frontenac | Both my wife and I are somewhat saddened by the impending doom of Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis. Cate worked in linens and gifts as soon as it opened in 1974 as the northern anchor tenant at Plaza Frontenac. I was a sales associate in ladies shoes for a year or so just more than 30 years later. As we didn’t have any retirement vested with Saks, neither of us is lamenting the loss of a pension—even a pittance—although we do feel badly for the 60-plus men and women who’ll be out of a job when Saks shutters for good in May. Cate said many of the salespeople had already been with the company for ages during her short stint, since Saks had been a major retailer at Maryland Plaza in the CWE during its era as the StL’s premier luxury shopping district. That area had peaked in the 1950s and begun its downward spiral in the ’60s as shopping malls were popping up all over the national retail landscape. Now Saks is in bankruptcy, brought on by the huge debt it assumed by buying Neiman Marcus. Of course, that’s the anchor tenant on Plaza Frontenac’s south end. Hmm. Maybe the recently closed Canyon Café, just outside Saks’ lower level, got out when the getting was still good. One shuttered mall in the metro already has been razed to create a bona fide downtown for the newish City of Chesterfield, established in 1988. But what about the luxury destination at Lindbergh and I-64? I say transform it into a two-story roller disco, even though no one warmed to that idea when it was first brought up a few years ago as the solution to Chesterfield Mall’s dilemma in this very space.

gateway arch national park
About a year ago, this column trumpeted a $670 million plan by Cordish Cos. to demolish the Millenium Hotel—that tall, cylindrical building adjacent to our favorite national park—and improve the experience of committed locals (e.g., Cardinals fans) and tourists visiting two sparkling jewels near the Riverfront: the Gateway Arch and Busch Stadium. Vacant for 12 years, the Millenium Hotel is being demolished and sitework is underway, but at the behest of new owners with their eyes more to the east, not so much urban redevelopment to the west. Gateway Arch Park Foundation is looking to put its money where its mouth is, with its intention to work with Illinois officials in expanding the park to East St. Louis, which they contend original Arch architect and visionary Eero Saarinen dreamed of from the get-go. Illinois for 25 years had its Gateway Geyser over on the right side of the Mississippi. It stopped operating in 2023, with no plans to restart the plume that shot hundreds of feet skyward. So much more dreaming and planning needs to be done, perhaps with a fringe benefit of commercial opportunities for our neighboring city in the Metro East. Cordish’s ambitious plans for the left side of the Big Muddy include a 41-story multipurpose residential and office tower and an amphitheater in a park-like setting. Gateway backers envision a bridge over I-44 to the national park, and purchasing additional acreage to enhance a park on the east side that included the geyser. With whose money? Public and private funds, which were used to fund the latest park improvements, but in this case bolstered by a bill before Congress spearheaded by U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, Illinois. Cooperation is key with such a giant bi-state effort, and with sensibly sympathetic federal involvement, maybe there won’t be the amount of bickering as there was over naming that beautiful new bridge carrying I-70 over the river. Missouri was just fine with naming it after Stan Musial—the ‘Stan-the-Man Span’?—while Illinois insisted on inserting “Veterans Memorial” in there too. We’re a region, not separate fiefdoms. Can’t we all just get along?

the city museum
The City Museum is so much more than that weird, wonderful and wacky place where vintage architectural details like cornices and columns are warehoused to gawk at. There’s a Ferris wheel on the roof. There’s the City Express Train. There are slides through bizarre landscapes. And now, there’s an antique, hand-carved wooden carousel perfect for younger visitors. On March 20 through 22, special entertainment is scheduled at the museum to celebrate the acquisition of this retired, beautifully restored kids’ carnival ride. Come down and see:

  • Stilt walkers
  • Balloon twister
  • Gaslight Square Duo (Friday and Sunday)
  • Ragtime Jazz Duo (Saturday only)

The children’s carousel, 20 feet in diameter, was originally manufactured in the 1920s by the Allan Herschell Co. of North Tonawanda, New York. Producing more than 3,000 hand-carved wooden carousels, the company specialized in portable machines that traveled with carnivals across the country. In 1988, the carousel was restored as a historical art preservation project by sculptor Carlos Sardina and his wife, Judy. The Sardinas toured their carousels from the late 1980s through the early 2010s, stopping in communities nationwide. There’s no charge beyond regular admission for what should prove to be a fun, family-friendly afternoon.

notable neighbors
ladue
As a seasoned volunteer for nonprofits whose responsibilities have usually included a development role, Ann Dillon knows all about the ‘ask.’ When her kids were at John Burroughs, she was deeply committed to its annual Unique Boutique, a can’t-miss holiday shopping trip for St. Louisans on the hunt for truly unusual and special pieces. She searched for the artists and craftspeople to ask whether they’d like to exhibit over Thanksgiving weekend. And who wouldn’t? It’s right up there with the St. Louis Art Fair in Clayton for well-heeled shoppers from throughout the metro. She’s raised funds for groups ranging from Circus Flora to Ready Readers. And she’s the one who’s typically in charge of finding volunteers to help special events and efforts go off smoothly, whether a trivia night, auction, gala or ongoing program that needs various groups of volunteers to actually show up. All she’s had to do is, well, ask. But probably closest to her heart since 2020 is a public primary school in South City, Froebel Elementary, est. 1895, aka Froebel Literacy Academy. “It’s still a little local community school,” she says. And, like any public school in the city, it needs more than the district can give or that dedicated, underpaid teachers can cover by themselves. Dillon spearheads efforts to provide anything from clothing to personal hygiene products and school supplies to, you guessed it, books. Lots of books. For most of these kids, reading doesn’t come naturally. “There may be five books in the home,” she laments, adding that one of them is probably the family Bible. This is certainly not to cast aspersions on the Good Book, but to show how limited is the range of reading material in any given city household. If reading is a challenge for these city kids, writing may be more of a problem, which is why there’s a pen-pal program at Froebel. Third-graders are paired with high-school volunteers, whether from Burroughs, Villa, Cor Jesu, SLU High and others, to learn how to write a simple letter. “If they can’t write ‘Dear,’ they can start by tracing the letters,” Dillon points out. The schoolkids aren’t the only ones who benefit from 150 volunteers over the course of a year, many of whom tutor. “It’s a two-way street. They see the impact,” she emphasizes. We asked her when she caught the volunteer and philanthropic bugs, and she looked puzzled, at first. “I’ve always had it. I just wish more people would do more,” she said after a moment. By her overall demeanor it’s obvious that Dillon lives by the adage, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” And she’s worked hard to get where she is, having earned an undergraduate degree at Colgate University and a law degree at Vanderbilt. She doesn’t practice, but she’s glad the law is ‘in her briefcase’ should she need it, from dealing with various interest groups to ‘housekeeping,’ like drawing up contracts. Might you wish to lend your talents to this labor of love? Consult friendsoffroebel.com.