Seems everybody is shedding office space, what with companies allowing more employees to work from home thanks to the pandemic. Even before COVID-19, travel-marketing behemoth Maritz reportedly had decided to consolidate space at its enormous 73-acre campus in Fenton. Then virus protocols really threw the travel industry for a loop. Meanwhile, Panera Bread Co. was considering downsizing its headquarters space in Sunset Hills, approximately 163,000 square feet, at Watson and South Geyer roads. Both companies, as they say, saw an opportunity. “Terms were not disclosed.” That’s just business, which means brokers and other folks also stand to make some money on this deal when the ink has dried on the paperwork for Panera to take over some of the space Maritz opened up. Maritz had idled some of its workforce because of a previous downturn in travel bookings and has been leasing space on its south campus. Plenty is available for St. Louis Bread Co.’s parent to move into a smaller, 72,000-square-foot space, about half its previous footprint, which is expected to happen next year. Meanwhile, Panera is trying out Panera To Go, restaurants designed for the hungry and harried to get right in, then get the heck out. The first of three such locations has opened, a digital-only store in Chicago. No seating. Well, there’s pretty much no seating at lunch in many Panera locations, anyhow, or during the morning rush for their truly stupendous coffee. Along with Starbucks, it’s a wildly popular office away from the office for innumerable workers in our Information Age.
the metro
For any of you filmmakers who may have a problem with procrastination, here’s a deadline you might be able to meet: April 7, 2023. No, you haven’t already missed it. Yes, it’s next year. The eighth edition of Cinema at Citygarden—a biennial co-presentation of Cinema St. Louis (CSL) and the Gateway Foundation—presents a unique opportunity for would-be and accomplished metro movie makers to let their imaginations blossom by creating short works that incorporate nature as a key element. So, think less about ray guns and more about flowers, squirrels and birds. This juried competition will award cash prizes—$1,500 for first, $1,000 for second and $500 for third—to the top three entries. The winning shorts will then be featured in a program that will screen on Citygarden’s video wall starting May 26, 2023. In addition to the three cash-prize winners, other submitted works will be featured in the program, which will play on a loop from 5 to 10 p.m. daily and continue at Citygarden through June 30, 2023. Impressive in its own right, the video wall is set within a limestone face that arcs across two blocks. As a screening site, Citygarden is a natural choice. Open since 2009, the two-block oasis of plants and trees, flowing water and fountains—and internationally renowned sculpture—in the heart of downtown’s Gateway Mall, the garden is free and open to the public 365 days a year. Citygarden attracts visitors from everywhere with its blend of beauty and serenity. And it’s fun, too. Don’t pass up this chance both for a wad of cash and exposure to a diverse audience, which is priceless. Competition rules and a link to the FilmFreeway online submission platform are on the CSL website.
clayton
Pick the next nice day to drive north on DeMun from Clayton Road far enough and you’ll come to a dead end. We took you too far. On purpose. Turn around, and the grounds of Concordia Seminary will be on your right. Drive back past the intersection, and you’ll probably find a parking space across from the commercial building where there’s a Kaldi’s coffeehouse and a restaurant or two. (There’s usually not much parking on that side. We like to help our readers.) You might find a seat outside on the generously shaded sidewalk. But don’t sit down just now. First, walk a little further south to the restored playground and look back to inspect the blank, nicely tuckpointed, brick wall. Your stroll and this view are preparing you for things to come in this typically sedate neighborhood. Colorful, vibrant, astonishing things will appear on the wall, thanks to painter Robert Fishbone of On the Wall Productions and his daughter Liza Fishbone, who are slated to begin in the next week or so to paint a really big bee on the wall. Robert is grateful to have borrowed Liza from her home base in Austin, Texas, for a few weeks. The Big Bee, as illustrated by the photoshopped image of its prospective appearance once complete—will be on a playground swing. On or about July 1, drop by to watch Team Fishbone at work. We will. As shown, Fishbone often wears paint-enhanced clothes. He’s come by that honestly since the 1970s, when he and his late wife Sarah Linquist started their quest to paint beautiful and thought-provoking images throughout the StL. You may remember the immense pixelated image of hometown aviator Charles Lindbergh on a since-razed building downtown, black-and-white squares close up, a famous 1930s-era photo from a block or so away. (No clue? Google “Lindy Squared.”) Missouri Historical Society has retained many heavy chunks of painted brick and plans to create something innovative. 