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ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Sunday, August 5, 2007
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House Passes Energy Bill That Includes $10 Billion Energy Efficiency Block Grant for Cities
ST. LOUIS, MO (PRNewswire-USNewswire), August 5, 2007 - The U.S. House of Representatives have passed broad energy legislation (241-172) that will establish a direct partnership between the federal government and cities, counties and states to help reduce energy dependency.
The House-approved legislation (HR.3221) among other items includes the establishment of a new Energy Efficiency Block Grant Program at the U.S. Department of Energy, providing grants for communities to further develop energy efficiency strategies to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"The nation's mayors applaud House leaders for demonstrating their commitment to local communities by passing landmark legislation that stimulates energy independence starting from the grassroots level," said Conference President Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer. "We thank the leadership of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA), Chairman John Dingell (MI), Representatives Rick Boucher (VA) and Albert Wynn (MD), and other House leaders who have embraced this block grant approach. We will continue to support Congressional leaders to ensure that this landmark legislation reaches the President by the end of the year."
The legislation creates a new block grant program that will support community-based energy efficiency and conservation efforts by authorizing a total of $2 billion per year from 2008-2012. Activities eligible under the program would include: encouraging energy efficiency and conservation programs in commercial, residential and municipal buildings; as well as provide energy audits and energy technical assistance.
Funds would be allocated to participating communities on a population formula basis. This new block grant is modeled after the successful federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which also gives money directly to cities, counties, and states for economic development and housing programs.
"This legislation and its energy efficiency block grant program will help accelerate efforts by mayors to protect our climate," said Tom Cochran, Executive Director of The U.S. Conference of Mayors. "Mayors are on the front lines on climate protection and this new legislation will help cities to do more and empower them to reduce their community's energy use and increase overall energy efficiency."
Cities nationwide are implementing innovative practices on energy efficiency, conservation, and ways to reduce global warming. So far, more than 630 U.S. Mayors have pledged support for The U.S. Conference of Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7% from their 1990 levels. However, much more could be done with additional national resources to help launch and/or replicate these programs.
In June, the full Senate approved a broad energy package that also includes an energy and environmental block grant program for cities, counties and states.
Nominations in St. Louis and Kansas City Considered for National Register of Historic Places
ST. LOUIS, MO (SLFP.com), August 5, 2007 - The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will consider nominations to the National Register of Historic Places for a variety of historic and cultural resources during its quarterly meeting Aug. 10 in Jefferson City. The meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at 9 a.m. in the La Charrette conference room of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' Lewis and Clark State Office Building, 1101 Riverside Drive.
Twenty nominations are scheduled to be considered for listing in the National Register. Properties on the agenda include historic residences, commercial buildings, and historic districts. Approximately 1,300 historic resources are represented in the nominations.
The following nominations in the St. Louis area are being considered:
Marthasville in Warren County is a historic river town that experienced a significant commercial boom when the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad arrived in 1893. Frederick Gottfried Ahmann took advantage of the newly developing commercial district near the new tracks to construct the Marthasville Hardware Building in 1902. The first floor served as the hardware store supplying stoves, farm and building supplies and a variety of other merchandise. The second floor, accessed by a large freight elevator, acted as a showroom for buggies and wagons also sold by Ahmann. The large frame building is architecturally significant for its pressed metal façade supplied by Mesker Bros. Iron Works in St. Louis.
Upon its completion in 1924, the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Distribution Plant at 1132 Spruce Street in St. Louis became an important component of the city's successful shoe industry. The six-story brick and terra cotta facility was connected to an adjacent three-story building that had been constructed in 1915, and these buildings are nominated together. The warehouse and showroom space that they provided enabled East Coast-based Endicott-Johnson to compete more directly with established St. Louis shoe giants such as International, Brown and Rand for a larger share of the lucrative Western market. Architects Nolte and Nauman designed the six-story building. Frederick C. Bonsack was the architect for the older structure, which originally had been the Columbia Transfer Co. Industry is the proposed area of significance.
