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ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Sunday, September 19, 2004
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Great Forest Park Balloon Race Nearly Canceled
Hot-air balloon crews waited anxiously for their turn to launch from Art Hill for the 32nd Annual Great Forest Park Balloon Race. >>>
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ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com) September 19, 2004 - U.S. Senator Kit Bond announced Thursday that he and Congressman Todd Akin successfully fought-off an initial Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restriction that threatened cancellation of the 32nd Annual Great Forest Park Balloon Race, scheduled for September 18, 2004.
A post 9-11 FAA security measure restricts aircraft from flying within 3 miles and below 3,000 ft. near any major stadium event. The organizers of the Balloon Race were recently told that this measure would be applied to hot air balloons, and with the scheduled league-leading St. Louis Cardinals baseball game on Saturday, cancellation of the event was a serious threat. After Race organizers exhausted efforts to work with FAA officials in St. Louis Bond and Akin were asked to intervene on behalf of the event.
Bond and Akin lobbied the FAA to overturn the initial ruling. On Thursday, the FAA announced that the restriction would in fact be lifted and the race would go on!
In an announcement Bond stated, "This race is a grand tradition in the St. Louis area, drawing spectators from around the city and all corners of our nation. It would be a real loss to the entire state of Missouri if this great race was unable to go on. I am glad that Congressman Akin and I were able to convince the FAA to make an exception for what is truly an exceptional event."
On Saturday, the 32nd annual Great Forest Park Balloon Race, the largest fall civic event in the City of St. Louis, will be held in the St. Louis Forest Park. More than 130,000 spectators from the St. Louis Region and beyond attended the race, which was held for the first time on Art Hill. See special coverage: It Was a Grand Day in the Park for the 32nd Annual Great Forest Park Balloon Race
Developer Proposes $18 million Shopping Center at Former St. Louis Army Ammunitions Plant
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com) September 19, 2004 - Goodfellow Acquisitions Inc. has submitted a proposal to City development officials to build an $18 million shopping center anchored by Home Depot at the former St. Louis Army Ammunitions Plant (SLAAP) located at I-70 and Goodfellow.
Goodfellow Acquisitions Inc. is an affiliate of Koman Properties Inc., a Clayton-based real estate development company specializing in the development of retail centers. James G. Koman, a local real estate developer, is president of the company.
At the SLAAP site, the developer is negotiating with Home Depot to build a 137,000-square-foot home improvement store and garden center, with five to seven out-lots suitable for a variety of commercial/retail and restaurant users. The project is expected to create approximately 225 full-time and 450 part-time jobs, including summer jobs, and about 175 construction and trade jobs.
Through Koman Properties and related entities and partnerships, Koman has developed more than 2.2 million square feet of commercial space in the region from East St. Louis to Wildwood. Koman's projects include the Casino Queen and Crown Hotel; 26 Walgreens stores including the one visited by President Bill Clinton in East St. Louis in 1999 and one under construction at Natural Bridge and Kingshighway; MLK Plaza at Martin Luther King and Page; Grandview Plaza in Florissant; The Village at Wildwood; and several shopping centers in Illinois, including Fairview Heights, Collinsville, and Troy.
"The City lost over 500 jobs when the ammunitions plant closed. We were looking for a proposal that would help the City recover the lost jobs and tax revenues, as well as provide some much-needed retail on the North Side, and we are extremely happy with this proposal," stated Otis Williams, deputy director of the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC).
The 18-acre St. Louis Army Ammunitions Plant (SLAAP) opened in 1944 as part of the larger St. Louis Ordnance Plant. The plant was a major employer in the City, providing approximately 4,500 well-paying jobs to local residents. During World War II, the SLAAP manufactured .30- and .50-caliber munitions. In 1944, the site began producing 105-millimeter Howitzer shells. After World War II, the site was placed on standby, then reactivated for the Korean Conflict and later the Vietnam War.
In 1984, several buildings at SLAAP were renovated to house filing and administrative operations and more than 500 employees. But in 1989, the Army determined that SLAAP was no longer required to support its munitions mission and all industrial equipment was removed from the plant.
The SLAAP site has sat vacant since the Army closed the plant in 1995. It is still owned by the Army.
After the plant closed, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined that the site suffered from years of environmental contamination, but funding the clean-up was not a high priority within the federal budget. In 2001, the Army began investigating and cleaning up portions of the site with $6 million in federal funding secured by Congressman William Lacy Clay, whose district includes SLAAP.
The proposal will undergo an extensive review and negotiations process by a City selection committee comprised of representatives of LCRA; the Mayor's Office; Comptroller's Office; President of the Board of Aldermen; and Alderman Jeffrey Boyd, whose 22nd ward includes the site; and SLDC.
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