City of St. Louis: "The Bevo Mill Deal - Another White Elephant In the Making?"

So many of our historic landmarks have gone by the wayside over the past forty years.

Why does this happen, and what is it about CITY LEADERS who seemingly complicate things more than they help?

Recently, the operators of the Bevo Mill restaurant stopped paying their bills.
It got a lot of publicity. The city of St. Louis owns the Bevo Mill and was soliciting restauranteurs to run the facility --- get it reopened as quickly as possible. Very few were chomping at the bit to run what has historically been a German food restaurant. Pleasing German food lovers in the United States is said to be more difficult than pleasing the many French food eaters. Both kinds of food are difficult to find in the metropolitan St. Louis area. But, see...there are many more Germans - and German-speaking residents - in St. Louis than those with French heritage, even though the city was founded by the famous French men with streets and neighborhoods named after them (Laclede's Landing, anyone?).

What I'm pasting/posting is from Facebook. It's a telltale sign of the times in the city of St. Louis.

______________________

City of St. Louis: "The Bevo Mill Deal - Another White Elephant In the Making?"

Last night, veteran TV reporter John Auble of Fox2 produced and aired a story about an apparent deal between the owners of the Bevo Mill (the CITY OF ST. LOUIS) and the owners of Dreamland Palace German Restaurant (in Foster Pond IL), in which the historic old "mill" restaurant at Gravois and Morganford would reopen under the management of a couple (Mike and Joan Lang) who not only fully understands the business of owning and operating a German Restaurant for 20 years, but who came from the Bevo neighborhood before they opened Dreamland Palace in 1989. The Langs used to be involved in a local association along Gravois, and they haven't stayed away from the city --- they are regular customers of city businesses on their days off.

Meanwhile, most of us had read the sad and aggrivating stories which came out last week. The former operators who had been running Bevo Mill [allegedly] skipped out on paying bills to the city and other business interests and employees, and worse --- left SEVERAL people holding onto unfulfilled promises that they could have banquets or wedding receptions at Bevo Mill. Mayor Slay even blogged about this disappointing series of events, so it's not likely he was uninformed about a possible deal between parties to reopen Bevo Mill under a better management group.

The almost embarrassing news reports of the Bevo Mill closure were numerous. But the story that ran on Fox2 was a scoop, and was also posted on their website. And after a positive story --- operators who KNOW what they are doing, all was seemingly going to be good in the world of German food-eating St. Louisans with regard to Bevo Mill, and despite what had happened with the former operators --- with the city having gone to someone with a stellar reputation --- we were going to see BEVO MILL RESTAURANT operational, probably before summer, and run WELL...right?

Well...according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch online --- no.
Here is the story published by the Post-Dispatch online just after noon today:http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/the-savvy-consumer-blog/2009/03/24/want-to-run-the-bevo-mill-city-hall-wants-to-hear-from-you/

++++++++++++++

I have to give credit to one of my co-workers, a city resident, who told me today...and I quote:

"Don't worry, the city'll find a way to screw it up."

That co-worker was apparently onto something. I don't know if it really is going to quash the deal, but if the city SLDC has decided to wait until March 31st to post the RFP, they should have told the group they were soliciting. Someone at city hall didn't talk with someone else at city hall, and all it takes is one slip-up from a talking head to make things look like it will all fall apart before it gets going --- and it really falls apart.

I hope Mike and Joan Lang hold on and get a good deal, and eventually operate the Bevo Mill. They know what they're doing, but I'm sure there are others who will claim they know how to run a German restaurant at Bevo Mill. Frankly, I can only think of one other restauranteur who has enough history and may be able to roll the dice and win at Bevo Mill: the owner of the Feasting Fox.

If the city doesn't reach an agreement with one of these two restaurant operators to reopen Bevo Mill with German food, they will surely have another WHITE ELEPHANT.

+++++++++++++++

What next??? A softball field instead of Ballpark Village for this summer's Baseball All-Star Game?