Welcome to the site of Forest Park Southeast Development Corporation. On these pages, we invite you learn all about our organization and the neighborhoods we serve.
Forest Park Southeast News
Summer Camp: It's not too late to sign up the kids for Play Time Recreation summer soccer and basketball camps and pool parties. Information: 289-5367.
Play Time Sport Camp brochure
Re-Revival: The restaurant formerly known as Revival is reopening Wednesday, July 1 as Chouteau's @ 39th.
Chouteau's @ 39th website
Feast blog preview
 Outdoor Movie Night: Bring your blankets, lawn chairs and your neighbors and watch a free film al fresco this Thursday, June 25, at the corner of Newstead and Manchester next to
Renard Paper in Forest Park Southeast. Thursday's showing, which starts at 8:15 p.m., will be "The Secret Life of Bees," starring Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Dakota Fanning and Alicia Keys. The Gibson Heights Neighborhood Association will be selling snacks. Movie Nights in Forest Park Southeast are sponsored by Washington University Medical Center.
Movie Night flyer
Bar 5: Nancy Novak has opened a third location in
the Grove in the former home of the Church Key, 4127 Manchester. Bar 5, just a few steps from Novak's Bar and Grill, is a sports bar featuring pizza, pool tables and
darts. Novak opened
Nancy's Place at 4510 Manchester earlier this year.
 Rehabbers Tour: ReVitalize St. Louis' June Rehabbers Club will tour several residential properties in Forest Park Southeast on Saturday, June 20. The group will begin the tour at 4535 Oakland at 9:30 a.m., with stops at 4546 Oakland, 4525 Wichita and 4531 Arco. The tour is free and open to the public. For more information, call (314) 719-6507.
ReVitalize St. Louis website
Demolition, dogs & detailing: Forest Park
Southeast Development Corp.’s Development Committee voted to oppose a
proposal to demolish a three-family building for parking, voted to
support a day care center for dogs and tabled a decision on a detailing
business at its June meeting.
Read more
 Good luck, Luke: Luke
Reven, the 17th Ward's super Neighborhood Stabilization Officer, will
soon leave St. Louis for a new job and home in Maryville, Missouri.
Please join us from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, June 18 at the Newstead
Tower Pub, 4353 Manchester in the Grove, as we thank Luke for his
service and dedication to the 17th Ward and wish him and his wife,
Michelle, well in their new life. ReVitalize St. Louis June Rehabbers Club will feature the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood aka the Grove.
 Business After Hours: Toast the new name of the Forest Park South Business Association – formerly known as the Business Association of Forest Park Southeast – with others from the local business community at Business After Hours from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, June 17 at the newly opened Spaghetteria Mamma Mia, 904 S. Vandeventer. Information: (314) 229-2115 or info@17thwardstl.org.
Business After Hours flyer
Forest Park South Business Association
  
Most Enhanced Sites: Three buildings in the 17th Ward – two in Forest Park Southeast and one
in the Central West End South – were recognized at Landmarks
Association's 2009 Most Enhanced Sites ceremony Friday, May 15.
Read more
 Pedestrian tunnel opens: The new underpass connecting Forest Park and Oakland Avenue is
now open. The lighted tunnel connects Saint Louis University High
School and the St. Louis Science Center with Forest Park between Bowl
Lake and the Planetarium.
Photos and video
Manchester streetlights: Stakeholders from Forest Park Southeast have postponed a decision on picking a pedestrian streetlight for Manchester Avenue while city officials gather more information about the fixtures. The new lights will be installed as part of the Manchester Streetscape project in 2010. A final decision is expected by the end of the month.
Lighting fixture finalists
Manchester Streetscape Project
Swine flu: The City of St. Louis Department of Health has prepared a fact sheet about swine flu.
Swine flu in people: what you need to know
 New footbridge opens: Forest Park Southeast neighbors, local leaders and MoDOT officials and workers celebrated the
opening of the new pedestrian bridge over Interstate 64 at a
ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Read more
Election results: Joseph D. Roddy won re-election as 17th Ward Alderman and
Francis Slay won a third term as Mayor of St. Louis in the general city election Tuesday,
April 7.
