Better late than never: here’s your August happenings in Dutchtown! Don’t forget to check our calendar, sign up for our mailing list, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for all of the latest news and events.

Election Day

Tuesday, August 7th is Election Day. Make sure to get out and vote! Primary candidates for city, state, and federal offices as well as two propositions, the so-called “right to work” initiative and a city bond issue, are on the ballot. Find your polling place here.

Neighborhood Meetings

Gravois Park‘s monthly meeting is Tuesday, August 14th. They meet at 6pm in the old Jefferson Bank building at 3353 California, just north of Cherokee Street.

Dutchtown West meets the same night, August 14th, at 7pm. Their meeting is in the banquet hall at Grbic, 4071 Keokuk at Meramec.

The Cherokee Street Business Association meets at Nebula on Thursday, August 16th at 5:30pm.

Marine Villa‘s meeting is on Monday, August 27th. The meeting starts at 7pm and is in the back at Irish Corner Pub on the corner of Cherokee and Lemp.

Thomas Dunn Learning Center

Learn about the city’s Commercial Facade Improvement Grant program at an informational session on Monday, August 6th at 10am. Businesses can apply for up to $20,000 to improve their facades. RSVP here.

On Tuesday, August 7th, Thomas Dunn celebrates National Night Out with Teen Open Mic. Ages 13–21 are welcome to join this family friendly event featuring snacks, drinks, and prizes and hosted by Storystitchers.org. The event runs from 5pm to 8pm.

Sip ‘n Sketch is Wednesday, August 8th at 7pm. All skill levels are welcome to a live drawing workshop where participants will have a chance to work with various materials and techniques. Materials are provided but BYOB.

Thursday, August 16th from 7pm to 9pm is the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Art Reception. Celebrate animals in art and enjoy finger sandwiches and mint juleps. $5 raffle tickets for a Purina basket of cat products (valued at $125) will be sold. The drawing for the basket will be held on the night of the event.

Starting Thursday, August 23rd, Thomas Dunn and the YWCA are collaborating on a racial equality program called Witnessing Whiteness. Witnessing Whiteness groups are white people coming together to do work around racism in a supportive, non-threatening setting, learning to speak about race and racism, exploring white privilege, and doing your own internal work around racism. The group will meet every Thursday at 6pm.

More Events Around Dutchtown

Marquette Community Day is Saturday, August 4th. Come down to the Rec Center for free food, loaded backpacks, free haircuts, enrollment in tutoring and after school programs, and games and giveaways. Marquette Community Day is from 11am to 4pm.

Flow Yoga on Meramec is offering open-level classes on Wednesday evenings. Check the calendar to find out more.

The Cherokee Street Community Market returns to Love Bank Park on Wednesday, August 8th from 4:30pm to 8pm. Enjoy hot food, fresh produce, art, live music, and the company of your neighbors.

Urban Eats hosts the South City Board Game Meetup every other Friday (August 10th and 24th) from 6pm to 11pm.

The DT2 Meramec Shop About is happening on Wednesday, August 15th. Shops will stay open until 7pm. Afterward head to Urban Eats for sangria and prizes.

The South City Sipsters meet at the Feasting Fox on Thursday, August 16th to sample beer and wine. Check our event page in the near future for more details.

DSCC‘s Community Empowerment Committee continues to work toward their goals of housing justice and tenant organizing at their monthly meeting on Wednesday, August 29th. The meeting is at 6pm at Thomas Dunn Learning Center. Dinner and child care are provided.

Make sure to check our calendar for updates, sign up for our mailing list, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you have an event in Dutchtown, Gravois Park, Mount Pleasant, Marine Villa, or Cherokee Street that you’d like us to share, please contact us or email info@dutchtownstl.org.

Top photo courtesy of Paul Sableman.

Welcome to July in Dutchtown! It’s hot. Luckily most of the events on our list this month are air conditioned! Check our calendar, sign up for our mailing list, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for all the latest events.

Neighborhood Meetings

The Gravois Park Neighborhood Association holds their regular meeting on Tuesday, July 10th at 6pm at in the old Jefferson Bank building at 3353 California, just north of Cherokee).

