Civic Affairs
City Hall Routes Streetcar Tax Assessment Down Wrong Track
By Kevin Collison The streetcar financial board plan to inform property owners about the upcoming special tax assessment for the Main Street expansion was derailed recently when thousands of additional letters were mailed in error due to a City Hall screwup. The board wanted to inform property owners who’ll pay the special assessment within the…
‘War Remains,’ Virtual Visit to Trench Combat ‘Hell,’ Sellout WWI Museum Attraction
By Kevin Collison You could call “War Remains,” the new virtual reality experience at the National World War I Museum, a blockbuster attraction, except for its solitary nature, one person can visit every 15 minutes. The exhibition has been a sellout since opening shortly before Memorial Day weekend and is completely booked at this point…
Katz Redevelopment Plan Sparks Incentive Debate on Streetcar Route
By Kevin Collison An apartment plan that would save the landmark Katz Drugstore has become the opening salvo in a City Hall debate over how–or whether–tax incentives should be available to assist developments planned along the new streetcar extension down Main. Lux Living plans to seek a 25-year property tax abatement to help finance the…
‘Auschwitz,’ Union Station’s Most Ambitious Exhibition, Runs Through March.
By Kevin Collison “Auschwitz, Not Long Ago, Not Far Away” is Union Station’s most ambitious exhibition to date and you find its title is no empty phrase before you begin the story of perhaps the cruelest episode in history. That’s because the antisemitism that created the infamous World War II death camp where 1.1 million…
North Loop Among ‘Freeways without Futures’ in New National Report
By Kevin Collison The downtown North Loop is among 15 freeways throughout the country that should be removed and their tracks revitalized according to a new report by a national non-profit organization that champions “walkable urbanism.” The “Freeways Without Futures 2021” report by the Washington D.C.-based Congress for The New Urbanism (CNU) also supports lowering Missouri…