Old North St. Louis Restoration Group
OLD NORTH ST. LOUIS RESTORATION GROUP
Training: March 17 - July 14, 2004; offices of Old North St. Louis Restoration Group; Mel Watkin, Instructor
Exhibition SITE #1: PPRC Photography Project Gallery, September 8 - December 22, 2004
Exhibition SITE #2: Old North St. Louis Restoration Group Offices, September 10 - December 22, 2004
Website: www.onsl.org
The first group to participate in a PPRC Photography Project was the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group (ONSLRG) located just north of downtown St. Louis. I learned about ONSLRG through Kay Gasen and Holly Ingraham, of UMSL's Department of Continuing Education, who had just completed a multi-year evaluation, strategic planning and implementation process through their work at PPRC. The historic village of North St. Louis was founded in 1816 and annexed into the City of St. Louis in 1841. Many of the beautiful Victorian era homes that define the neighborhood fell on hard times or were abandoned for nearly five decades. ONSLRG was founded in 1981 to promote a spirit of respect for the neighborhood and serve as a forum for residents on a variety of fronts. For the first 10 years of its existence, the group rehabilitated homes, created and maintained community gardens, and engaged in other traditional community-building activities. In the last five years, with the support of public and private funding agencies, the ONSLRG has intensified its efforts at community improvements, developing a community rehabilitation plan and advocating for reinvestment in the community. In 2001, the ONSLRG and the Public Policy Research Center (PPRC) at University of Missouri St. Louis (UMSL) began working together under the umbrella of a Community Outreach Partnership Center grant through the Department of Housing and Urban Development. As part of this collaborative effort, PPRC marshaled resources from the university to work in four areas of concern to residents of Old North: neighborhood stabilization and historic preservation, environmental health and safety, home maintenance and financial literacy, and community organization and leadership. Through the hard work of Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, the neighborhood is now known as a model for effective community-based revitalization. The group's administration now consists of three full time staff members who focus their efforts on the neighborhood's development plan, encourage new business, and promote affordable housing. One of their recent achievements includes redeveloping the virtually abandoned 14th Street Mall. Now called Crown Village, this two block pedestrian mall, originally the product of a failed 1977 urban renewal experiment, has been revitalized to include 35,000 square feet of retail space and 80 residential units.
--Mel Watkin, Instructor and Director
PPRC Photography Project
PARTICIPANTS:
Gloria Bratkowski
Carole Gates
Nicole Leone
Kira Switzer
Peter Vastola
COMMUNITY PARTNERS:
Old North St. Louis Restoration Group
Public Policy Research Center at UMSL
Department of History at UMSL
Department of Continuing Education at UMSL