Election results
 French, Spanish schools: St. Louis Language Immersion Schools will open this fall in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood. SLLIS founder and executive director Rhonda Broussard said work is under way to transform part of the Holt Electric building at 4011 Papin into classrooms and offices. The charter school will offer immersion in French and Spanish for 240 children in kindergarten and first grade for the 2009-2010 school year, with one grade to be added each year.
SLLIS website
Pevely Farms fire: A vacant warehouse at the Pevely Farms Dairy site at Grand and Chouteau collapsed after a fire.
Read the St. Louis Post-Dispatch story
 Business After Hours: The Business Association of Forest Park Southeast sponsored the first Business After Hours of the year Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at Erney's 32 Degree Vodka Bar. The event allowed business professionals from the neighborhood to network while checking out the Grove's coolest new bar.
Read more
Business Association of Forest Park Southeast
Grove CID: The Grove Community Improvement District Board of Directors approved a $185,000 proposed budget and created committees for security and public services at its March meeting.
Read more here
Manchester lights: New streetlights will shine in the Grove, thanks to a grant from the
East-West Gateway Council of Governments. The council awarded $1.45
million for pedestrian lighting on Manchester from Taylor to Sarah in
the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood. The new lights will be
installed as part of Manchester Streetscape Project in 2010. The Manchester lighting project was one of 75 projects out of nearly 400 picked by the
council to receive funds.
Read more here
FPSEDC February Board meeting: The Forest Park Southeast Development Corp. Board of Directors voted to renew the expiring terms of two board members, re-elected officers, debated the possibility of merging with another development corporation and considered partnering with a local developer to pursue tax credits to lure businesses to the neighborhood.
Read more here
Waving the White Flag: Matthew Strauss of White Flag Projects was recently interviewed by Deb Peterson for her column in the Post-Dispatch. White Flag, located on Manchester just east of Kingshighway, is a unique gallery that features emerging local artists. Strauss reveals the philosophy behind the gallery, his artistic aspirations and what it's like to be the son of St. Louis icons.
Deb Peterson's column
White Flag Projects website
Park planning: Plans are moving forward for two new parks, one
in Forest Park Southeast and one in the Central West End. The first
park will be located in the three acres between Newstead, Tower Grove,
Chouteau and I-64 in Forest Park Southeast, with the second park on
Taylor between Lindell and Maryland in the Central West End, formerly
home of the CWE Dog Park. The city recently finalized the purchase of
the two land parcels as part of the deal involving the long-term lease
of Hudlin Park to Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Two committees of
neighborhood residents are meeting with H3 Studio's John Hoal, an urban
planner who authored the master plan for Forest Park, to brainstorm
ideas for the parks. Public meetings will be held to present
alternative plans for the parks and solicit feedback from the community.
FPSEDC changes: The Forest Park Southeast Development Corporation is reducing staff and
considering other cost-saving moves to improve the organization’s
financial picture in 2009. According to Board President Phil Minden, the cuts are painful but
necessary in order to make ends meet in difficult financial times.
Read more here
FPSEDC Board President's Letter
New BHNA Board: The Botanical Heights Neighborhood Association elected three board officers at its January meeting: President: Nancy Symeonoglou; Treasurer: Amy Hilgemann; Block Captain Coordinator: Barbara Snell. Board members continuing to serve out terms: Vice President: Elmer Wilson; Secretary: Alice McHugh; Members-at-large: Patrick Burke, Kenneth Cunningham. Outgoing BHNA President Jennifer Myerscough was thanked for her dedication to the BHNA and to the neighborhood. Myerscough remains a member of the Garden District Commission.
Eugene Kilgen dies: The man who first led the charge for the
revitalization of the
neighborhoods around Washington University Medical Center has died.
