(rolling string music) - [Jim Kirchherr] For too long, it's been a place that has said what St. Louis used to be, maybe now of what it's going to be.

- We are really on a roll right now and feeling very confident.

- [Jim Kirchherr] We check in on another downtown project: the plan's underway for the Old Courthouse.

And a story that might answer the question: how you gonna keep 'em down on the farm?

- "If you guys are interested in doing anything here at the farm, then you should probably start on Monday."

- It's all next, on "Living St.

Louis."

(upbeat piano music) (upbeat piano music continues) (upbeat piano music continues) (upbeat piano music continues) (upbeat piano music fading) I'm Jim Kirchherr, and we're starting off in downtown St. Louis for a couple of stories.

Our first stop is Chouteau's Landing, kind of a rundown area, south of the Poplar Street Bridge.

A place with a lot of history, and over the last 50 years or so, a lot of ideas that have come and gone.

What's remained?

Potential, just waiting for a new idea.

(gentle pensive music) (rolling string music) These guys have a plan, a big plan.

They want to turn this into this.

Gateway South, designed to make St. Louis to the construction industry what Silicon Valley is to tech.

Phase one will take on the redevelopment of the old Crunden-Martin buildings, south of the Arch and the Poplar Street Bridge.

The first thing is that you're not tearing these old buildings down, right?

- Correct.

- I mean, how important is that to give this project an identity?

- I think it's extremely important.

I think from a design standpoint even, utilizing the existing structures and integrating the history and nature of the aesthetic, and- - [Jim Kirchherr] That's Greg Gleicher, CEO of Good Developments Group, a 32-year-old Wash U grad who's already done real estate development in New York.

Chauncey Nelson is a St. Louisan.

His job is lining up the tenants, getting signatures on leases or at least on letters of intent.

Tenants that will make this into what's being called the construction innovation capital.

Companies that will focus on modernizing the construction industry with new technologies, logistics, and job training.

And nearby, there would be manufacturing of modular buildings and building components that can be shipped around the country.

Are you getting interest, are you getting people sayin', "Hey, put me on the list?"

- Oh, definitely, definitely.

So, we've had multiple people who have signed LOIs and just waitin' for us to finish and get to a certain stage in the redevelopment to sign those hard leases.

We have some people that already have went to hard leases and expectations that they'll be movin' in to locate here sooner than later.

- [Jim Kirchherr] This is not like other projects that just turn old warehouses or office buildings into lofts or hotels.

The plans do include residential and retail development here, but this is about returning this part of the riverfront to its manufacturing roots.

- Yeah, I mean, these buildings are essentially the epicenter of what made St. Louis an import/export city in the first place, right?

(ragtime piano music) - [Jim Kirchherr] In 1876, where the Arch is now, the levy, the main riverboat landing, this was the heart of the local economy.

It was further south towards Chouteau that you'd find mills, and meat packers, factories, and also schools, and churches, and residences.

But over the years, it became increasingly more industrial.

And when the riverfront was cleared in the 1930's, there was still plenty of manufacturing going on to the south.

One of the biggest factories, Crunden-Martin, which over the years made all kinds of products out of wood and metal, everything from kites to refrigerators.

During the war, helmets.

(smooth jazz music) But by the end of the century, this area would be a symbol of a rust belt city's changing economy.

There was always the question though, what if?

What if somebody could do something with it?

And maybe it took a younger guy to think differently, to think of creating an innovation district.

Think Cortex, focusing not on science, but on the construction industry of all things.

- In this particular area, the hub will be more focused on educational space, R and D space, a space to test and try new means and methods for the design and construction industry as a whole.

And then further south, more of a manufacturing and production focus.

We're lookin' at 2025 initial completion and moving in of the various different companies that will be operating outta the district.

And then, the overall timeframe is somewhere around 10 years.

(gentle rolling music) - [Jim Kirchherr] And yes, we've all seen architectural renderings of projects that never got off the ground or even close to phase two.

On the other hand, you can also point to Cortex and the Foundry, and neither of those is a neighbor of the Gateway Arch, which Greg Glacier reminds us was a modular structure made in pieces that were shipped here for assembly.