Dutchtown West also meets on Tuesday, July 10th. Their meeting is at 7pm in the banquet hall at Grbic Restaurant, 4071 Keokuk at Meramec.

The Cherokee Street Business Association has their monthly meeting at Nebula at 5:30pm on Thursday, July 19th. The meeting is open to business owners, residents, property owners, and anyone else with an interest in the Cherokee Street community. All are encouraged to attend.

Marine Villa holds their monthly meeting at Sister Cities Cajun. The meeting is at 7pm on Monday, July 23rd.

Dutchtown South Community Corporation

DSCC and Thomas Dunn Learning Center host their Green Festival on Saturday, July 7th. Vendors, service providers, and other environmental groups will be on hand with information and activities to show you how to reduce your environmental impact. The festival runs from 10am to 2pm.

The final installment in DSCC‘s Landlord Series is Wednesday, July 11th, 6pm at Thomas Dunn Learning Center. This session will focus on energy-efficient and green rehab projects as well as environmental issues such as proper waste disposal.

The Community Empowerment Committee holds their monthly meeting on Wednesday, July 25th, 6pm at Thomas Dunn Learning Center. Dinner and child care are provided.

Dutchtown South and Erase the Trace are co-hosting another So Fresh So Cleanup. In July they’ll be working in Dutchtown proper, starting from Thomas Dunn Learning Center. The cleanup is on Sunday, July 29th from 11am to 3pm.

Thomas Dunn Learning Center

Thomas Dunn hosts multiple free summer camps for kids. In July choose from study areas such as poetry, cooking, coding, or karate. Find and register for free summer camps at Thomas Dunn and throughout St. Louis at the City’s summer camp website.

St. Louis Bicycle Works‘ Earn-a-Bike Program returns to Thomas Dunn this summer. Kids ages 8 to 17 can participate in a week of bicycle safety and maintenance classes from July 23rd to July 28th. Upon completion participants receive a bike, helmet, lock, and safety light.

Other Neighborhood Events

The Dutchtown Community Improvement District has committee and board meetings throughout the month. Learn more about what the committees and board do, then find a meeting that works best for you.

Tenth Life Cat Rescue hosts a Cats ‘n Mats Yoga fundraiser on Thursday, July 5th. They’ll also have story times and reading groups for kids every Saturday in July.

Kairos Academies is hosting a community forum on Wednesday, July 11th to discuss their plans to bring a public charter school to Dutchtown. Attend the forum to learn more about the proposed school and provide your feedback.

The Cherokee Street Community Market is back at Love Bank Park on Wednesday, July 11th. Enjoy hot food, fresh produce, art, live music, and the company of your neighbors.

Flow Yoga on Meramec is offering open-level classes on Wednesday evenings. Check the calendar to find out more.

Urban Eats hosts the South City Board Game Meetup every other Friday (July 13th and 27th) from 6pm to 11pm.

The Feasting Fox hosts a Prohibition-themed trivia night on Friday, July 13th. $10 gets you appetizers, tastings of George Remus bourbon and other spirits, and the chance to win prizes at the end of the game.

DT2 is throwing a pool party for their monthly After Hours in July. Join them at Marquette Park on Wednesday, July 18th for swimming and hotdogs.

The South City Sipsters meet at the Feasting Fox on Thursday, July 26th to sample German beers and wines from Germany and Alsace.

The Gravois-Jefferson Historic Neighborhood Plan has been officially adopted, and now it’s time to celebrate! Join your neighbors on Monday, July 30th at Artist Art on Cherokee to learn more about the plan and how to get involved with the implementation.

Be sure to check our calendar regularly, sign up for our mailing list, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you have an event in Dutchtown, Gravois Park, Mount Pleasant, Marine Villa, or Cherokee Street that you’d like us to share, please contact us or email info@dutchtownstl.org.

In 2016, the St. Louis Board of Alderman passed Ordinance 70333, creating a traffic calming policy in the City of St. Louis. This ordinance authorizes the Streets Department to use tools like speed humps to reduce speeding and reckless driving in our neighborhoods.

To determine how best to use these tools, 25th Ward Alderman Shane Cohn requested that the Streets Department and their consultants undertake a traffic study in the ward. The report of existing conditions is now complete, and 25th Ward residents are invited to come see the results and offer their feedback.

