VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR HANLEY HOUSE

* Hanley House volunteers are needed!

Hanley House tours are scheduled Monday through Friday by appointment only. You can also tour on Saturday or Sunday from noon to four.

Tours are $3 for Adults and Children 12 & under are free!

The Hanley House is located at 7600 Westmoreland in Clayton.

'Show Me St. Louis' Video 5/14/2008

'Show Me St. Louis' Text only 5/14/2008

Map to Hanley House

Directions to Hanley House

Contact Sarah. J. Umlauf, Community Resource Coordinator at (314) 226-9893 or email her at sumlauf@ci.clayton.mo.us for more information on volunteer opportunities.

---

ANNOUNCEMENT: HISTORIC PHOTOS & VOLUNTEERS FOR ORAL HISTORIES NEEDED

Clayton's History Society is looking for historic photos and records to keep or to scan for the City's files and to display on its website. For details, call Judy Kekich at 314.290.8473.

The History Society is also partnering with OASIS and Sunrise Senior Living/Clayton on the Park on the Clayton Oral History Project. The History Society will catalogue oral histories about growing up, going to school and owning a business in Clayton as permanent records. Excerpts of the stories may be used on the Clayton History Society website and, as the city makes plans to celebrate its 100th anniversary of incorporation in 2013, in a History of Clayton book. Interviews will be videotaped. Two tapes (one for the participant and one for the Clayton History Society) will cost $50.

Please call OASIS at 314.367.5700 to schedule your oral history. Join us, as we capture and celebrate the wonderful details of daily life in our community.

I hope there will be many Old Town residents cooperating with this request to help preserve Clayton's past. Do you have any photos of your home, documents, or stories to tell?

- Cheryl Verde

---

BUSH HONEYSUCKLE PLANT INFORMATION

Please read the following letter from Marguerite Garrick:

Subject: Why we need to eradicate Bush Honeysuckle.

Dear Clayton Neighbor:

In 2004, I Co-Chaired the first 24-hour biological survey of the newly restored Forest Park with Valerie Vartanian, Invasive Species Specialist for The Nature Conservancy and The Missouri Botanical Garden. In 2006 when I was an advisor for the second BioBlitz, I was asked if I would help inform the citizens who live in the communities that ring the Park about the need to remove Bush Honeysuckle from the area.

Forest Park Forever spent $40,000 removing Bush Honeysuckle from the park in the last year and there's still lots more to go. The results after removal are worth it though. After it was removed from Kennedy Woods, many native plant species began to return from a dormant native seedbed, and within in a year the bird species sighted grew from 10’s to more than 100. As a result Kennedy Woods has recently received the national designation of an Important Bird Area by the Audubon Society.

Bush Honeysuckle is an Asian variety introduced in the 50's and 60's by the USDA to control soil erosion. It used to be widely sold in nurseries as well. It has spread throughout the northeast and Midwest. Since it has no natural controls in this country, and since it leafs out first in the spring and holds it's leaves last in the fall, it shades out native vegetation thereby eliminating biodiversity. Bush Honeysuckle also emits a toxin through its root system that kills most non-Honeysuckle plants within its growing radius.

Once it gets into a wooded area or forest it will first eliminate the native understory, then eventually, because young trees cannot grow up in an infested area, will eliminate the trees as well.

Click here for document with instructions regarding removal of Bush Honeysuckle. I urge you to share this with your neighbors and to urge your neighbors to look in their yards and alleys and to begin to get rid of this very dangerous invasive plant. It's moving along power lines down Highway 44. If it gets into the Mark Twain National Forest or the Ozarks it will be an ecological disaster. Thank you so much for any help you can give us to raise awareness about the need to eliminate Bush Honeysuckle from our area completely.

Marguerite Garrick

Member, Garden Club of St. Louis

President, Hillcrest Homeowners Association
email- ritey1951@aol.com

---

ANNOUNCEMENT: NEW DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL BY CONRAD PROPERTIES CORPORATION

Monday, November 5, 2007 -

There was a proposal to Clayton Architectural review Board for a mixed-use development at 201, 211 & 215 N. Meramec & 8015 Pershing by Conrad Properties Corporation .

They have proposed the development of a two building mixed-use project consisting of approximately 130 apartment units and 84,000 square feet of office use. The project will feature over 300 parking spaces within a 2 level underground parking garage.

---

MARK MEHLMAN'S CARONDELET VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT

Carondelet Village is the redevelopment project proposed for the properties adjacent to The Crescent, the condominium development along Carondelet Plaza. It is located adjacent to the southeast boundaries of Old Town. You can keep up with the latest news by clicking on their web site link.

---

RJ YORK'S PROPOSED HOTEL / RESIDENTIAL / RETAIL DEVELOPMENT

Representatives from RJ York have proposed a mixed-use project at 25 - 45 N. Central Avenue(located at the southwest corner of Maryland Avenue and N. Central Avenue). The proposed project consists of approximately a 200-room hotel, 19,400 square feet of retail, and 34 - 50 luxury residential condominiums. In addition, the project proposes a partnership between the developer, the City of Clayton, and St. Joseph's Catholic Church to build a structured parking facility at the northwest corner of Maryland Avenue and N. Central Avenue. The proposed parking facility would hold approximately 365 spaces, 18,000 square feet of retail, and a 9.000 square foot classroom for the church. 193 of the proposed parking spaces would be available to the general public.

More info HERE.

---

THE NEW I-64 RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT UPDATE

To receive lane restriction/closure announcements via e-mail, go to http://www.thenewi64.org/. On their homepage, select Contact Us, then click: Subscribe for Project E-mails.

---

HANLEY HOUSE - HISTORIC HIDDEN JEWEL IN OLD TOWN

Hanley House was built in 1855 and is the oldest building in the City of Clayton. The house remained occupied by descendants of the Martin Franklin Hanley family until purchased in 1968 by the City of Clayton. It is located at 7600 Westmoreland.

For more information, go to the Hanley House Web Site

---

OLD TOWN SECRET GARDEN TOUR

Old Town residents and city officials experienced a memorable and free neighborhood event on June 6th, 2004. It featured a walking tour of 7 unique Old Town Clayton secret gardens. Taylor Park was the starting place to meet and where maps were distributed to locate the secret gardens. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. In the future, if enough residents offer their gardens for touring, we could repeat that event.

Do you have a wonderful garden that you are proud of and want to share with others? If interested, contact us at oldtownclayton@gmail.com

---