This gave the students a chance to learn about all aspects of creating public art. When they were first planning the theme and look of the mural, they talked about many characters from games and pop culture but learned the importance of copyright and intellectual property. The students chose the theme, inspired by the chess game from Harry Potter. They created their own set of characters to create a truly unique and original work of art.

The painting brings a new interactive element to the street. A 3-D mural, it extends from the building walls, crawling onto the sidewalk and inviting pedestrians to stop for a picture. This project was funded by the Washington University Medical Center.

Taken a picture in front of the mural? Send it to us: inthegrovestl@gmail.com

Taking a Long View of Business and the Grove

Recalling the neighborhood when he first opened eight years ago, Schloss notes that the area was “very raw”, but he could see the bones of a great neighborhood. It’s been a rewarding journey for Schloss. He notes, “We’ve grown into a mothership in the Grove.” As he comes to the end of his first decade in the Grove, he has started to look to the next ten years.  With the all the attention the Grove has received,

Schloss has recently worked with Choices Credit Union to finance a fresh new look and system for Atomic Cowboy. The restaurant will boast a new ipad-based point-of-sales system, a cloud-based network and new floors and bathrooms. When he first opened Atomic Cowboy, many noticed his care in preserving the historic aspects of the building. He notes, many people noted, “You look like you’ve been open for years!” Schloss will continue to preserve what make the building unique as he takes it to the next level.

Working with Others who Care about Their Community

Schloss has known Phil Minden of Choices credit union a long time because they have both served on local boards. Schloss wanted to work with someone who cares about the Grove as much as he does rather than going to a big institution for the loan, to whom the Grove would be just mean an address to the lender.

One of the Fastest Growing Neighborhoods in St. Louis

One aspect of revitalization that sets the Grove apart is the speed of development. Nestled by interstates 64 and 44, the Grove boasts proximity to many iconic St. Louis institutions including the St. Louis Science Center, CORTEX, the Botanical Garden and Washington University Medical Center. He predicts, “The continued revival of this neighborhood won’t take long.” Indeed, the recent announcement that Urban Chestnut will open a second location in the Grove has put a spotlight on the opportunities. Schloss sees a lot of opportunity for daytime retail because thousands of people come to the restaurants and bars of the Grove each weekend. His advice to people interested in investing the in the Grove: “Hurry Up.”

The Grove CID looks forward to the economic development and positive community impact that will result from Urban Chestnut’s presence in the neighborhood.

Read more here.

The Missouri Department of Transportation and its contractor, Fred Weber Inc., will close the Jefferson Avenue bridge over I-64 after morning rush Thursday April 18, 2013.
When the Jefferson Avenue bridge closes, drivers can use Compton Avenue, 18^th Street and 14^th Street to detour around the closure. A detour map for the project is here: http://www.modot.org/stlouis/major_projects/documents/JeffersonDetourRoute1.pdf
Crews will close the ramp from Pine Street to westbound I-64 at 7 a.m. April 18. The Pine Street ramp will remain closed until mid-July.
During the three-month bridge replacement project, crews will also close up to two lanes on I-64 in both directions weekdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. They may close two lanes on I-64 in both directions around the clock on weekends, to minimize the amount of time the Jefferson Avenue bridge is closed. The right hand lane on eastbound I-64 will become exit only to Jefferson.
MoDOT will make every effort to have all available lanes and ramps open on eastbound I-64 at least an hour before any Cardinals home game, and will make every effort to keep all available lanes and ramps open on westbound I-64 open at least an hour after home games end.
There will be three-week closures of the ramp from Jefferson to westbound I-64 and the ramp from eastbound I-64 to Jefferson during the project. Both ramps will not be closed at the same time.  The exact dates for the ramp closures have not been determined yet.
Crews will remove the Jefferson Avenue bridge the weekend of April 19-22.  Crews will close all lanes and ramps on Interstate 64 between Pine and Hampton at 8 p.m. Friday, April 19 to remove the bridge. All other downtown ramps onto westbound I-64 are also projected to be closed, as are the ramps from McCausland/Skinker, Hampton and Kingshighway to eastbound I-64. The ramp from Pine to westbound I-64 will remain closed until Jefferson reopens in mid-July.
All lanes and ramps on I-64, except for the Ewing ramp and the Pine Stret ramp, will reopen by 5 a.m. Monday, April 22.

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ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Department of Transportation and its contractor, Fred Weber Inc., will have several early morning blasts on Saturday as part of this weekend’s closure of Interstate 64 for utility work.

Crews will be constructing a trench to carry utilities under the interstate. Since that trench will be going through bedrock, workers will need to blast as part of construction.
The blasting is currently scheduled between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Saturday, March 30.
“Since this work is underground, we do not anticipate that there will be much to see during the blasting. We ask that people please stay well away from the construction area for their protection and ours,” said Deanna Venker, MoDOT St. Louis City Area Engineer.

Crews have all lanes and ramps between Forest Park Avenue and Hampton closed on Interstate 64 in both directions starting at 8 p.m. Friday, March 29.  The ramps from McCausland/Skinker, Hampton and Kingshighway to eastbound I-64 will be closed during this time. In addition, the ramps from Pine, Jefferson, Market and Grand to westbound I-64 will be closed during this time.

Crews will reopen the interstate and all ramps by 3 a.m. Monday, April 1.