Eugene Kilgen, who served as executive director of Washington
University Medical Center Redevelopment Corp for 23 years until his
retirement in 2000, died Jan. 17, 2009, at the age of 71.
Read more here.
HealthStreet: Washington University's Center for Community Based Research recently opened HealthStreet at 4306 Manchester. HealthStreet offers opportunities for community members to learn about medical research, sign up for research studies, obtain referrals to services, and attend free classes on infant and child development. For more information, call (314) 531-3034.
Highway 40 shutdown: Interstate
64 – known to the rest of us as Highway 40 – is now closed from Kingshighway to Interstate 170 until the end of 2009, while
the newly revamped section of the interstate from I-170 to Ballas is now open after being shut down for a year.
While the switch has been fairly smooth, Forest Park Parkway and
Manchester are seeing heavy traffic, and Taylor, Vandeventer and other
local north-south streets are often clogged with cars during peak
periods. For up-to-date news and suggested alternate routes, visit thenewI64.org.
Grove award: The Grove recently picked up an award for Successful Public/Non-Profit
Venture from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments. The award
was presented in November at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark to
the Business Association of Forest Park Southeast, Forest Park
Southeast Development Corp., the St. Louis Development Corp. and
Alderman Joe Roddy.
 Holiday spirit: A couple hundred 17th Ward peeps poured into the Gramophone for the 17th Ward Holiday Party Wednesday, Dec. 3, to kick off the season and honor community leaders and volunteers. Read more and view slide show here.
Town Hall Meeting: About 100 17th Ward residents came out to the Town Hall Meeting Monday, Nov. 17, 2008 at the Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club in Forest Park Southeast. Representatives from local community development corporations and Alderman Joe Roddy led discussions about what's going on in the various neighborhoods of the 17th Ward.
Forest Park Southeast in the news: KMOV-TV's Laurie Waters recently reported on the revitalization of the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood. To see the report, click here.
The Grove named "Best Restaurant Neighborhood": Congrats to area establishments named in the Riverfront Times 2008 Best Of St. Louis awards:
Best Restaurant Neighborhood: The Grove
Best Soul Food Restaurant: Sweetie Pie's
Best Sunday Brunch: La Dolce Via
Best Burger: Newstead Tower Public House
Best Guacamole: Agave Mexican Table & Tequilaria
Best New Bar: The Gramophone
Best Gay Bar: Novak's Bar & Grill
Best Place For Cocktails: Atomic Cowboy
Best Lesbian Bar: Attitudes
Best Art Gallery: White Flag Projects
Best Comfort Food: Revival
Sauce Magazine Readers' Choice: Three Forest Park Southeast eateries earned top votes in the 2008 Sauce Magazine Readers' Choice awards:
Favorite soul food (1st): Sweetie Pie's
Best-kept secret (2nd): La Dolce Via
Favorite Korean (3rd): Everest Café and Bar
Favorite vegetarian-friendly: (Honorable mention): Everest Café and Bar
Favorite Indian (Honorable mention): Everest Café and Bar
Commerce Bank Site: Commerce Bank is seeking a developer for its 5.6-acre property at the intersection of Manchester, Chouteau and Vandeventer. In its Request for Qualifications, Commerce expressed a preference for a mixed-use project that will be a focus for the community, although single-use projects may be considered. Commerce has not yet decided whether to include branch bank on the site.
New Cobblestones on Lawn Avenue: Traffic-calming cobblestones have been installed in the block of Lawn between Berthold and Oakland in the Kings Oak neighborhood. The area has long been troubled by speeding traffic from the I-64/Highway 40 construction and Saint Louis University High School. The project was paid for through the Ward 17 Half-Cent Capital Improvements Sale Tax and SLUH.
Grove SUD: An ordinance recently passed by the Board of Aldermen prohibits or restricts many potentially troublesome new businesses in the Grove commercial area. Click here to read more.
 Chouteau Apartments: Three projects, including a 200-unit apartment building, have been proposed for the former site of the Laclede Gas storage tank at Chouteau and Taylor. Click here to read more.
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