52nd City

Bohemian Hill's Future TBD?

I often pass by the so-called "Bohemian Hill," that strange, little residential wedge of scattered properties, tucked between (roughly) Lafayette, Tucker and I-44. And when I pass by, I often think, "how long ago was it that Eddie Silva profiled Jo Noero for the Riverfront Times?" Turns out that the answer to that last musing is March 3, 1999.

In fact, during that calendar year, the RFT wrote about Bohemian Hill three times, pointing to collaborative efforts between Soulard Youth Build, the architect Noero and various City agencies, all of whom targeted that plot of land as a key linchpin of residences, which would help link the long and unnaturally disconnected Soulard and Lafayette Square. And, for City long-timers, you can definitely remember a burst of activity around that time, with several, new buildings erected, complementing the older structures, without aping them. Unfortunately, despite the varied plans, that area's long been a source of wonderment ("Where are the next new buildings?") rather than a source of realized inspiration.

Twice, recently, I've heard about an interesting twist to that story. Mind you: I am writing this CAVEAT in ALL CAPS, because I do not have any official, direct knowledge of this, but am culling info from some who do travel in the right circles. In this unofficial scenario, the Bohmian Hill residences - located across from the old City Hospital/new Georgian condos - would be levelled for a combination Walgreen's and/or mini-Schnucks, or "Schnucks-Express." Considering the proximity to the highways, the recent conversations of various grocers moving downtown and the lack of a full-service market nearby, this plan doesn't seem completely far-fetched.

Again, this is one of the pre-emptive, starting-to-hear-things-but-not-working-with-full-info types of posts. I'll leave it to the blogs that have more to say on such subjects to suss out the info.

Not sure what would be a worse outcome. Another decade of near-complete inaction on this remarkably central plot of land, surrounded, as it is, by continuing development? Or yet another homes-for-box trade-out, with no residential stimulus coming, at all?