A plan to transform Jefferson City's Historic Southside/Old Munichburg neighborhood has the support of business leaders in the neighborhood as the City Council prepares to vote on the plan Tuesday.
The Historic Southside/Old Munichburg District & Neighborhood Plan seeks to improve the neighborhood by improving streetscaping, expanding housing choices and creating parks.
Business leaders said they support the plan because they are invested in the community around them. City planners said it could help link the neighborhood with downtown.
Capital Region Medical Center spearheaded the plan after investing $37 million in a renovation that added 120,000 square feet of space to its hospital at 1125 Madison St. in 2014. CRMC President Gaspare Calvaruso started his job in September 2014. The ground work for the plan was laid before his tenure began, but the idea for a broader revitalization plan around the area began to germinate after Calvaruso's arrival.
"Whether you're Central Dairy or a hospital, the neighborhood that you're in reflects upon your business," Calvaruso said. "It's kind of like a smile, but you have a few teeth that aren't so good. You develop a plan for the bad teeth to make it great."
Calvaruso said CRMC was working on several small projects in areas directly around the hospital. As it got permits for those projects, the hospital received support from the city for a broader plan to reinvigorate the area.
CRMC hired St. Louis firm H3 Studio to create a redevelopment plan for the neighborhood. Throughout 2015 and 2016, H3 Studio held open houses and workshops throughout the neighborhood to seek input.
The neighborhood has a rich, multicultural history. Old Munichburg dates back to the mid-19th century, when German immigrants built the area's brick homes and brewed beer at breweries near Wears Creek.
Just east of the Old Munichburg area, historically black university Lincoln University was founded in 1866. The Historic Southside boomed in the early 20th century by creating the Southside Booster Club, which extended water mains, built sewers and added street lighting.
Both areas encountered turbulence in the 1920s and 1930s. Anti-German sentiments during World War I and World War II, combined with Prohibition in the 1920s, led to the Old Munichburg's decline. The Great Depression and the new Rex Whitton Expressway, which provided easy access to jobs and homes outside of downtown, led to a decline on the southside.
All of this has led to a neighborhood with character that looks like a shell of its former self. About 12 percent of Jefferson City's population - 4,986 people - live in the neighborhood, according to the plan. The area contains more than 2,100 housing units, 14 percent of which are vacant.
The average income in the neighborhood is just $17,608, far below the Jefferson City average of $24,763, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The median income in the area is just $41,250, compared to Jefferson City's median income of $47,969.
When the plan was published in October 2016, the area had a 9 percent unemployment rate, far above the Jefferson City unemployment rate of 3.1 percent at the time. The southside is also filled with streets, sidewalks and buildings in poor condition, the plan notes.
To pump new life into the area, the plan lays out 10 goals - first, to develop the U.S. 50 corridor into an urban boulevard that connects the neighborhood with downtown Jefferson City. One way to do this would be to make it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the highway.
One small thing designers think can have a big impact is adding new landscaping along streets, including along U.S. 50 and Dunklin Street. The plan also calls for reconfiguring several streets to add parking and traffic lanes. New and clearly marked bike lanes, possibly painted green, are also part of the plan.
"Having a link between the downtown area and this area would be quite a strength for both areas," Jefferson City Senior Planner Eric Barron said. "Outside of the rush hour traffic times, the levels of traffic would allow the pedestrians to use this area without too much of conflict with the vehicle traffic."
The plan also seeks to develop a home repair program for low-income, owner-occupied homes and establish a matching funds programs to provide funding for exterior home renovations. Dunklin Street is identified as a potential gathering spot for festivals if improvements to street lights and sidewalks are made.
Calvaruso said CRMC invested a significant amount of money in the project.
Ultimately, it's not a business goal, CRMC spokeswoman Lindsay Huhman said.
"The ultimate goal is to enhance the living quality in this community," Huhman said. "This is a place where our community started in many cases."
The Jefferson City Planning & Zoning Commission unanimously approved the plan July 14, sending it to the full council for a final vote Tuesday. Barron said the plan was vetted much like any other city plan.
"Going through the different steps of that is a very professional process, basically the same way that it would have been done had it been a city-sponsored endeavor," Barron said.
Given the diversity of businesses, schools and residents still in the area, Barron says the neighborhood is well positioned.
"A neighborhood that doesn't have such a strong institutional basis might not be as well positioned," Barron said.
Phil Freeman, second-generation owner of Freeman Mortuary at 915 Madison St., said residents have been trying for 10-15 years to pump life into the community. This plan is an expansion of several smaller projects.
If the plan is approved, one of the first things to happen will be creation of a community development corporation, Calvaruso said.
Usually incorporated as a nonprofit 501(c)3, a CDC supports and implements key aspects of the plan like infrastructure and housing improvements, economic development and social services. CDCs have become a popular tool in cities like St. Louis, Cincinnati and Atlanta. Freeman said he believes this would be the first CDC formed in Jefferson City.
A CDC basically pays people to tackle every challenge listed, Calvaruso said.
"What a CDC does is find the funds available to hire somebody to work this plan," Calvaruso said. "We're running our own businesses. We want to support this, but it's not our primary businesses."
Freeman said the community is beginning discussions on how to form and fund a CDC.
"It is instrumental that a CDC be formed," he said. "I think we can get it done, but it will be a work in progress."
Freeman emphasized no public funds will be used to fund a CDC. Rather, local businesses and groups are looking for ways to support the CDC through a combination of direct funding and grants.
If approved by the council, implementation will happen in four phases over at least 20 years. During the first phase, which will last about seven years, an expansion of Community Park could happen, and zoning laws could be changed.
The second phase will last five to 15 years after implementation and work on streetscape improvement projects and tree-planting programs. The third phase, from 10-20 years after implementation, will expand Washington Park and create affordable housing for middle-class families.
During this phase, the city also wants to buy vacant and derelict properties and turn them into parks. This could help lessen the impact of floods because, Barron said, many of the city's flood-prone areas have homes with low-income residents.
One of the final goals in the fourth phase, more than 20 years after implementation, is to redesign the intersection of Stadium Boulevard and U.S. 54.
This would result in at least three roundabouts re-routing traffic. Madison Street would also be re-routed and disconnected from U.S. 54. Drivers could still access Madison Street from U.S. 54 via Stadium Boulevard. Barron said in May the current interchange design is flawed and hinders commercial development.
Barron stressed Tuesday, though, the plan is merely a guide for the city and residents.
"It's just a plan," Barron said. "There's nothing within that plan that takes immediate effect. It provides the basis for other things that would then be put in place."