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Preservation Week 2008 includes tours, awards - and bowling?
(by Tim Woodcock - May 07, 2008)
Landmarks Association is pushing the definition of a week to bursting point, with nine days of activities in its 2008 lineup of Preservation Week events.
The schedule includes history walks, a trivia night and a panel discussion about historic rehab projects.
The first event, from 3:30 to 6 p.m. May 9, is a ribbon cutting and open house for the Ludwig Lofts, which has been named by Landmarks as one of the city’s most enhanced buildings. The lofts take in two neighboring buildings at 1004 and 1006 Olive Street that were commissioned by owners of music publishing companies at the start of the 20th century. Craig Heller of LoftWorks, the company that has given them new life, will speak at the event.
The buildings were built in an area known as Music Row, which extended along Olive between 8th and 12th streets at a time when St. Louis was known nationally as a center for sheet-music publishing and piano lessons, said Carolyn Toft, executive director of Landmarks. Only these two buildings plus another across the street remain from the days of Music Row, Toft said.
On May 10, there are guided walking tours of Maplewood, Old North St. Louis and St. Louis Place, and there’s a revival of the Skinker-DeBaliviere Mother’s Day house tour on May 11. Both the Old North St. Louis and Skinker-DeBaliviere tours include the option of taking a shuttle bus between sites because they are relatively dispersed. On May 17 and 18, it’s the Central West End’s turn, with a tour featuring the mansions of Kingsbury Place. Money raised through the tour will benefit the Central West End Association. Ten of the homes on the private street will be open for viewing.
At 5:30 p.m. May 11, Landmarks holds its annual Enhanced Awards ceremony, an event that Toft calls “a perennial favorite.” It is always held in one of buildings that will be given an award and this year the location is the Ivory Theatre, 7622 Michigan Ave., formerly St. Boniface Church.
At 7 p.m. May 13, at the Laurel Sales Office, 625 Washington Ave., Landmarks, along with Revitalize St. Louis and the Rehabbers Club, is sponsoring a panel discussion about the local rehab scene and the current state of the local real-estate market.
This year’s schedule also includes a couple of novelties, Toft said.
On May 14, KETC-Channel 9 presenter Patrick Murphy will host a trivia night to benefit Landmarks. Teams of five to eight people will grapple with questions that emphasize local history and architecture. The location for the event is the newly restored Soulard Preservation Hall, 1921 S. 9th St.
And on May 16, preservationists will be able to let their hair down with a night of bowling from 6 to 9 p.m. at Saratoga Lanes in Maplewood. The 1916 second-floor bowling alley with decor straight out of the 1950s, requires not only the ability to knock the pins down but also the ability to score by hand. The venue was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in January.
Further information, including prices and times of the events, can be found online at www.landmarks-stl.org.
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