The June meeting of the Dutchtown West Neighborhood Association is open to all residents of the 25th Ward. The Streets Department and consultants will be on hand to receive your feedback and answer your questions. Let them know where you’d like to see speed humps, safer crosswalks, narrowed streets, or improved signage.

The meeting is at 7pm in the banquet hall at Grbic Restaurant, 4071 Keokuk at Meramec. In addition to the traffic study discussion, Ald. Cohn and 25th Ward Neighborhood Improvement Specialist Christian Saller will be available to talk about other neighborhood issues.

Can’t Make It?

If you’re unable to attend, you can view the existing conditions report. After that, take a survey to let your traffic and safety concerns be known.

Start the month of June with STL Open Streets, the Blessing of the Bikes, and the Dutchtown Bike Tour all happening on Saturday, June 2nd. Free summer camps at Thomas Dunn Learning Center kick off this in June as well. A multi-ward election candidate forum, neighborhood meetings, and plenty of other opportunities to engage with your neighborhood round out a busy June calendar, certainly with more to come. Check our calendar, sign up for our mailing list, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for all the latest events.

Dutchtown Bike Tour and Blessing of the Bikes

We previously wrote about the annual Dutchtown Bike Tour and St. Anthony’s Blessing of the Bikes. The annual Blessing of the Bikes at St. Anthony of Padua is Saturday, June 2nd at 9:30am. Following that, the Dutchtown Bike Tour departs from Urban Eats Cafe at 10:30am and makes its way through Dutchtown, eventually rolling through STL Open Streets before finishing up back at Urban Eats.

STL Open Streets

Also on Saturday, June 2nd, from 11am to 2pm, is STL Open Streets. Compton Avenue will be closed to cars from Meramec to Cherokee, allowing pedestrians and cyclists to take over the street. Activities and booths will line the street, and KDHX‘s live music stage will be at Marquette Park on the corner of Compton and Osage. Additionally there will be a health and wellness fair at the park. Read our earlier post about Open Streets here.

Neighborhood Meetings

The Gravois Park Neighborhood Association holds their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 12th at 6pm at 3353 California (the old Jefferson Bank building, just north of Cherokee).

Dutchtown West also meets on Tuesday, June 12th. Their meeting is at 7pm in the banquet hall at Grbic Restaurant, 4071 Keokuk at Meramec.

The Cherokee Street Business Association has their monthly meeting at Nebula at 5:30pm on Thursday, June 21st. In addition to business owners, the meeting is open to residents and property owners in the Cherokee Street community and all are encouraged to attend.

Marine Villa‘s regular meeting is at Sister Cities Cajun at 7pm on Monday, June 25th.

20th & 25th Ward Candidate Forum

The 20th and 25th Ward Democratic Club come together on Tuesday, June 5th to host a candidate forum ahead of the upcoming August primaries. The forum will be at the German Cultural Society, 3652 South Jefferson. Candidates (or their representatives) for License Collector, Recorder of Deeds, Collector of Revenue, State House District 81, and U.S. House and Senate will be on hand.

Thomas Dunn Learning Center

Thomas Dunn Learning Center celebrates their HiSET graduates and success stories Monday, June 1st at 6pm. All are welcome to attend the diploma and certificate presentation and reception.

Thomas Dunn is also hosting a number of summer camps. Registration is required for the camps listed below.

The Summer Clay Play ceramics camp for kids 10 and up runs from June 18th to the 22nd. Campers will explore different methods for creating and firing ceramics. A follow-up session, where campers will glaze and then gift their creations, takes place August 6th–10th. Campers are required to attend both sessions.

Coding for Kids, instructed by GlobalHack, is a code camp for kids 10 and up during the week of June 25th.

You can find and register for additional free camps at Thomas Dunn and other locations throughout the City on the City’s website.

Dutchtown South Community Corporation

DSCC‘s Landlord Series continues Wednesday, June 13th, 6pm at Thomas Dunn Learning Center. In June they’ll be discussing tenants’ rights and fair housing issues.

Dutchtown South and Erase the Trace are co-hosting another So Fresh So Cleanup. This month they’ll be at Mount Pleasant Park on Sunday, June 24th from 11am to 3pm.

