Island Hopping in St. Louis.

[Kenosha]

http://www.forumforurbandesign.org/2006/08/post_16.html

[Kenosha]

St. Louis Riverfront Masterplan
Balmori Associates
St. Louis, Missouri

When the Great Rivers Greenway District called upon Balmori Associates to provide a proposal for the St. Louis riverfront master plan in October 2005, the firm initially developed four schemes for the underutilized three-quarter mile riverfront. Traditional plans of a pedestrian promenade in a landscaped park were discarded, however, for a more bold and atypical concept: a riverfront of floating islands.

The slender, narrow shape of the land forced Balmori Associates to develop creative solutions to apply to the site. Balmori's project manager, Javier Gonzalez, explained the inspiration for the unusual design: "One of the most exciting characteristics of the site was that the water rises fifty feet from the maximum to the minimum, so we thought that was better used as an advantage and not as a disadvantage." The current proposal includes a series of islands suspended on catamaran-like supports and linked by floating walkways. Though simple in concept, the design's challenges lie embedded in the engineering and construction details. Consul Mar, an Argentinean engineering consulting firm specializing in marine structures, devised a unique system to anchor the landforms securely while minimizing the exposure of the structural supports when the water reaches its lowest point. A bevy of regulatory agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers, are now conducting feasibility studies to work out the mechanics of the plan. The original proposal included detachable landforms, which would be flexible enough to change the shape and size of the islands. A major benefit of the proposal is not only this flexibility in landform configuration but also in the potential to change the riverfront's seasonal activities. As Gonzalez explained, "You could detach one of the connecting pieces to attach a new one with a new function. In one you may have a kiosk in the summer, then you could take it to the shipyard and come back with another island with something for the winter." Once the tests are complete, the project should move forward; even if parts of the proposal are deemed unfeasible, the plan's bold concept should prove an exciting improvement over the current riverfront.

Balmori expects the project to break ground in 2008. Engineering firms consulted include Consul Mar, CDG Engineers Architects Planners, Inc., and Moffatt and Nichol. The architect of record is HOK, and the client is a joint partnership between the Great Rivers Greenway District and the Danforth Foundation.

[patric]

Seems to be more along the lines of our floating ampitheatre than a permanent foundation where skyscrapers are expected to appear.

[AMP]

Better sell air filtration systems that resemble an oxygen mask.  That area of the River has almost as foul of odors as the Arkansas near the 31st street bridge.  

Looks great on paper, but they need a John Waters "Polyester" Movie Odorama-Card "scratch n sniff" feature so you can catch the smell.

Based on these new river concepts I guess I will see the day when people will actually be Buying AIR.

http://cgi.ebay.com/POLYESTER-DIVINE-JOHN-WATERS-Scratchn-Sniff-Card_W0QQitemZ290017805367QQcmdZViewItem

[Cubs]

they really do need to do something there .... somehow i was on a riverboat over there (not a casino) and it was so boring and ugly

[Rowdy]

Sorry, I had to.

[jdb]

What, Desco (spit) doesn't do river fronts?

Imagine that, jdb

[Oil Capital]

quote:Originally posted by Rowdy

Sorry, I had to.

LOL  Love it.

[rwarn17588]

AMP wrote:

Better sell air filtration systems that resemble an oxygen mask. That area of the River has almost as foul of odors as the Arkansas near the 31st street bridge.

<end clip>

Interesting that you cite a bridge in Tulsa that doesn't exist. Is your recollection of the odors fictional, too?

And I've been in that area of the Mississippi River many times, since I lived near there for eight years. I've been on the river, too. I don't know of the foul odors you're talking about. It smells like any river you can name. People think rivers are supposed to smell like scented Tide; it doesn't work that way in Nature.

[AMP]

The 31st Street Bridge is the old railroad bridge that people walk across.  Guess some call it the pedestrian bridge, it is near 31st Street so that is what I call it. It does exist.

People living nearby the river took the refineries to court recently and won their law suit over obnoxious oders emiting from the plants.  May want to google that or look it up on the Tulsa World archives.  I believe they may have reported on that ruling.  Believe the judge awarded the plaintifs $1.00 each.  

Anyone that has been near the Arkansas river much and does not complain about the foul odors, other than once a year for the 4th of july when the sulphur from the Fire Works masks the ordors, must have a mal-functioning olfactory system.

I am making a trip to the river this week to photograph the sings stating not to come in contact with the water there.  

I am also contacting the Tulsa County Health Department regarding the safety of human contact with the water in the River, as I believe they are listed on the signs posted along the river bank.  

Wasn't the water pollution in the Arkansas River the reason the halted the KRMG Raft Races?

