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PROFILE
Leader of the Loop
By Carol Schwab
Joe Edwards Owner of Blueberry Hill,
the Tivoli Theater and The Pageant; founder of the St. Louis
Walk of Fame
If only one person were to receive credit for transforming the
University City Loop from desolate and unpopulated to thriving
and diverse, it would have to be Joe Edwards. His first business
foray into the area was the opening of a neighborhood restaurant,
Blueberry Hill, in September 1972. At the time, he wasn’t just
looking for a place to hang his hat, but a place to hang his
pop memorabilia items he had been collecting since he was very
young. Acknowledging his eccentric hobby, he explains that he
had “very understanding parents.”
The restaurant wasn’t exactly an immediate success. “We almost
went out of business three times in the first two years,” recalls
the St. Louis native and Loop resident. At the time, “approximately
half of the storefronts were either boarded up or vacant. There
were few people on the streets in the daytime and even fewer
at night. It was pretty much given up for dead.” But the restaurant
and bar did become the neighborhood hangout and the small 2,500-square-foot
pub gradually grew until it enveloped a whole city block—10,000
square feet—after a fourth and final $1.25 million expansion.
Edwards, like many smart retail owners, focused not only on
the establishment itself, but its surroundings. To improve the
area, he co-founded the Loop Special Business District that
allows business and property owners to tax themselves and use
that money to pay for street improvements, security and trash
removal.
Then in 1988, he founded a nonprofit organization, the St. Louis
Walk of Fame, to recognize great St. Louisans and their accomplishments.
To date, 90 individuals associated with St. Louis have been
commemorated. A succession of large brass stars have been embedded
in the sidewalk along Delmar Boulevard in the Loop with names
of these individuals and brief commentaries about them.
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Fast
Facts
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- In
1972 Edwards opened Blueberry Hill
- In
1988 he founded the non-profit St. Louis Walk of Fame,
now with 90 inductees
- The
restored Tivoli Theatre re-opened in 1995
- In
April 2000, ground was broken on The Pageant Building
at 6161 Delmar in the City of St. Louis
- Construction
of the 50,000-square-foot Pageant Building is expected
to cost $5.6 million
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Edwards furthered redevelopment of the Loop through his purchase
of the Tivoli Theatre Building in 1994. “I assumed a ‘real’
developer would come in and buy it.” And when one didn’t, Edwards
stepped forward. “I knew I could afford to buy the Tivoli, but
I didn’t know if I could afford to renovate it. We bought it
not because it was a good financial investment, but because
having a theater in the area is important,” he says. “The Tivoli
has really made a difference,” he notes.
Each Loop project Edwards has undertaken has been larger and
higher profile than the previous one and had an increasing impact
on the area. Working with the Arts in Transit program at Bi-State,
last year Edwards announced he would be building a mixed-use
structure that will feature a state-of-the-art concert venue/nightclub,
a neighborhood gathering place called the Halo Bar and two floors
of office space and two retail storefronts. The three-story,
33,000-square-foot building is expected to be completed this
September. The nightclub, owned and operated by a partnership
of Joe Edwards and Pat Hagin with SFX/Contemporary Productions,
will have a capacity of 1,500-plus and will be designed specifically
for live music production.
“The Pageant will extend the Loop east of Skinker on Delmar,”
Edwards states. “It will take something as big as the Pageant
to electrify the area—just the announcement has already triggered
interest. It took 25 years for the Loop to come bank, but in
just two years we’ll see a dramatic difference in this section
of the neighborhood.
“The Pageant solidifies the Loop’s position as the most exciting
area to hear live music. It is important for this region to
have a night club/concert venue that is specifically designed
for music. We’ll be as good or better than anyplace in the country.
Another bonus Edwards mentions is its proximity to the MetroLink
station.
Prior to his involvement in the Loop, he wrote music reference
books, taught as a substitute teacher in the city schools, and
worked as a management trainee at the Bank of St. Louis. He
majored in psychology at Duke University. He has two daughters
and a wife, Linda, who co-owns Blueberry Hill.
So what will be the Leader of the Loop’s next project? “I’d
like to see a fixed-rail trolley in the Loop. I’ve spoken to
Bi-State about it and there is a feasibility study going on
right now. I’d love to see it go from the lions at the west
end to DeBalivere, then south to the Missouri Historical Society
and back. It would connect the neighborhood to two MetroLink
stations and the wonderful attractions in Forest Park.” And
after that Edwards dreams someone will come in and develop a
boutique hotel. But with Edwards, dreams become reality.
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