THURSDAY ARCH SERIES

 

One last image extracted from the series I shot recently from the top a garage with a direct view of downtown. The tall building with a dome is the federal courthouse, much-criticized because it exactly blocks the view of the Arch from the main east-west highway leading downtown. Note also the trompe-l'oeil design on the lower building beneath and to the right, looking like there was a big bas relief sculpture. The structure, once a warehouse, is now a hotel and expensive condos.           

THURSDAY ARCH SERIES

Haven't had one of these in a while but then there are only so many ways you can depict an upside down catenary arch. The monument is partly concealed by what passes for a skyline around here. 

Some notes about the buildings: The low, saddle-topped building is the hockey arena, home of, if I may say so, the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues. The tall building with the dome on the right is the federal courthouse. It precisely blocks the view of the Arch from the main highway coming into downtown from the west. The tall building on the left is vacant. After the anti-trust break up of the original AT&T many regional "baby Bells" were created and Southwestern Bell was headquartered here. It gobbled up some of the other regional phone companies and then bought the rights to the AT&T name. For awhile that building was the headquarter of the new AT&T but then they moved the operation to Dallas. The building, having the greatest amount of floor space of any in the area, has been emptied out. I've read that since it was built for a single tenant it is very difficult to repurpose, so there it sits.          

The Law And The Economy

Three downtown buildings seen from a distance. 

On the left, the old Civil Courts building, where state-level litigation takes place. Hard to see from this distance but the architecture is genuinely bizarre. Worth this short read. 

The tall center building houses the federal courts, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. It is the largest single courthouse in America and is 18 years old. It has been controversial from the start because it completely blocks the view of the Arch from the main highway coming into downtown from the west.

The building on the right has the strangest story. After the breakup of the original AT&T into the regional "baby Bells," this was the headquarters of Southwestern Bell. That company started buying up other baby Bells and eventually the AT&T name. The headquarters moved to Dallas and this 44 story tower has been vacant for nine months. It will be hard to use because it was built for a single tenant and now has almost no parking. So another urban ghost building but the biggest one we've ever had.       

A Mix Of Styles

A downtown lesson in comparative architecture.

Top right is the federal courthouse. It has streamlined references to the classical, with its colonnades, quasi-temples in the top corners and domed top. It also exactly blocks the view of the Arch from the main highway running east into downtown, but what do they care.

The dark glass, International School structure is the low rise part of a Bank of America tower. The high rise part just to the left is an austere black, featureless octagon. I sometimes call it the Darth Vader Tower. The reflection in the glass is an old AT&T building that looks like a commercial castle. A block over is a modern 44 story tower that AT&T just announced plans to vacate, dumping about a squillion square feet of office space onto the already-depressed downtown real estate market. Good for tenants like me, I suppose.         

High And Mighty

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This is the Thomas F. Eagleton United States Courthouse, opened in 2000. Eagleton was a senator from Missouri. The building we saw yesterday was the former home of the federal courts, given to the state when this place opened.

It was state of the art when it was build. Indeed, it is the tallest courthouse in the country. Problem is, it completely blocks the view of the Arch when driving downtown from the west on the main highway. Doh! as Homer Simpson might say.

I swear I did not Photoshop those clouds in. I may have enhanced them a wee bit but that's just how they were. Maybe federal judges simply radiate power.

So, uh, what's across the street? This, if you care to look at Downtown St. Louis 365 today.

An Afternoon Shower

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Taken from my office window yesterday afternoon. The building is the federal court house. I keep clear of it.

TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series, with something to chew on.