[ Data Book ]
A wide variety of information pertaining to both the City of East St. Louis and the Emerson Park neighborhood is available at the EGRETS link (/egrets/) of the East St. Louis Action Research Project (ESLARP) web page. An inventory of extensive land use data including information on wetlands, population density, zoning, and topography is available on-line to the public. The data is available from a public access Web site at the Neighborhood Technical Assistance Center at 384R Collinsville Road. The following sections include data on Emerson Park collected since 1990. All data is available at the Web site.
Emerson Park is located in the northwestern section of East St. Louis (Map 2.1). The neighborhood is bordered on the south by I-64, the west by I-55/70 and the north and east by the BO, TR, and SO railroad tracks (Map 2.2). The study area is physically detached from the greater East St. Louis Metro Area by Interstate-70 and Interstate-64, both of which run east & west across the greater Midwest region. Such seclusion allows the neighborhood to maintain a residential character that is unique from East St. Louis as a whole and clearly distinct from other neighborhoods within the city. The study area’s current level of open space provides excellent potential for numerous types of development. Proximity to both public transportation and the interstate highway system has made Emerson Park a very attractive place in the past year. Three real estate developers are currently pursuing opportunities within the neighborhood.
At present, Emerson Park offers its residents few commercial services. Residents must travel outside of the neighborhood to obtain basic needs such as groceries, laundry facilities, and banking services. The Metro Link station being constructed at 15th Street and Baugh Avenue will greatly affect the character of Emerson Park by bringing St. Louis County within commuting distance of local residents. With access to the City of St. Louis, the Mississippi River, two interstate highway systems, and a light rail system; the prospect of development seems quite viable. Commuters could be well served from this node.
The Emerson Park neighborhood is approximately 400 ft. above Mean Sea Level. It is a nearly flat area in which elevation differs by less than 10ft. The Landes-Riley Association soil group is the predominant soil type for the area. L-R does not drain particularly well in areas exhibiting minimal slope. These topographic and soil conditions will present considerable challenges to those wishing to build in the lowest-lying areas near the intersection of 9th and Walter Avenue.
In 1995, the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana performed a random core sampling test for hazardous waste throughout the city of East St. Louis. Twelve different sites within the community were sampled to determine heavy metal content of soil. One such sample was taken from Emerson Park near the Pfizer Paint factory (recently renamed Elimentis) on the southeast side of the neighborhood, which indicated that hazardous levels of contaminants were present in the soil. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) lists Pfizer/Harcross buildings 59 & 540 as hazardous waste sites on their database, unfortunately the hazard level was not specified. An Environmental Impact Study, specific to Emerson Park, needs to be conducted in order to properly assess the environmental quality the neighborhood.
Close to one-fifth of Emerson Park lies within a floodplain (Map 2.3). Central City Homes, a publicly-assisted, privately-owned housing site, currently sits within this plain and experiences flooding on a regular basis due to improper drainage engineering. Standing water can frequently be found on the site after major storm events. Ultimately, the floodplain should remain free of inhabitable structures to prevent water damage and safety hazards. At the very least, developed land within the flood plain must have adequate drainage engineering. Residents have also provided the following list of sites that routinely flood:
Table 2.1
Flooding Problem Spots as Identified by Residents
Emerson Park
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Location of Persistent Sewer/ Flooding Problems as Identified by Emerson Park Residents |
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9th & Exchange |
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11th & Exchange |
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11th & Lynch |
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11th & Walter |
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11th & Winstanley |
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13th & Exchange |
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14th& Walter |
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15th & Exchange |
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15th & Lynch |
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15th & Wieman |
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17th & Natalie |
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18th & Lake |
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18th & Lake |
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18th & Lynch |
|
18th & Wieman |
Photo 2.1: Standing water days after a rain in Emerson Park
Map 2.3: Flooding and Hazardous Sites
Emerson Park is well served by the Bi-State Development Agency. Adequate access to downtown East St. Louis is currently provided by bus service. For East St. Louis’ central business district (CBD) residents currently use the light rail system to travel to St. Louis’ CBD and Lambert International Airport (Map 2.4). The neighborhood will soon benefit from a new MetroLink station at the intersection of Baugh Avenue and 15th Street, greatly improving employment opportunities for East St. Louis residents in the suburban Metro-East communities. This light rail station will introduce a significant amount of long-term parking from commuter use and will require re-configuration of the current bus routes. Proximity to I-70 and I-64 makes Emerson Park highly accessible to not only commuters riding Metro Link into St. Louis, but to commercial uses that may locate on the edge of the neighborhood. Existing bus routes adequately link downtown East St. Louis’ transportation hub to Emerson Park. Pedestrians have little difficulty maneuvering through Emerson Park, but are faced with serious access challenges from a safety standpoint as they attempt to travel south towards the CBD. School children from the study area currently deal with such challenges on a daily basis on their way to and from class.
