university city
With the roof and crowning cupola now in place on the striking new McKnight Place Assisted Living expansion (pictured at top), The Gatesworth senior living community has marked a milestone in the development of the latest addition to its 15-acre campus. Slated to open this fall, the three-story, 102,000-square-foot building will feature 90 new, upscale apartment homes. The addition is part of a $32 million expansion that will occur in two phases, with the second phase to include a complete renovation of the existing 74,000-square-foot McKnight Place Assisted Living building. Upon completion in March 2018, this will feature 18 additional assisted living apartments and 27 separate apartments for residents needing memory care. The renovations will include a separate entrance providing access for residents with cognitive impairments, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. Work on this project is set to begin in November, following completion of the expansion, which will increase The Gatesworth campus footprint to more than 1 million square feet, further enhancing the continuum of care services available. Named one of the nation’s ‘Top 10 Retirement Communities’ by Forbes magazine, The Gatesworth opened in 1988.
st. peters
The mind game that started in Japan and Europe and then moved to the coasts finally made its way to the metro this year. Apparently people have been escaping from ‘escape rooms’ for a couple of years. One local opportunity exists at Escapology, open since January inside Kokomo Joe’s, just off Cave Springs Road. This game is a heck of a lot cooler than anything since Trivial Pursuit, and only limited by your imagination—that, and 60 minutes. There are a couple of different ways to play. Possible scenarios include: someone on your team has been poisoned, and you have an hour to find the antidote; à la Agatha Christie, someone on your train has been murdered, and as you speed through the snowy night, you and your group of two to six have to apprehend the murderer before the train makes its stop and the killer vanishes into the crowds; or you’re an adviser to JFK and have reached an impasse with your Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, who has conspired with Fidel Castro to put nuclear missiles in Cuba. Oh yeah, it helps to imagine it’s 1962, made easier through various props like a rotary dial phone and manual typewriter. But those are just details—what you and your colleagues must realize is that you’ve only an hour to prevent nuclear Armageddon. (No pressure, right?!) You have access via intercom to a ‘game master,’ often a snarky theater kid who’ll mess with your heads while giving you a hint, of which you only get three. It’s all akin to a live version of the classic Parker Brothers board game Clue. The other two themes currently available at Escapology are Arizona Shootout and Th3 Cod3, which is perhaps the most difficult challenge designed for well-intentioned hackers. You know who you are—no Russians need apply. A caveat: Nobody can play this just once, so Swiss bank accounts are a plus.
central west end
Volunteers are needed for Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of St. Louis, which is slated to open its fourth Ronald McDonald Family Room in the metro on the third floor of the new tower at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. It’s set for completion later this year. The Family Room program provides families with daily essentials in a comforting environment just steps away from their child’s hospital room. Amenities include showers, laundry facilities, a small kitchen with snacks and coffee, television, computers with internet access, and a quiet area. The spaces, staffed solely by volunteers, are open every day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for families to relax and refresh during long days at the hospital. Three-hour volunteer shifts are available, both for individuals and pairs, on a weekly or biweekly basis. (For more information or to begin the volunteer application process, contact Family Room program manager Courtney Fischer at cfischer@rmhcstl.com.) The existing Family Room at Children’s will remain and be dedicated to families with children in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). It will receive a makeover as it celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The new room is anticipated to serve an additional 5,000 families per year. The two other Family Rooms in the metro are located inside Mercy Children’s Hospital and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. The mission of RMHC St. Louis is to provide comfort, care and a home-away-from-home for families of seriously ill children by providing them with all the basic comforts of home. RMHC St. Louis also operates eight long-term apartments, which, combined with the Family Rooms, collectively serve 59 out-of-town families every night and nearly 2,000 families annually. All told, the Family Rooms serve more than 12,000 local and out-of-town families every year.
town & country
What in the world to do with a long-vacant Walmart? That’s a heck of a lot of square footage with nothing going on for seven years but the rent. Well, Kim and Brian Link have converted the space into an action park. Go-karts aren’t just for kids; they are great fun for adults, too, and a novel way for companies to do off-site team-building. Amp Up Action Park opened last month in part of the one-time superstore (the rest of the space is home decor store At Home). Inside is 50,000 square feet of wild and crazy. Electric karts (think a mini convertible with no windshield) whiz around curves and can hit 45 mph on straightaways. The wind is in whatever hair some drivers have left. But karting isn’t the only draw. Amp Up features the only indoor ropes challenge in the state. There’s also laser tag and plenty of arcade games to keep kids—of any age, even past retirement—fascinated. For the time being, it’s been a destination for bar mitzvahs and other events for young people. Of course, as we inferred, ‘young’ is a relative term. Kids whiling away their waning weeks of summer can’t enjoy beer and wine. But the Links are mostly targeting adults for fun and games. They’re getting the patio (3,000 square feet of the former lawn and garden department) ready for outdoor relaxation, so Ginny from accounting can chill after pulling past that nerdy IT dude on the race track by a whisker (she’s so glad she didn’t tweeze her chin). Check the website for promos like the Ridiculously Happy Hour from 5 to 6 p.m. Or, buy a three-pack of kart races and get 20 percent off same-day food and drink orders. Trix are for kids, people, but karting is for anybody. Amp Up is on the eastern end of the formerly not-so-busy Manchester Meadows shopping center: 13901 Manchester Road.
st. louis
On the evening of March 17, St. Louis police officer Gary Glasby had just turned his patrol car onto North Broadway—his partner, officer Sheena Smith, in the passenger seat—when a pickup truck smashed into the driver’s side. Both officers were seriously injured, Glasby grievously so. He remains at Craig Rehabilitation Hospital near Denver, Colorado, and may never be able to work again. Smith has returned to work part-time while she continues to recover from her injuries. Soon after the accident, the Ethical Society of Police (ESOP) stepped in to help. In June, ESOP arranged for Smith to fly to Denver to visit Glasby and support him in his recovery. Both officers have a long way to go to achieve normalcy, but you can help by attending the Top 50 Car Show in Forest Park on Saturday (Aug. 19). All proceeds from the event, which runs 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Muny upper parking lot rain or shine, will benefit the officers and their families. Registration is from 8 a.m. until noon. Fees are $20 to show a car and $10 to display a car. Food and beverages will be available, and Top 50 Awards will be presented at 3 p.m. With nearly 250 members, ESOP is an association of minority St. Louis police officers whose mission is to bridge communications between the community and the department. Founded in 1968 by black officers to address racial biases within the department, ESOP works to improve community/police relations, develop policies and programs to reduce crime, elevate the status of minority civilians and police officers, and encourage greater minority employment.
