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With the success of the 3-lane configuration test on South Grand, the powers that be decided to leave the bollards and concrete dividers creating the effect in place. The idea was that it would help people get used to the new layout, which is looming. The only problem is that those chunks of concrete are ugly.Enter the Saint Louis art community.
Since those bollards will be around for awhile (who knows how long it will be until the streetscape is actually redone), it seems that some people couldn’t stand to leave things status-quo for the winter. Over the last week or so, nearly all the bollards have been painted. There seems to have been at least three different artists who contributed. Judging by the art styles at least. Its pretty obvious in the pics below. One of them appears to be Peat “The Eye Guy” Wollinger (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stensoul/) The long concrete divider at the northwest corner of Grand and Arsenal has also been painted, but I couldn’t take a good picture with all the traffic.
Overall, it adds a nice flair to the neighborhood. Even if you don’t like them, its nice to see businesses and residents being proactive in the area. That’s more than can be said of others. Make sure you keep an eye out for them the next time you pass through. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
I think the temporary concrete bollards are ugly no matter what color they are painted. They certainly destroy the charm that “was” South Grand. Can’t we have a little sophistication when “improving” the area. Heaven knows how long it will be before the actual work is done. We could be living with this eyesore for a very long time.