Completed in 1959, the Nooter Corp. Building at 1400 S. 3rd Street in St. Louis served as corporate headquarters for an important metal fabricator originally known as the John Nooter Boiler Works. The two-story Modern Movement style building was the first new construction in the Kosciusko industrial district, an urbal renewal project on the riverfront just south of downtown St. Louis. The Nooter Corp. Building was designed by Sverdrup and Parcel, an engineering firm much better known for its bridge designs than for architecture. The nomination states that the property is exceptionally significant in the areas of commerce and community planning and development.
Constructed 1926-1929, the nine brick buildings that constitute St. Luke's Plaza Apartments (preferred) in St. Louis represent part of a successful 10-year plan to address congestion, blight and housing shortages through zoning. Among other things, the plan helped bring middle class affluence to the city's west end for more than four decades. Located in the 5600 block of Enright Avenue, the three-story and four-story buildings still reflect their 1926-1929 period of significance. Although many young physicians and nurses at the nearby St. Luke's Hospital were among the tenants, there was never an official connection with the hospital. Originally, the apartments were known as the Amherst, Barnard, Barclay, Cornell, Enright, Enright Court, Dartmouth and Berkshire apartments; one apparently was unnamed. Community planning and development is the proposed area of significance.
In response to a construction boom in the Mount Cabanne neighborhood of St. Louis, Rev. John Dillion commissioned the construction of St. Mark's the Evangelist Church in 1893. The growing parish soon outgrew the church and in 1902 construction began on the current building. This was just the beginning of a multi-year building campaign that resulted in the construction of St. Mark's the Evangelist Catholic Church, Convent, and Academy. The Early English Gothic Revival style church was designed by Barnett, Haynes and Barnett. The convent, though designed by Baker and Knell, shares design elements with the church, including stone building material, lancet windows and decorative tracery. The academy served as an all girls' Catholic high school, that drew girls from St. Louis as well as outlying communities until its closing in 1974.
The Central Carondelet Historic District (Boundary Increase) in St. Louis extends the boundaries of an existing National Register-listed district to include more than 480 additional historic buildings. The largely residential district contains homes constructed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and reflects the period when the community transitioned from an independent town to a city neighborhood at the southern boundary of St. Louis. During this time, industry thrived along Carondelet's waterfront and a population of Americans and European immigrants built a prosperous community. Factors such as availability of inexpensive land and relatively healthy living conditions made the area an excellent alternative to the city property. The majority of the buildings in the boundary increase were constructed between 1870 and 1916 and represent a socially stratified neighborhood of high style and modest dwellings.
St. Mary's Institute of O'Fallon (Motherhouse for the Congregation of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood) in O'Fallon in St. Charles County began in 1874 with a small convent that over the years evolved into the present mazelike complex of interconnected and freestanding buildings, some of which are owned and used by the city of O'Fallon. A cemetery is part of the approximately 43-acre complex. The order was established in Steinerberg, Switzerland, in 1845. The sisters associated with the motherhouse share a rich history that includes maintaining an educational facility (St. Mary's College) and an ecclesiastical art department. Social history, education and art are proposed areas of significance.
In 1909, Ernst G. Graeser constructed the Graeser Building in Creve Coeur in St. Louis County to house his hardware and fencing business. Local histories lauded Graeser's influence, calling him one of the "successful men" of the county and his store a popular shopping center noted for its quality merchandise and service. The store carried a full line of stoves, ranges, fencing and building supplies. Around 1920, Graeser built an addition and installed gas pumps to service automobiles. Though the hardware closed in the early 1940s, the building's prominent location at 10953 Olive Blvd. and continued commercial use makes it an important local landmark.
Other nominations being considered include the following in Kansas City:
South Hyde Park Historic District
Armour Boulevard Post-World War II Apartment Building Historic District
Gillham Court Apartment Buildings
Smith and Sons Manufacturing Co. Building
Walnut Street Warehouse and Commercial Historic District (Boundary Increase)
18th and Vine Historic District
TWA Administrative Office Buildings
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