The Soldiers' Memorial Military Museum, at 1315 Chestnut Street, in downtown St. Louis, is dedicated as a memorial for veterans and as a museum for preserving a historic collection of military artifacts
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The Soldiers' Memorial Military Museum was officially dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on October 14, 1936 and opened to the public on Memorial Day, 1938.
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Friends of Soldiers' Memorial Launch Campaign to Improve Museum
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), April 20, 2010 - In 1923, the residents of St. Louis voted to appropriate $6 million for the purchase of a memorial plaza and monument to commemorate St. Louisans who lost their lives in World War I. Residents later raised $1 million to construct the Soldiers' Memorial Military Museum in downtown St. Louis. The site was officially dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on October 14, 1936. It was opened to the public on Memorial Day, 1938.
On Tuesday, April 20, 2010, a group of citizens, Friends of Soldiers' Memorial Military Museum, joined Mayor Francis G. Slay on the steps of the museum to launch a fundraising initiative to raise $6,645,000 in basic capital improvements needed to bring the facility up to American Association of Museum (AAM) accreditation standards.
The five-year project is spearheaded by founding board members Kim Tucci, president and co-founder of Pasta House Company, Tom Irwin, executive director of Civic Progress, Marine and Vietnam War Veteran and Tim Noonan, Boeing Corporation, vice president and Marine Veteran.
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Stan Musial will serve as 2010 Honorary Fundraising Chairman. In remarks at the press conference, Musial's grandson, Brian Schwarze said that Stan, most often recognized for being one of baseball's greatest players, gave up two years of his baseball career to serve as a seaman in World War II.
The 2010 Capital Improvement Project is UV glass protection for the museum windows to protet artifacts. Additional repairs needed include: electrical upgrades, HVAC upgrades, roof repair, plumbing, exterior and foundation repair.
The Soldiers' Memorial Military Museum was incorporated in 2009 as a 501 (c) (3) and was granted Public Charity Status effective September 8, 2009. The "Friends" Board members opened a Bank of America account with a check from Mayor Slay. Donations to the fund are separate and independent of the City of St. Louis.
Donations can be sent to:
Friends of Soldiers' Memorial Military Museum
Soldiers Memorial Military Museum
1315 Chestnut Street
St. Louis, MO 63103
To request additional information about Friends of Soldiers' Memorial Military Museum, please email friends@stlsoldiersmemorial.org or contact Jim Sondermann at 314-277.9141.
Public Invited to Hear Arch Competition Finalists
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), April 18, 2010 - The public is invited to hear about design plans for the Gateway Arch grounds, Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 7 p.m., at the Roberts Orpheum Theater, located at 416 North 9th Street in downtown St. Louis.
Joe Buck, the award-winning sportscaster and St. Louis native, will moderate the "Meet the Design Teams" event featuring the five competition finalists who will present their design philosophies and examples of their previous work.
The leaders of the design teams entering the third and final stage of the competition are:
- Behnisch Team led by Behnisch Architekten - Stuttgart, Germany, Los Angeles
- MVVA Team led by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates - New York City
- PWP Landscape Architecture, Foster + Partners, Civitas - Berkeley, Calif.
- SOM, Hargreaves, BIG - Chicago
- Weiss/Manfredi, Architecture/Site Design/Urbanism - New York
"The goal of the first two steps of the process was to identify design teams with the talent, capacity and
commitment to create thoughtful design solutions addressing the complex issues of the site and its relationship to the city, the river and the Illinois side. With this selection, that goal has been accomplished," said Competition Manager Donald J. Stastny, of StastnyBrun Architects.
"The selected teams represent local, national and international perspective, and we look forward to working with them over the next few months as their visions evolve and they create their design," he stated.
Tom Bradley, superintendent of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, commented, "Having this level of architectural, engineering and landscape design power focused on such a visible urban park is exciting."
"We are committed to incorporating our parks into the life of their surrounding communities. I look forward to seeing the designs in August."
The five teams will begin now and work through the spring and summer on design concepts, which will be put on public exhibition on Aug. 17, 2010. The final jury pick will be announced on Sept. 24, 2010. The project will be constructed by Oct. 28, 2015.
City Public Library to Close for Major Renovation
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), April 13, 2010 - The St. Louis Public Library will close its downtown Central Library, 1301 Olive Street, on Monday, June 14, 2010, so that it can commence the eagerly anticipated restoration and renovation of the St. Louis landmark.
Central Library will remain closed throughout the project, which is expected to last about two years. Library officials' goal is to reopen Central in time for its centennial year of 2012.
The $79 million project will be paid for through the Library's own funding from St. Louis taxpayers, state and federal funding, and a major philanthropic campaign by the St. Louis Public Library Foundation.
Designed by famed architect Cass Gilbert and funded by Andrew Carnegie, Central Library is one of America's great public buildings and an architectural masterpiece. The restoration and renovation, designed by the St. Louis architectural office of Cannon Design, will carefully restore and repair the building's beautiful façades and stunning main public rooms.
New services and wonderful spaces to house them will be created in the renovated building. By remodeling former offices and service spaces, 30,000 square feet of additional space will be opened to the public. For example, a beautiful 250-seat auditorium/theater will occupy a space originally used for coal storage.
Other exciting features that the renewed Central Library will offer include:
- The Center for the Reader: An enormous new space dedicated to new books and popular reading.
- A greatly enlarged children's library, including new craft and story areas, study and reading areas, and a teen center.
- The Creative Experience: A dedicated room that will showcase new, state-of-the-art technology and software.
- New rooms dedicated to patrons who use Central Library's unique genealogy, St. Louis history, and rare books collections.
- New generation technology including a computer classroom for technology education, new computer study areas as well as workstations distributed throughout; wireless technology access, and laptop computers.
- A new, accessible entrance facing Lucas Park opening Central to the growing downtown residential district, offering a mirror to the great restored Olive entrance. The new entrance will feature the falling waters of a new reflecting pool, signaling that patrons are entering into a special experience. A few steps will take patrons into the new atrium, a beautiful new multi-story space leading into the heart of Central and an array of new features.
- In addition to the new auditorium, a variety of new meeting spaces will be available for Library programs.
- Entirely reworked electrical, mechanical, and environmental systems engineered for energy conservation. New elevators and restrooms will be distributed throughout the building.
The Central Library's telephone and online reference services will continue during the project. Patrons will still be able to see Central
s collections in our online catalog and request them be delivered to our 15 locations.
In a release, Library Executive Director Waller McGuire, said, "We at the Library are excited to embark upon the restoration and renovation of Central Library. I am confident that we will be able to continue to provide the outstanding service that the public has come to know and expect from us throughout the project. Our ultimate goal is to provide the community a strong, renewed St. Louis Public Library."
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Partnership for Downtown St. Louis Charts Course for Next 10 Years