The Community Empowerment Committee holds their monthly meeting on Wednesday, June 27th, 6pm at Thomas Dunn Learning Center. Dinner and child care are provided.

Other Neighborhood Events

The Downtown Dutchtown Marketplace continues every Saturday from 9am to 3pm in the parking lot of the Feasting Fox. Find antiques, art, collectibles, crafts, and more. For additional information or to become a vendor visit DowntownDutchtown.com.

The committees and Board of Directors of the Dutchtown Community Improvement District meet throughout the month. Find a calendar of meeting times here.

June 5th through the 10th is Negroni Week at the Feasting Fox. Enjoy some classic cocktails and help raise money for PAWS, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society. The South City Sipsters meet on Thursday, June 18th at the Feasting Fox to sample and learn about beers and Rosé wines. The Feasting Fox will also be hosting a five course Beer and Wine Dinner on Friday, June 29th.

Join Urban Eats on Friday, June 15th, 6:30–9:30pm, for an evening of cocktails, appetizers, music and art. Featured artists are Thomas Jackson Park and Pamela Schaffner, and Catching the Westbound will provide the music. Also, on June 8th and 22nd, Urban Eats hosts the South City Board Game Meetup from 6pm to 11pm.

DT2‘s monthly After Hours event is on Wednesday, June 20th at 5:30pm. Pop-Up Professionals, a pop-up event space and consulting service, will be hosting at their space at 5203 Virginia.

The Cherokee Street Community Market returns to Love Bank Park on Wednesday, June 13th from 4:30pm to 8pm. Shop for local produce, enjoy prepared food from vendors, and take in some live music.

Be sure to check our calendar regularly, sign up for our mailing list, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you have an event in Dutchtown, Gravois Park, Mount Pleasant, Marine Villa, or Cherokee Street that you’d like us to share, please contact us or email info@dutchtownstl.org.

It was a long time coming. This week last year, residents and business owners of Dutchtown got together at City Hall to attend a public hearing to show support for the establishment of a Community Improvement District.

There was a single dissenter present that day. His basic concern was that as a business owner he was already paying high property taxes, but when he realized he was the only dissenter in a room of a couple dozen supporters he aptly indicated, “It looks like I brought a knife to a gunfight.”

This wasn’t by accident. The establishment of the Dutchtown Community Improvement District didn’t occur in a vacuum. In fact it took several years from the initial backyard pow-wow amongst neighbors looking to do something about safety and trash in the neighborhood to the actual drive to get petition signatures.  

In the end, the Downtown Dutchtown Business Association spearheaded the effort with the help of representatives at SLDC. There were monthly public meetings at places like Crusoe’s, Merb’s, the Feasting Fox, and other local businesses to determine who among the Dutchtownies was willing to pay a little more in taxes to have local control over that money and determine how it would be spent to improve the neighborhood.

Once there was a core group of supporters, a map was drawn, re-drawn, and drawn a third time to determine how to balance size, need, revenue generation, and the quantity of absolutely essential owner-occupied supporters.

Next came the petition drive and what a drive it was! Dozens of volunteers spent their free time making phone calls, knocking on doors, and tirelessly searching the internet for contact information for out-of-state property owners to ask them to not only sign the petition, but have their signature notarized. It was a tiring process that lasted several months.

In the end, the Petition had more than enough support, over 50% of the owners of property and over 50% of the assessed value of property in the footprint of the Community Improvement District. Ultimately, with the support of Alderman Shane Cohn, the Dutchtown CID was officially passed and signed by Mayor Lyda Krewson.

Since passage, the CID Board has been meeting once a month on the third Thursday of each month along with subcommittees made up of CID board members and interested neighbors meeting monthly to discuss security, beautification, and marketing in the neighborhood.

Fast forward one year and the first annual budget has been approved by the board which will help fund new trash cans and trash pick, secondary police patrols, and new unified marketing efforts for the Dutchtown neighborhood. To learn more check out the Dutchtown CID Facebook Page and when these changes roll out this summer make sure to snap a photo and send it to us to help share the success!

You can learn more about the committees’ functions or view a listing of Dutchtown CID committee and board meetings here on DutchtownSTL.org.