less than three hours from home, we also enjoyed a full Sunday in Evansville.  Actually, we first crossed over into Henderson, Kentucky on a very old, rusty bridge.  We parked by the Ohio River and walked along it to see a few signs of the area’s history and also some of the sculptures of renown naturalist, ornithologist and painter John James Audubon, who lived in Henderson for nine years.

     There were also signs about W.C. Handy, “The Father of the Blues,” who lived in Henderson for 11 years, and Lewis and Clark, who passed through the town in November 1803 on the way to Oregon’s lands end.

     











From there, we drove about a half mile to John James Audubon State Park.  The hiking trails there were average at best with the highlight being fantastic reflections on Wilderness Lake.  But we enjoyed the visitor center and especially the John J. Audubon Museum and Nature Center.

     Audubon was known for his love for birds and the museum itself was a bird lover’s paradise!  There were soooo many beautiful bird paintings and a large, round room with glass windows to view a wide variety of birds on outdoor feeders.

     There were also Audubon panoramas and dozens of his sculptures and paintings.  Audubon is a great example of how someone can best achieve success while following his or her passions.  This display perfectly described that message:

     “Audubon’s failure as a businessman forced him to make a bold choice that dramatically changed his life.  He had honed his artistic talents to a keen edge, and was ready to put them to use in making a living.  He would forsake his business career to follow the subjects of his artwork, spending much of his time and energy collecting new species to draw.

     “His ultimate goal was to publish his drawings.  The seed was planted that would grow to be the four-volume expression of his love for birds, known as ‘Birds of America’.”

     Our final stop was back in Evansville, along the Ohio River.  Once again, it was something highly historical!  The 2 p.m. heat index was 101, but that didn’t keep us from taking a guided tour of USS LST (Landing Ship Tank)-325.  It’s best known for Normandy landings at Omaha Beach in early June 1944.

    It is now a living museum and memorial with several dozen displays and historic artifacts! It’s also on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places! 

          But prior to that, the LST-325 was part of invasions of Sicily and Salerno, Italy. That was mostly in 1943. Even after D-Day, LST-325 made 40 trips across the English Channel, carrying thousands of men and far more pieces of equipment to help liberate Europe.

 Some of the below deck highlights for us were maps and photos of Operation Overlord, the code name for the D-Day invasion; memorabilia from the Evansville Shipyard, historical photos of the LST-325, several manikins of men on the ship, serving in their regular uniforms and positions, that well-known glamour photo of actress Betty Grable.

Our tour began and ended on the deck.  It gave me such a special feeling just standing there, thinking about my own dad, who served on the USS Argentine in the south of France just a few months or so after the D-Day invasion that started on June 6, 1944.

     Since it was equally hot below deck as in the bright sunshine atop, we returned to the car with air conditioning blasting on our faces with happy and vivid memories of our weekend in Evansville, returning on the final day of June, 2019, completing an incredible five weeks of early summer!