A former tape factory, our office was renovated with the Missouri Historic Tax Credit.
Hop on the bus, Gus. We’re going to Jefferson City.
Tomorrow is Missouri Preservation Day, and our esteemed legislators will be available to chat with their constituents. We’ll be there — along with scores of other concerned citizens — to voice our support of the Historic Tax Credit program. We’ve got a bus, and we’re going to take the scenic route to Jeff City to document some properties and meet the owners along the way in Washington, New Haven, Hermann and more stops as we finalize all the details. Why? The Historic Tax Credit puts people to work across the state, not just in St. Louis and Kansas City, and it’s time some of those buildings and communities received some attention.
We have a diverse crew on board the bus, including representatives from the Downtown Partnership, the Cherokee Street community, Grove Properties, Missouri Preservation, fellow architects, students, and media. We have a few seats left, and we’d be happy to be your SPACEshuttle (Sorry. Couldn’t resist.) if you would like to join us. The more the merrier. Send Shelley an email at shelley [at] spacestl [dot] com to see if there is still availability, and she’ll send you the agenda.
Our light and bright Collaboration Area, which doubles as our yoga classroom on Fridays.
We already hashed out why the Historic Tax Credits are important to us. We’re diving headfirst into the democratic (*cough* constitutional republican *cough*) process because we can’t sit back and wait for someone else to step up. Sure, we specialize in contemporary architecture, but why waste resources tearing down an old building with good bones to put another one in its place? Renovation is green building; just look what we did at Cupples 9 and our own offices.These restored buildings enhance our built environment and give our cities and towns their unique character while preserving a continuity of culture and community. Historic structures have a story to tell, and a creative team (like ours!) can bring that building back to life.
If you can’t make tomorrow’s ride but are interested in following the story, check out our Twitter feed tomorrow at @spacearchitects to get real-time updates, pictures and videos. While on Twitter, join the conversation using the hashtag #SaveMOHTC. We’re going to have a Storify compiling everything, and a travelogue blog post that sums up the trip and what happened as a result, so check back soon.
In addition to the concerned citizens on the bus, the bus wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of Landmarks Association of St. Louis, Benjamin Evans Law, Joel Dauve, Sean Zalmanoff, Jerry Schlichter, Annie White and Dana Huth. Thanks for putting your money where our mouths are — we’ll make you proud.
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