And a big part of the plan here is to manufacture building components and distribute them by rail, highway, and of course the Mississippi River.

Because I imagine a lotta building components are big, could go on barges.

- Absolutely.

It's more cost effective, more sustainable, and it's overall such a valuable asset to have.

- [Jim Kirchherr] Gateway South in its entirety is a 10-year, $2,000,000,000 project.

It could bring businesses, jobs, and people to a long neglected and highly visible part of downtown.

The work at the site has yet to begin, but the vision is well established.

- See something come to life down here.

Where people can participate in this expansion of downtown is a huge benefit for I think the city.

- But we are really on a roll right now and feeling very confident.

But we are in Missouri, so I'll put my money on it, if you will.

(gentle rolling music continues) (gentle rolling music fading) - The Old Courthouse plays a central role in St. Louis's history, and often takes center stage in a lot of the city's postcard views.

But right now, about all you can do is look at it.

Brooke Butler has the inside story.

(gentle pensive music) - [Brooke Butler] The Old Courthouse is a historic centerpiece of the iconic St. Louis landscape, and now it's undergoing a major renovation for only the second time since the building was completed in 1862.

- It's a huge undertaking.

(laughing) - Yeah, you could take this iteration of this project all the way back to 2010 and 2009, but it's changed so much over those years and it's become really a more extensive and a better project.

- [Brooke Butler] Construction is underway for the two-year project, and is the last major part of other recent downtown renovations around the Arch and other historic sites.

Most of the renovations will be updating the HVAC system and making the building more accessible to visitors.

- These window air conditioner units just don't do it when you're trying to cover a building this scope.

- [Brooke Butler] But there will also be brand new exhibits about the history of the building and the pivotal cases that took place there, including Dred Scott and the hundreds of other suits for freedom.

- What I love about the planning for these new exhibits is rather than look at it through the actual court cases as they progressed from here in St. Louis to the United States Supreme Court, it's really looking at it through their eyes.

(gentle curious music) - The Old Courthouse will remain closed until the completion of the project in 2025.

(gentle curious music continues) That was earlier this year.

And joining me today to give us an update on the Old Courthouse Project is Ryan McClure, with the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, and Jeremy Sweat, with the National Park Service.

Thanks for joining us today.

- Thanks for having us.

- It's good to be here.

- Yeah.

So I think we took that tour, you know, I wanna say it was maybe one of the last tours before the construction company took it over, that was January of 2023.

Update us on the progress.

- Yeah, things are going really, really well.

So as you mentioned, we kicked it off in January of '23, the demolition's completed.

And a lot of the vision of the courthouse, even though we're only about halfway through or not quite halfway through construction, we're starting to see a lot of those major elements coming into view.

So, things like the accessibility elevator and a lot of the improvements are starting to happen, so it's going really, really well.

- And you know, as we saw in the Gateway South Project, there are many other projects to revitalize our downtown.

Tell us about, you know, the significance in why these projects are needed.

- Yeah.

There's so much momentum in downtown St. Louis right now, and, you know, thinking back to the CityArchRiver Project and how that really transformed the front door to our region, the Old Courthouse is an extension of that.

It's using private funds that were raised through the CityArchRiver campaign.

And it is an incredibly important building to invest in and make it more accessible, lift up the stories that have always been told there, tell news stories.

And it is part of this resurgence and renaissance in downtown that's happening.

I mean, the Gateway South Project is incredibly exciting, it's something that we want to see happen and be successful, and it's part of other projects that are happening, the continued renovations and additions to Ballpark Village, everything that's happening in Downtown West.

There are just a lot of really smart, passionate, dedicated people working to make downtown the best that it can be.

- And you both are technically with different organizations but work very closely together, and it seems like everyone a part of these major projects is collaborating and working together.

Can you tell us a little bit about the partnerships?

- Sure, yeah.

I mean, we could not do all that we do in the National Park Service without the support of our partner.

So having a philanthropic partner, like the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, is really key to helping us go above and beyond what we'd be able to do as a federal agency.

So, I mean, there's a long list.

CityArchRiver is still the largest public-private partnership in park service history.

