SCENE THE
June 29, 2018
Summer Issue 1
www.thescenefp.com
St. Louis Community College at Forest Park
Happy grads See page 3
Fourth of July See pages 4-5
Taking out trash See page 7
Plans to demolish A and B towers stir controversy
By Joshua Phelps The Scene staff
Kevin Harrington was shocked when he learned that St. Louis Community College was planning to demolish a large section of a Forest Park classroom building. The Chicago architectural historian is writing a book on mid-century modern architects Ben and Cynthia Weese. Ben helped his brother, Harry, design the Forest Park campus in the 1960s. They collaborated with renowned landscape architect Dan Kiley, who also designed the original Gateway Arch grounds. “To throw away something — with all the money they put into it — is not a good idea,” Harrington said this spring after visiting Forest Park with his wife, Elaine. “It’s kind of silly to throw away the energy that’s embedded in those buildings and
pollute the atmosphere and destroy the climate when instead, you keep the buildings and continue to use them for the purpose for which they were built.” STLCC plans to demolish A and B towers of the classroom building to provide walkways and green space around a new Center for Nursing and Health Sciences, which now is under construction. Harrington is professor emeritus at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He said preserving Forest Park’s original buildings makes sense from an historical, architectural, financial and environmental standpoint. “Although these buildings are (more than) 50 years old, they’re still good and effective for the purpose for which they were built,” he said. The Center for Nursing and Health Sci-
See Towers page 2
Photo by Bethany Tyler
Construction on the new Center for Nursing and Health behind A Tower is progressing.
Photo by Daniel Shular
Gov. Mike Parson, left, and his security detail leave the Hispanic Leaders Group meeting at Forest Park after his speech on June 13.
New Gov. Parson makes appearance on campus By Daniel Shular The Scene staff Missouri Gov. Mike Parson had been on the job less than two weeks when he stopped by Forest Park. He was wrapping up a listening tour across the state at a meeting of the Hispanic Leaders Group of Greater St. Louis. One attendee asked about his transition from lieutenant governor to governor on June 1, when former Gov. Eric Greitens resigned amid scandals and efforts to impeach him. “Most people get 60 days to transfer from one position to another,” Parson said. “We had 60 hours. So it was a daunting task.” Parson later joked that the experience was like “drinking water out of a firehose.” The Hispanic Leaders Group is a
non-profit, non-partisan group that supports the advancement of the Hispanic community through networking, education and advocacy. They also give scholarships to Hispanic students. The group’s meeting was held June 13 in a Hospitality Studies banquet room at Forest Park. It started with a presentation by Ness Sandoval, associate professor of sociology and anthropology at St. Louis University. Sandoval shared information on Missouri Latinos, including their projected population growth, the entrepreneurs among them and the tax revenue they generate. Parson first committed to appearing at the Hispanic Leaders Group meeting when members met with him on March 7 at the state capitol. After he became governor,
See Governor page 3
How safe is Forest Park? Theft is most common campus crime By Jason Ethridge The Scene staff Crime at Forest Park was trending downward — until last year. The number of campus police reports went from 59 in 2016 to 84 in 2017, an increase of 42 percent. That was despite enrollment holding steady at about 5,400 students. “It’d be hard for me to speculate on why that happened,” said Capt. Benjamin Talley, noting he hadn’t reviewed crime statistics that Forest Park police had provided to The Scene several weeks before. Talley is stationed on the Florissant Valley campus, but he was designated as a spokesman for a recent interview be-
cause he’s second in command with the St. Louis Community College district. Talley said he didn’t see cause for alarm in the 2017 crime statistics, which came from the Clery Act Public Crime Log for Forest Park. “I would tell you there’s more than 84 crimes that happen on a shift in a lot of agencies,” he said. As of the beginning of April, there had been 14 police reports filed in 2018, down from 19 by the same time last year. Lt. Teri Buford, who is stationed on the Forest Park campus, considers it a safe place for students, faculty and staff. “We work very hard to be seen in our community,” she said. “We’re out on foot patrol, we have a bike officer and
we’re now sending another officer to bike school. Districtwide, we are making every effort to make sure that everybody is safe on campus.”
The largest increase in crime from 2016 to 2017 related to property damage, with
See Crime page 6