Emerson Park is an area of approximately 50 blocks laid out in a grid pattern. It is serviced by two north/south arteries; 9th and 15th Streets, two east/west collector streets; Exchange and Lynch Avenues, and a number of locally-active service streets. 9th Street connects Collinsville Avenue with the Northern edge of East St. Louis and is used primarily for commercial use by trucking companies. The majority of residential traffic moves along 15th Street from I-64 and downtown East St. Louis to the Landsdowne neighborhood just northeast of Emerson Park, absorbing run off from collector streets such as Exchange, Winstanley, Lynch, or Lake. Most of the existing Emerson Park traffic passes through the neighborhood rather than terminating or originating in the study area. Baugh Avenue is adequately laid out for increased rail station commuter traffic with its four-lane composure; however, 15th Street from both the north and south may not be adequate due to lane widths and speed limits.
The current status of Emerson Park’s urban design rests heavily on its residential character. The secluded nature of the neighborhood is reinforced by man-made barriers such as the interstates, the B&O Rail Road lines, and Elimentis Paint. Pathways within the study area compliment the traffic pattern. Pedestrian traffic accumulates along 13th Street from Lake to Exchange, along Winstanley from 9th to 18th Streets, and along the entire length of Exchange Avenue. These pathways inevitably form nodes at intersection points. The most concentrated areas of activity are 13th & Exchange, 13th & Winstanley, and the intersection of 15th and Lake. These centers form around both commercial and social service activities. The lack of original housing stock and subsequent abundance of vacant lots prevents an obvious district formation. However, a strong orientation to the street is maintained throughout the area as setbacks are kept to distances of 15 feet on average. This relationship is strengthened by a common vernacular architecture comprised of a mix of shotgun style house forms, American cottages, bungalows, and Prairie Style houses, which all derive from the local working class history of the area. The absence of any high style structures other than the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, reinforces the blue collar heritage of the neighborhood. Many of Emerson Park’s natural resources, specifically tree plantings, remain intact in the wake of severe housing stock loss, creating an atmosphere consistent with the surrounding prairie landscape. These resources should allow some coherence to develop within the neighborhood as in-fill housing becomes more prevalent.
Map 2.4: St. Clair County Metrolink Extension
In accord with Section 106 review process, required under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, a Phase I Archaeology Survey was completed which identified both historic and archaeological resources within the Metro Link project area. Archaeological resources were identified at the northern boundary of Emerson Park in the form of prehistoric settlement mounds, indicating large areas of pre-colonial settlement by indigenous cultures of the Mississippian era. A second site exists on the southwestern edge of the study area near the Metro Link right-of-way. The survey revealed that settlement sites ranged between small, nomadic camps to more permanent villages. No National Register Individuals (historic properties of local, state, or national significance) were found in Emerson Park as of yet.