Washington University in St. Louis and BJC HealthCare have partnered with the department on the project. Construction is expected to continue until July 2014.

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ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Department of Transportation and its contractor, Fred Weber Inc., will close all lanes and ramps of Interstate 64 in both directions downtown between Hampton and Forest Park Parkway at 8 p.m. Friday, March 29.

The closure is weather permitting.

While the interstate is closed, crews will relocate several utilities under the roadway as part of a project to construct a new interchange at Tower Grove and Boyle and replace four bridges over the interstate. The ramps from McCausland/Skinker, Hampton and Kingshighway to eastbound I-64 will be closed during this time. In addition, the ramps from Pine, Jefferson, Market and Grand to westbound I-64 will be closed during this time.

Crews will reopen the interstate and all ramps by 3 a.m. Monday, April 1.

The detour for westbound I-64 will be to get off the interstate at the Forest Park Avenue exit (exit 38A) and follow Forest Park Avenue to Kingshighway. After turning left onto Kingshighway, drivers will follow Kingshighway back to the interstate.  The detour for eastbound I-64 will be to get off the interstate at the Hampton Avenue exit (exit 34B), turn right on Hampton and follow it to eastbound Interstate 44. Drivers can then take I-44 to the Poplar Street Bridge. Detour maps are available on-line at http://tinyurl.com/i64detour0113

Washington University in St. Louis and BJC HealthCare have partnered with the department on the project. Construction is expected to continue until July 2014.

We wanted to make you all aware of an increase in “crimes of opportunity” occurring over the last several months in many areas wherein people are leaving their personal belongings (particularly cell phones) laying around on desks, tables and bar tops.

As you all know, for years we’ve reminded the public not to leave valuables in sight within the cabin of your vehicles, or to look around and pay attention to those who may be watching you place a purse, laptop or the like in your trunk before walking away from your auto.

What seems to be the new trend, however, is the criminals are now making the attempt to blend in to their surroundings.

They’ll frequent places that are open to the public like restaurants, bars, hospitals or a busy office building and sit around giving the appearance that they’re just like you and me and they belong there.  They might give you the impression they’re just having a cup coffee on break from a busy day of work or relaxing while shopping.  You sit down with your laptop, iPad, cell phone, etc. and relax with no thought of someone watching you with an eye on your property.  You’re feeling comfortable with your surroundings, so you decide to leave your table to grab something to-go or use the restroom before leaving… and when you return, your property is gone.

We in law enforcement have had several opportunities recently to view video from hospitals, office buildings or restaurants after an incident has occurred and we’ve watched this new breed of opportunist walk into a workspace or over to a table and pick up what they want and walk away as if it was theirs in the first place; nothing to make them stand out from the crowd.

We would like you to share this information with your employees and coworkers; look around, pay attention to your surroundings, don’t place yourself into a false sense of “it won’t happen here”.    Keep your valuables, especially purses and cell phones with you at all times.  Train your staff to ask customers to keep these items in their possession without leaving the property on tables, bars or desks.

These types of crimes are preventable with some help from you.  We look forward to working with you to continue our mission to make our neighborhoods safe and pleasurable.

Thank you,

Captain James E. Moran

Commander, District Nine

We have continued to work on the Tower Grove project without much of a significant impact to the through traffic on I-64 through the area.  Crews are moving along with the grading and roadwork needed to construct both the Taylor and Newstead bridges, as well as work on the new pavement needed along the interstate.

We have a couple projected interstate closures for the area, for two separate projects.  The first will be a full closure of I-64 for utility work across the interstate. This is a part of the Tower Grove project and will be similar to the closure we had earlier this year to demolish the bridges. Weather permitting, we are planning to close all lanes and ramps on the interstate in both directions between Hampton and Forest Park Parkway at 8 p.m. Friday, March 29. We will also close the ramps from McCausland/Skinker, Hampton and Kingshighway to eastbound I-64 during this time. In addition, the ramps from Pine, Jefferson, Market and Grand to westbound I-64 will be closed during this time.

We will reopen all lanes and ramps by 5 a.m. Monday, April 1.  Like the last closure, there will be one eastbound lane that will be able to continue to Kingshighway.  We will be detouring eastbound interstate traffic to southbound Hampton, to eastbound I-44 and back to the Poplar Street Bridge. We will detour westbound traffic to Forest Park Avenue, to southbound Kingshighway and back to westbound I-64.

Our second interstate closure is due to the Jefferson Bridge replacement project in April. Weather permitting, we are planning to close the interstate in both directions at 8 p.m. Friday, April 19. All lanes and ramps between 2100 Market and Forest Park Avenue will be closed.

We will reopen all lanes and ramps by 5 a.m. Monday, April 22. The exact details of the detour are still being worked out. We’ll put that information out closer to the April 19 closure.

We are unable to combine the two closures, mainly because detouring the traffic along city streets for both closures would significantly impact downtown traffic.

Jefferson Avenue across I-64 will be closed for no more than 90 days.  While Jefferson is closed, drivers crossing over the interstate can use Compton, 18^th or 14^th Street to detour around the closure. Cyclists and pedestrians may also consider using Scott and Ewing to detour around the closure. The ramps at Jefferson will also close for three weeks as part of reconstruction. Both ramps will not be closed at the same time. The specific dates for those ramp closures have not been determined yet.

You can find out more information on these projects at our web site: http://www.modot.org/stlouis/major_projects/stlouiscityupdates.htm