Pizza & Politics with Ald. Triplett

Calling ALL 6th Ward Teens!!! Please join me this Saturday, July 10th for Pizza &  Politics with Alderman Triplett.

If you are a teenager living in the 6th Ward, I want to hear from you! Let’s discuss your thoughts and ideas on ways to improve the neighborhood. What should the City do to include the thoughts and ideas of city residents?

Come meet other young residents in the community and come learn about what is taking place right in the neighborhood. Good food, good discussion, lots of GOOD fun!  Make sure you attend.

Ald Triplett & the St. Louis Explorers

As you know from recent blog posts, residents from the Tower Grove East neighborhood recently went out door-to-door to recruit neighborhood watch participants and new block captains.

This neighborhood watch program was designed to target the Top 10 Most Underperforming Blocks in the Tower Grove East neighborhood. The weather was cold and rainy during that evening, yet us residents soldiered on to recruit new folks for our block captain program. We were blessed to have the local news stations present to help us spread our message, but also doubly blessed to have the assistance and support from a great organization to help us with our tasks. That blessing came in the form of a group of students who participate in a program known as the St. Louis Explorers.  This program targets students who are interested in a career in law enforcement. These young men accompanied Tower Grove East residents as we went door to door to visit and speak to residents about participating in the neighborhood watch program. The St. Louis Explorers were gracious, respectful and extremely diligent in their approach when speaking to the community.  I was very impressed with their maturity and commitment to helping our neighborhood be as safe as possible. Thank you St. Louis Explorers for helping our neighborhood be stronger, safer and better.

Downtown residents register for the new dog park

Recently, I shared in the celebration of helping to open downtown’s first dog park. Lucas Park, a unique pocket park, located right in the heart of the Downtown Loft district has experienced its share of history and problems. Within the first 100 days of being elected as Alderwoman of the 6th Ward in 2007, I convened a forum for downtown residents. That forum, which lasted almost three hours resulted in residents passionately expressing the need to feel safe at Lucas Park and their desire to bring a dog park to the location.

There had been plans spoken of in the past. Those plans for whatever reason never fully materialized, yet residents were still hopeful and optimistic about making Lucas Park a neighborhood park, where they felt comfortable and safe to visit and bring their children.

Over the past few years, I partnered with several downtown residents to make this happen. There was the re-launching of the Friends of Lucas Park organization spearheaded by downtown resident, David Goldstick, and also the emergence of the Downtown 10 organization, an organic group of residents focused on cleaning and beautifying Lucas Park.  

Then there was the design charette meeting, spearheaded by downtown resident Steve Patterson, which lay the groundwork for the first phase of capital improvements for Lucas Park. It was there at that meeting in late 2008, where residents where able to illustrate and conceptualize what improvements they would like to see at Lucas Park. A few common themes emerged from the residents’ designs which included:

• A modern dog park
• Better Accessibilty to the park
• Increased visibility to allow better lighting
• New decorative benches inside the park

Residents participate in the Lucas Park design charrette

Many of the dead and hazardous trees along Locust were removed immediately after the design charette, which allowed the park to appear more open. My office was able to provide signifcant capital improvement dollars to begin much of the work creating the dog run, and allowing better accessibility for both pedestrians and the disabled by widening the sidewalk along 14th street and creating new wheelchair curb ramps into the park. The Downtown 10 organization has agreed to purchase new park benches which will make the park more attractive and comfortable for visitors.

Lucas Park had not seen this type of public investment in many, many, years. I am proud to have worked with the many downtown residents who were committed to bringing change into their neighborhood park. There is still more investment needed in this park to bring it back to its original glory, but I am confident that this first phase of capital improvementwill create the momentum needed to help spur continued investment and interest in Lucas Park.

Alderman Triplett with frisky "Luna"Rev Mike Kinman of Christ Cathedral blesses the dogs & Lucas Park

Senior citizens serve as pillars of our community. They contain so much wisdom, knowledge and spunk that it becomes a privilege to provide a bit of entertainment, games and fun for their benefit.

Representing the western portion of downtown, it is not uncommon to see many men and women, walking with bundles of clothes, blankets and backpacks throughout the day, as they have no home to leave their possessions. We take for granted that we have transportation, cell phones, and computers to plan our day. Most of these individuals spend a good portion of theirs, on their feet visiting various service agencies downtown, as they seek their next meal or, inquire about available housing or employment. They often walk several miles each day.  Saturday’s walk allowed for us participants to spend a moment in their shoes, as we walked the route many of our downtown homeless take each day.

To make donations to the Bridge Program, which provides food and services to those who are homeless, please send your check to: The Bridge Program, 1610 Olive, St. Louis, MO 63103

There is always a reason to celebrate in the 6th Ward, and I am always willing to pull various agencies together to bring fun, and most importantly a sense of community to the 6th Ward neighborhoods.

   

Tower Grove East Community Garden

This fencing would not only serve as aesthetically pleasing to a busy intersection in the neighorhood, but would also protect and secure the vegetables and fruits grown by our farmers. To celebrate this new fencing, members of the neighborhood garden held a ribbon cutting and a party afterwards to celebrate. I am happy that my office was able to be of assistance and provide the necessary funding, to make a project such as this successful.

 

DATE: Tuesday, June 30th
TIME: 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
LOCATION: Smoking Joe’s Bar-Be-Que Restaurant and Bar (1901 Washington)

Suggested Minimum Donation: $25

Please make checks payable to: “Friends of Kacie Starr Triplett”
2621 Louisiana
Saint Louis, MO 63118

or donate online.