ST. LOUIS 鈥 Near the base of the Grand Avenue Water Tower, Otis 鈥淧at鈥 Woodard pointed to the step from the sidewalk that once led to his childhood home.
His father, civil rights activist and neighborhood philanthropist Otis Woodard, owned the house that once stood at the corner of Strodtman Place and Bissell Avenue. He took on the adjoining properties, too, using them to store and distribute canned goods and clothes to his neighbors in the struggling College Hill neighborhood of North St. Louis.
The corner became known as Peace Park, and after the houses were demolished, it served as a green space and gathering spot in one of the only St. Louis neighborhoods without an official city park.
On Friday, a large bamboo sculpture, designed and constructed by Washington University students, was moved to the park. The public art will be installed near Strodtman Place and Grand Avenue, a 鈥渟tatement piece鈥 meant to 鈥渁nnounce the park,鈥 said Matt Bernstine, associate director of the Sam Fox School鈥檚 .
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In the coming months, walking paths will be constructed through the green space, and native landscaping planted. Basketball hoops, exercise stations, drinking fountains and seating will be installed, making Peace Park indistinguishable from an actual city park, as Otis Woodard, who died in 2015, had hoped.
鈥淚 got chills on my arms just thinking about it and seeing what鈥檚 taking place right now,鈥 said Pat Woodard, now a teacher who lives in Belleville.
As he spoke on Saturday, dozens of volunteers were wandering the neighborhood, helping clean Peace Park and the alleys and sidewalks of the adjoining blocks. A skid loader dumped piles of tires, mattresses and cleared brush into construction dumpsters. Crews from the city鈥檚 forestry division trimmed vacant lots and hacked down overgrowth.
Organized by the Regional Business Council, St. Louis city government and the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, the effort was part of the business and philanthropic groups鈥 regular Clean Up/Build Up events that gather volunteers to help clean and beautify some of the region鈥檚 most disinvested neighborhoods.
They鈥檝e recently held events in St. Louis鈥 Hyde Park neighborhood and Castle Point in north St. Louis County. But the RBC鈥檚 members and the Urban League have been to College Hill before, converging on the area during an event in 2020 where volunteers also put a fresh coat of paint on the neighborhood鈥檚 iconic, 154-foot tall Corinthian column water tower built in 1871.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of members who want to double down on this area,鈥 said Austin Walker, vice president of initiatives at the RBC. 鈥淲henever you get a couple hundred volunteers out to a neighborhood, it鈥檚 amazing what you can do.鈥
The Urban League maintains a campus just a block away from Peace Park and the water tower, and its employees offer ongoing social service support to neighborhood residents 鈥 assistance programs, gun locks, the overdose reversal spray Narcan and violence de-escalation programs, said James Clark, the Urban League鈥檚 vice president of public safety and community response.
鈥淭his continues to be an example of how important it is to take a deep dive into our neighborhoods,鈥 Clark said.
Companies like gas utility Spire donated their time and used their equipment to clear illegal dumping and clear debris. Some 40 volunteers showed up from construction company Paric alone. Keeley Companies, SM Wilson, Boeing and Busey Bank were among the other companies that sent volunteers and equipment.
Michael Kennedy Jr., who leads construction firms KAI Enterprises and UP Companies, was out helping with about 15 of his employees Saturday morning. He said efforts like Clean Up/Build Up, and the associated city resources it draws, need to stay focused on the neighborhood so it doesn鈥檛 鈥渞egress.鈥 But the show of force Saturday can help inspire residents, he said.
鈥淚t allows people to have some hope that there鈥檚 some change,鈥 Kennedy said.
The St. Louis Development Corp., the city鈥檚 economic development arm, does plan to maintain some focus on Peace Park. Laura Ginn, a vacancy strategist with SLDC, has worked for years to piece together the parcels that make up the park. Except for one of them, they are now all owned by the SLDC-managed Land Reutilization Authority 鈥 the city鈥檚 land bank.
Ginn, who helped coordinate the city鈥檚 resources for Saturday鈥檚 cleanup, has also worked for years to secure funding and in-kind contributions for Peace Park. Ameren has recently removed its utility poles from the park and buried the lines. The Missouri Department of Conservation has contributed funding toward Peace Park鈥檚 maintenance and development.
Several years ago, Ginn and SLDC considered a new land trust to take title to the Peace Park land and other sites it maintains as green space in the city. It is still considering that option, but even if LRA is the entity that owns the land, Ginn said SLDC and the the state conservation department are committed to maintaining Peace Park long term.
Construction crews have already begun grading a section of Peace Park to prepare for the installation of the public art piece from Washington University. A second phase of construction next year would add a playground and pavilion to the park, and Ginn hopes to help organize another cleanup event in the spring that can add another coat of paint to the Grand Avenue Water Tower.
Along the nearby blocks dotted with vacant homes, the city鈥檚 standard board-ups will be replaced with painted murals securing the empty structures, complete with new lights to illuminate the art at night. One of them is a mural of Otis Woodard, already covering the window of a structure on 20th Street.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like a movie,鈥 Pat Woodard said of the efforts in the neighborhood and the buildout of Peace Park. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so needed. We need peaceful spaces in our communities.鈥