Emerson Park’s rich history, dating back to the 1880s, can be read from a number of the neighborhood’s architectural assets (see Map 2.5). Many of the historic sites hold significance on a multitude of levels. The Lessie Bates Davis Center is one such structure, located at 13th Street and Winstanley. The site is just as important today in terms of a local landmark as it was during the building’s early days. More than any other site in Emerson Park, LBD acts as a cultural anchor for the neighborhood. Obvious signs of cultural evolution remain in the study area, such as the Ukrainian Hall on 9th Street and Immaculate Conception Lithuanian Catholic church on 15th Street, which will sit adjacent to the future Metro Link Station offering a symbol of the neighborhood’s heritage to all those that pass through Emerson Park. Evidence of the influence labor has had upon the study area, as well as East St. Louis as a whole, lies in buildings such as the former Packing House Worker’s Union Hall site.
Photo 2.2: Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House – the center of Emerson Park.
Historic Assets Identified by Emerson Park Residents
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Hazardous waste offers reason for concern in any neighborhood. A significant amount of environmental hazard exists in the area adjacent to the eastern edge of the neighborhood near Elimentis Paints. Aside from the visible pigment residue created by the plant, soil and air quality are serious issues in the neighborhood. Zoning usually prevents industrial uses from locating adjacent to residential districts, thereby eliminating such problems. Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) have been conducted in the past to assess the extent and level of impact that various industrial and manufacturing uses have had upon the area. Clean-up of such hazards will not take place without a coordinated effort comprised of citizen groups and governmental agencies.
In the past illegal dumping has plagued not only the Emerson Park neighborhood, but the entire City of East St. Louis due to the absence of basic municipal services such as trash pick-up. At present, trash pick up is provided by private haulers under City contract and will hopefully continue, eliminating the likelihood for illegal dumping. Trash still occupies over 70% of the neighborhood’s vacant lots. Due to the absence of consistent code enforcement within East St. Louis, the existence of derelict structures and burned out buildings in Emerson Park present both an aesthetic detriment and physical hazard to neighborhood residents. Such lots offer shelter for criminal activity, present safety hazards for children, and paint a negative visual image of the area to visitors as well as residents. Timely demolition of such structures needs to take place in order to restore both the neighborhood’s physical character and resident faith in their government.
The East St. Louis Community Action Network’s Code Enforcement 2000 HOTLINE received 137 calls regarding violations in Emerson Park between December of 1998 and February of 1999. The calls reported illegal dumping sites, derelict structures, overgrown trees / weeds and abandoned vehicles (Map 2.6).
The current zoning code in the City of East St. Louis was adopted in 1974 and the map in 1986 (Map 2.7). Zoning in Emerson Park is mainly residential. Neighborhood commercial sites are scattered throughout the neighborhood. Much of land towards the southern boundary of the neighborhood is zoned Medium manufacturing/industrial. There is currently no buffer between these uses and residential structures, violating Sec. 68-51 of the City of East St. Louis Zoning Code. There are significant problems with the current zoning layout of the neighborhood, including non-conforming uses, locally undesirable sites and spot zoning.
The years 1997 – 1998 brought new development plans to Emerson Park. A $20-million, 201 unit tax credit project is currently being planned for the southeast portion of Emerson Park, adjacent to the site of the new Metro Link. One hundred single-family, in-fill houses are also planned by the Emerson Park Development Corporation, Community Development Consultants, and their partners. The East St. Louis Housing Authority has begun construction of 34 new townhouse units in the northern section of the neighborhood near Natalie/Gross and 13th Streets. The Emerson Park Development Corporation, the University of Illinois, and the Urban Resources Partnership Program recently completed a new playground and basketball court at Cannaday Park. The advent of the Emerson Park Metro Link station creates the potential for increased mixed-use development as the need for commercial services, for both residents and commuters, increases. As in-fill housing replenishes the neighborhood housing stock, the likelihood that businesses will recognize Emerson Park’s need for basic services will increase. Map 2.8 shows the current and recent decent development in the neighborhood.
Map 2.6: HOTLINE Results on Sanitation Violations
Map 2.8: Current and Recent Developments
Document author(s) : Cathy Klump