Following the festivities of St. Louis Magazine's A List Party Thursday night, a welcomed calm settled over Maryland Plaza in the early hours of Friday morning. The only remaining vestige of the event was a shuttered ice truck parked across from Bissinger's. As I took pictures on Thursday evening before the party began, I wondered, for the first time in the three years the party has taken place on Maryland Plaza, who benefits from this event? Which led me to wonder why a permit was issued to close a public street for twelve hours for a private party? Perhaps, if St. Louis Magazine were located in the CWE, or even in the City of St. Louis, the merchants (who lost business because of the street closing), and residents (whose peace was disturbed by the super-loud music that shook windows until 11 p.m.) might put up with it because it somehow added value to the community.
Maybe it's time for this event to move on to a new venue–downtown perhaps, or Clayton, where they might welcome some nightlife. It's tricky enough to maintain a day-to-day balance between the interests of the merchants, including restaurants and bars, and the residents, without adding a private event that impacts the public arena in a less-than-desirable way.
Shouldn't there be basic groundrules for the use of the public space so all interested parties know what to expect? I may rattle some Blackberrys with this post, but as my version of the disclaimer goes: "the opinions expressed belong to those of the blogger." What do you think?
I do agree too! Parties like this should be held at the right venue wherein they wouldn’t be disturbing other people.
I agree. The noise was deafening. While a great benefit the CWEA should get some benefit for the disruption.
I COMPLETELY AGREE with this sentiment. St. Louis Magazine makes tens of thousands of dollars from this event and the neighborhood sees none of it.
I agree they should be charged to rent the venue or donate a hefty sum to the CWEA (to the tune of 10k). We were kept up well past eleven pm because of the music and revelers and their noisy return to their cars. While we are willing to tolerate that in exchange for some benefit to the neighborhood.
Someone should call Ray Hartmann, owner and acting manager and Leslie Tunney, publisher out on this nonsense!!! Where is Lyda when it comes to this stuff???
I think it’s a fair question. I had assumed that closing the street and taking over the Plaza (and disturbing residents) involved renting out the space, i.e. paying a hefty price tag for using the plaza. Did it? Or did it merely require a permit? I think I would be OK with parties there if a rental fee was involved — and the money went to the CWE Association.