New Hope in Fountain Park
Date Posted: September 6, 2019
Posted In: Projects, Regionalism,
From The St. Louis American: Kevin Bryant, a St. Louis native and founder of Kingsway Development, LLC, has set sights on resurrecting the shuttered Euclid Elementary School in Fountain Park into a hub of mixed-income artist lofts and creative space called the Fountain Park Arts Block.
“There’s enough negativity we could say about St. Louis, but it’s better to do something positive,” Bryant, 47, said at Third Degree Glass Factory on August 24.
To advance this mission, Bryant is attempting to enlist Theaster Gates, an internationally renowned potter who uses neighborhoods and social justice as his clay to mold beauty, culture, and community-informed change. Bryant wooed the Chicago-based Gates back to St. Louis despite the closing of The Pink House, the art-focused development Gates launched in Hyde Park in 2011.
“There is strong programming interest both in St. Louis and outside the city in new artistic spaces and cultural venues,” said Gates, founder of the Rebuild Foundation. “The return to St. Louis and possible collaboration with the cultural community here is a full-circle moment.”
The Fountain Park Arts Block will consist of a renovation of 32 loft apartments and the construction of 21 new units in a U-shape. It will feature a fully equipped arts center located on the grounds of the Euclid School. The project will also partner with Washington Montessori School across the street to provide students supplementary arts education facilitated by residents of the loft building.
“Fountain Park’s mix of large, stately brick homes, vacant lots and dilapidated structures are ripe for redefinition and rehabilitation,” Bryant said.
“There are several major projects being planned for Fountain Park, and the ArtsBlock is one that stands to give our area international attention. We have already began construction on the first three homes around the Fountain Park circle, and we are working with one of the local housing organizations to assist existing homeowners with basic repairs this fall so that they keep pace with development.”
18th Ward Alderman Jesse Todd, who said he has felt like “the last one standing” in Fountain Park, said Bryant’s commitment is giving him new hope.
“He’s very passionate and not just about the money, but about good leadership,” Todd said.