So every time you visit the Arch, you see the amazing work that happened in that project.

We're here talkin' about the Old Courthouse, but every day and every week we're talkin' about new ideas and new opportunities that we can do together.

- And it is, I mean, this partnership is incredibly... Like for it to be successful takes a lot of work together, and there's so much trust that's been built through the CityArchRiver Project and now where we are today.

So with the National Park Service, Gateway Arch Park Foundation, Great Rivers Greenway, the City of St. Louis Bi-State Development, Jefferson National Parks Association, we're all working together every single day to create an amazing visitor experience.

And there's many other partnerships that flow out of that, like partnerships with the Universal Design Group, which is a group of folks that represent the disability community in St. Louis that advise us on every part of the CityArchRiver Project.

They're advising us on the Old Courthouse.

We worked with St. Louis Artworks on the new murals designed by students that are on the construction fencing.

That's one of my favorite parts of what we do is all of these wonderful partnerships that we have.

- So, let's talk about that visitor experience that you all are planning in the Old Courthouse.

You know, there's the more familiar cases, the Dred Scott and Virginia Minor.

I assume they will also be a part of the renovations, but you're planning some new ways to share the story and some new stories maybe?

- Yeah, so all those old important stories will be there, but as Pam mentioned in the intro, they're gonna be seen in a much more human way.

So not looking at just the court case, but looking at the people, the individuals, and what made those such powerful stories.

And then, we are gonna have new stories and a new focus, for example, hundreds of people who sued for their freedom at the Old Courthouse.

So, there's gonna be a lot more of that kind of history presented in the new exhibit galleries.

And then, the exhibit galleries themselves are gonna be incredible new visual opportunities that were possible with the support of Gateway Arch Park Foundation.

So, we're really excited about having that new updated opportunity for the visitors to come and learn about this important history.

- Yeah.

If you think about the quality of the exhibits at the new Arch Museum, which if you haven't visited you should definitely go see, but it's the same designer and we're bringing the same technology into the Old Courthouse, which is just gonna be a great experience for folks.

- And something I remember you mentioned in the tour was some things are just not meant to be housed in the Old Courthouse, like the archives.

And tell us about that kind of challenge to find a new home.

- Yeah, so that was such a huge undertaking.

It's one of those things that you don't always think about.

How do you move a huge irreplaceable collection of museum objects, and archival materials, and curatorial materials from one historic building to another?

So, we're really fortunate again to have the support of our partners in helping find a lease space at the old post office.

It took a long time and a lot of work for everybody involved to get the stuff out, but it was moved safely, it all went through well, and now it's all safely housed at the old post office until we find a permanent home.

- Yeah.

- And again, speaks to another partnership.

- Exactly.

- To help out, right?

- Yeah, yeah.

- And you know, so like we've been saying, there are all these projects to make St. Louis a more attractive place to visit and a safer place to visit because there are our fair share of challenges with crime and homelessness, and what is the importance or what do you hope to get out of these renovations and improving the Old Courthouse?

- Yeah.

Well I mean, you touched on a lotta the challenges they're facing downtown.

Many of them are not unique to St. Louis.

Downtown's across the country are facing some of these challenges.

I would say that again, there are smart, passionate people working on a lotta those issues that you mentioned.

And they're not mutually exclusive.

We can work on those, and also invest in really important buildings to the fabric of St. Louis and our country's history, like the Old Courthouse.

And these renovations, like the renovations to the Arch, add to the vibrancy of St. Louis and downtown, which adds to safety, and adds just to the pride and how people feel about their city.

- Yeah.

And I would add that making the building more accessible to people of all ability levels, that's another really important part of the project.

So getting everyone to be able to experience the Old Courthouse, and then having the new exhibits where people from all backgrounds and all communities can see themselves and their stories reflected in the museum content, really excited about that.

- Well, the Old Courthouse doesn't plan to open for another couple of years, but there are still plenty of opportunities for educational outreach that you all are doing in the community, so there are still plenty of ways to engage in those kind of activities.

Any exciting upcoming events that we should know about?

- Oh yeah, I mean, we have so much going all the time.

