Join us on a neighborhood tour of Vandeventer and Tower Grove East as we explore the latest development projects in St. Louis and get a sneak peek into future developments.
Image by Argus Staff
There are quite a few development projects going on in the City of St. Louis and to keep the residents in the know there are neighborhood tours that highlight newly developed projects and future projects. I went on a neighborhood tour of the Vandeventer Neighborhood and the Tower Grove East Neighborhood on a Saturday morning on August 10, 2024. These neighborhood tours are very informative and they are really interesting.
This tour had two tour guides because we visited two neighborhoods. Michael J. von Gebel, President of Vandeventer Community Development Corporation, gave a tour of the Vandeventer neighborhood and Chris Naffziger, President of Tower Grove East Neighborhood, gave a tour of the Tower Grove East neighborhood. Transportation was provided by MODE STL who did an excellent job of driving us safely to all the sites in both neighborhoods.
On the Delmar corridor between Hamilton and Vandeventer Avenues there are several development pockets which are part of a bigger plan called “It’s all about Delmar” which is spear-headed by Judith Arnold, Urban Planner and Developer of St. Louis Association of Community Organizations (SLACO). A lot of new construction is happening on Delmar Blvd., especially east of Union Blvd and west of N. Kingshighway Blvd. in an area called The Delmar Maker District. Steve’s Hot Dogs, The Fountain on Delmar, Esca, Alpha Brewing Company Distillery and The Cellar cigar bar just recently opened and are a very nice addition to this growing area.
Before entering the Vandeventer neighborhood we drove down Delmar Blvd headed east and once we crossed Union Blvd., we were in the Delmar Maker District. The Delmar Maker District (The DMD) is a place for people to create, learn, shop and socialize. It’s located between Union and N. Kingshighway Boulevards and features creative studios, shops and restaurants. The DMD’s concept is “live, make, sell”, which provides a space for artisans and makers to learn, create and thrive.
Something a lot of people don’t know is that the Vandeventer Neighborhood delivers resources to other neighborhoods that follow along the Hodiamont Tracks and Delmar Blvd. The Vandeventer CDC (Community Development Corporation) has the capacity to deliver to those neighborhoods and Lewis Place is one example. Unfortunately, at this current time those other neighborhoods don’t have any leadership structure or any organizations to provide resources to their own residents.
The first place we stopped was at the Hodiamont Mural Wall located on Taylor Ave. between Enright (on the south) and West Belle Place (on the north). This mural wall is located next to Hopewell Baptist Church. It took around four weeks for Mr. von Gebel to get everything cleared out to what it currently looks like now. The mural is the work of Webster University high school student, Mia Fiehler.
The garden area located below the mural wall was originally planted by a master gardener who planted daffodils, eastern blue star flowers and asters. But before the mural wall could be started there was a multitude of invasive species such as Japanese knotweed, Johnson grass and a little bit of Wintercreeper. Unfortunately, the gardener didn’t know what she was up against with the invasive species and the overall design of the mural wall site so Michael von Gebel and Judith Arnold took the project back and they had a sit down and re-designed the mural wall site. They came up with an idea that truly fit the urban green space rather than the “Little House on the Prairie” look.
For this mural wall on the Hodiamont Tracks to exist there were donations from collaborative efforts which includes $150 from Forest ReLeaf of Missouri, $553.54 from Judith Arnold of her own money, $1,152.92 from Michael J. von Gebel of his own money with also one hundred fourty eight donated hours and a $960 grant from InvestSTL.
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