[perspicuity85]

quote:Originally posted by AMP

Better sell air filtration systems that resemble an oxygen mask.  That area of the River has almost as foul of odors as the Arkansas near the 31st street bridge.  

Looks great on paper, but they need a John Waters "Polyester" Movie Odorama-Card "scratch n sniff" feature so you can catch the smell.

Based on these new river concepts I guess I will see the day when people will actually be Buying AIR.

http://cgi.ebay.com/POLYESTER-DIVINE-JOHN-WATERS-Scratchn-Sniff-Card_W0QQitemZ290017805367QQcmdZViewItem

Thousands of people attend Gateway National Recreation Area (the St. Louis riverfront park that extends from the riverbank to the arch) every year.  In fact, the parking for most of the St. Louis riverfront is literally on the levee.

In Tulsa, hundreds of people run along the river trail on a daily basis.  I've driven along Riverside in the rain several times and noticed some people still running, indifferent to the conditions.

If the rivers in these two cities produced such nauseous odors, why would so many people frequently go to them?

[AMP]

No one ever said things that are popular are good for you or are right.  Some people in Oklahoma pay mega bucks to go sit and watch an Amateur College Football game, try to explain that?? Never wss a sitck and ball sports fan myself.  If it can't kill ya it ain't much of a sport in my book.

I know the neighbors that live in the area filed a lawsuit regarding the odors.  They have to put up with them every day of their life.  So they know more about the rotation of odors than the casual visitor.  Must be a reason they sued.  

I know whenever I get near that area traveling to and from Dallas or OKC it typically stinks to high heaven. I always try to remember to close the outside vent on the car when driving in that area.  

However it depends on which way the wind is blowing.  And on early Monday mornings around 2am the Refinery does something that produces a God Awful smell that would gag a full-grown maggot.  But I don't like the smell of burning cigarettes, alcoholic beverages or tobacco of any sort either.  

Could be many people cannot smell it for one reason or another, or they choose to ignore it.

Taking the pleasure with the pain.

[AMP]

Wonder if we could get the Fear Factor TV show to have the contestants actually drink an 8 oz glass of the water drawn from the River.  Would need to be very close to where the pipes that expel the treated or not treated sewage water into the Arkansas are located.  And they need to have a close up tour of the processing plant and a good look at that process prior to drinking the water.  

A mixture of thousands of peoples excrement from sick people, diesesed people, old people,  but hey it has been processed hasn't it?    

Let's go for a swim, shall we?

Believe the neighborhoods that sued for the foul odors were doing so because their Property Values were affected by the odors.

If you have not been around the River in different places much out of a vehicle with the Air Conditioning or Heater running, then you may not of smelled these obnoxious odors.

Doubt if you could find many people willing to buy expensive housing near that type of an odor, and Industrial area, but stranger things have happened.  

I am working on emailing the questions regarding the water in the Arkansas River to those agencies posted.  

[perspicuity85]

quote:Originally posted by AMP

No one ever said things that are popular are good for you or are right.  Some people in Oklahoma pay mega bucks to go sit and watch an Amateur College Football game, try to explain that??

Who cares?  No one is going to get poisoned from breathing the air around the Arkansas or Mississippi rivers.  So why shouldn't Tulsa or St. Louis promote activity on their rivers?  Why shouldn't they capitalize on a natural asset? They are at least as clean as most public beaches in the US.  Have you ever been to Venice Beach in LA?  I went there once and found used condoms and dirty needles strewn about the place.  Just because people swim in a place doesn't make it clean.  The rivers clean themselves naturally much better than most lakes because of their constant current.  The Arkansas and Mississippi are hardly 1970s Lake Erie.  I'm sure there is some pollution, and don't necessarily advocate swimming, but I see absolutely no reason why they shouldn't be ripe for development of boardwalks, piers, floating amphitheaters, etc.  Perhaps the land immediately adjacent to the refineries smells of oil, but is that a reason to condemn the whole river?

And in regards to college football, the players may not (hopefully) receive monetary compensation, but the corporate and university investment in college football games makes them hardly amateur.  College football is as much a part of the recreation industry as is theme parks like Disney World.

I don't mean to attack you personally, but you really do not support your argument well at all.

[Renaissance]

quote:Originally posted by AMP

Some people in Oklahoma pay mega bucks to go sit and watch an Amateur College Football game, try to explain that??

I'll explain that you're a damn moron.  Don't EVER insult college football.  It's the best sport in this country.  I get incredible enjoyment spending a lot of money on my religious attendance at every Sooner game.

Stop posting.  You're an idiot.