I mean, if you go to archpark.org, there's lots of information about the events that the foundation hosts.

And gatewayarch.com and the National Park website for the park always has lots of great information.

But, we've got amazing things coming up.

You know, Winterfest is gonna open in Kiener Plaza for its eighth year, which goes through the Saturday before Thanksgiving all the way to New Year's Eve.

So, there are just tons of things that we're working on together.

You mentioned educational opportunities.

The park has an amazing educational staff that brings in field trips every single day.

The foundation has what we call the journey fund that ensures that under-resourced school groups and areas always have the opportunity to come to the Arch and experience this wonderful monument and museum.

We strongly believe every kid in St. Louis has the right to come to the Arch, and we wanna make that possible.

(laughing) - We cannot wait to keep up with the progress and the updates.

Thank you, Ryan McClure, with the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, Jeremy Sweat, with the National Park Service.

Thank you for joining us today.

- Yeah, thank you.

- My pleasure.

- Our next story by Ruth Ezell takes us out of the city for what at first might remind you of the old TV show, "Green Acres."

And it is about a couple of city folks who have moved to a farm, but in this real life version, they've managed to combine the best of both worlds.

(four-wheeler engine humming) - [Rachelle L'Ecuyer] We're gonna show you the waterfall, and then we'll go see the- - [Ruth] Down on the farm in southeastern Franklin County may be the last place Rachelle L'Ecuyer thought she'd be when her career started some 30 years ago.

- [Rachelle L'Ecuyer] There are a lotta gates here.

- [Ruth] In November of 2022, L'Ecuyer became a full-time partner of the Pierce Creek Cattle Company, in the town of Lonedell.

But before we get a look around and meet the livestock, there's a bit of unpacking to explain how the St. Louis area native came to live the city and the rural life at the same time.

(upbeat rock music) - So, how did today go?

- Today was fabulous.

- [Ruth] Back in 2013, Producer Catherine Neville introduced us to L'Ecuyer when she was director of community development for the city of Maplewood.

Neville caught up with her during the Maplewood Coffee Crawl, one of many events L'Ecuyer organized to support and market the city's small businesses.

- With these smaller businesses, they don't have the time to set up their business, take care of their marketing, do all the things they need to do.

So, we kind of tried to set that up so that at least takes that burden off of them.

They don't have to sit down and write that extra check.

- [Ruth] After more than a dozen years in that position, L'Ecuyer became executive director of the Delmar Loop.

It was around that time she started traveling to Lonedell on weekends, with partner and real estate developer, Kent Evans.

His parents owned a farm there.

- You know, my parents told us one weekend, they said, "You should come out to the farm and visit with us," and we were like, "Okay."

And then they said, you know, "If you guys are interested in doing anything here at the farm, then you should probably start on Monday."

(Rachelle and Kent laughing) And so that was... And we're like, "Oh, okay."

- "Okay."

(laughing) Yeah.

- You know?

- But, they had kinda been training us for a couple years.

We were helping them a lot more than we had.

And Ken's mom, Judy, she's a master gardener, and she created these lovely beds around the farm yard.

And every spring, we would come out and she would show me things.

And she was giving me a lot of information about them, and I was like, "This is like more information than I need," but it turned out it was all the information that I needed.

So, you know, they were a little tricky about it, but we were poised for it- - Yup.

- And yeah, I didn't have to have any...

I didn't come kicking and screaming, I was like... (laughing) - Right.

- It's just so beautiful out here.

And I just, you know, I love being here.

- [Ruth] Kent Evans' great-grandparents settled on the property in 1943, after his great-grandfather retired from Union Electric.

- [Kent Evans] They spent another 30-some years workin' out in electric, and when they moved out here, they didn't have electricity.

So they used the spring, several springs that are here on the property, and they used that as their refrigerator, and they would just float things in there that needed to be refrigerated.

And I guess he lobbied for electricity and eventually they got electricity out here.

So, we always work with them so that they're gentle.

- [Ruth] The farm, now known as the Pierce Creek Cattle Company, offers pasture-raised beef, grass-fed or grain-finished, with no added hormones or unnecessary antibiotics.

The age old practice of rotational grazing, moving the cows among different sections of acreage, keeps both the animals and the land healthy.

- [Kent Evans] Yeah, even though it looks like there's a lotta grass in this field, we are done here.

- [Jim Fiala] And I'm cookin' bolognese, and I'm doin' all- - [Ruth] The cattle company's commercial customers include Chef Jim Fiala, owner of The Crossing, in downtown Clayton.

He took us to his kitchen to show one of the ways he prepares grass-fed and grain-finished beef.

His seasonings for these steaks are simple: salt and pepper.

- One of the good things about the beef is that there's enough fat in here that I don't have to add anything on top of it.

So I can just put it on the grill, I season the grills, and then they'll be fine.

- [Ruth] The steaks are grilled to medium-rare.

Fiala's business relationship with Rachelle L'Ecuyer began in Maplewood, where his other restaurant Acero is located.

- And then I saw her on LinkedIn one day, that she was workin' with Pierce Creek, and I was like, "What?"

So I reached out to her, and then we started workin' together.

- [Ruth] For beef eaters who prefer it ground and in a bun, the cattle company serves up smash burgers from its food truck, The Moobile.

During a weekend in August, we found Evans, L'Ecuyer, and The Moobile in Tower Grove Park, for Food Truck Friday.

- [Kent Evans] Now the farm, and the beef business, and the food truck, they are all 80-hour-a-week jobs.

(laughing) - We have a great blue heron, he likes to fish right here.

- [Ruth] But they take refuge by the flowing waters of the Pierce Creek, after which the cattle company is named.

- [Rachelle L'Ecuyer] Wow, it's a softshell turtle!

- [Ruth] They recharge and reflect on the work of those individuals who feed us all.

- Yeah.

Farmers, I would say, are the original small business owner.

And it's just very complicated, and I don't think people give farmers enough credit (laughing) in just the things that they're dealing with.

You know, if there's a drought, then everything changes.

So, it's- - And it's all long-term planning.

- It's all long-term planning.

We are in that situation where we are long-term planning.

(rolling string music) (rolling string music fading) (rhythmic drumming music) (typewriter clicking) (typewriter dinging) - This week in history, 121 years ago, 1902, St. Louis was getting ready for a World's Fair, cleaning up the city and cleaning up its image.

And the topic that fall, and really for much of the year, was Boodle.

That's what they called the rampant bribery and corruption at City Hall.

And Circuit Attorney Joseph Folk, Holy Joe, they called him, he'd been going after not just city officials who took bribes to award city contracts, but also after the businessmen who paid them.

The Post-Dispatch on September 21st that year listed the scorecard so far: the indictments, the charges, the trials, the convictions, even the fugitives.

A central figure in all of this was a man by the name of Edward Butler, Boss Butler, the Millionaire Blacksmith, they called him.

He'd made a fortune with a chain of blacksmith shops and city contracts.

He held no office, he just held a lot of power.

On this front page, the Post ran a large photo entitled, "The Famous Boss Butler and His Equally Famous Buggy."

It said, "A frequent remark in the city was, 'Here comes the Boss's buggy.'"

And that Butler, facetiously referred to here as the Village Blacksmith, could be seen making daily visits to his blacksmith shops, to city hall, to the courts, to police stations, often using his influence to help get his friends out of trouble.

Folks' anti-Boodle campaign resulted in nearly two dozen convictions.

Boss Butler's was overturned and he went free.

And Holy Joe, he was elected governor of Missouri, thanks in part to the work that was the talk of the town 121 years ago.

This week in St. Louis history.

(soft piano music) (soft piano music fading) And that's "Living St.

Louis."

We appreciate you, and your comments and your suggestions, keep them coming to ninepbs.org/lsl.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm Jim Kirchherr, and we'll see ya next time.

(ragtime piano music) (ragtime piano music continues) (ragtime piano music continues) (ragtime piano music continues) (ragtime piano music continues) (ragtime piano music fading) - [Veronica] "Living St. Louis" is funded in part by the Betsy and Thomas Patterson Foundation, and the members of Nine PBS.