West Newsmagazine 7-19-17

18 I NEWS I
July 19, 2017
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
By JIM ERICKSON
@WESTNEWSMAG
WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
Ballwin business to be displaced
while another expands
The Ballwin Nursery and Landscape Co.,
a longtime fixture in the city’s business
community, soon will vacate its location at
112 Old Ballwin Road to make way for a
new ELCO Chevrolet Cadillac automobile
service and repair facility.
That development took a step closer
to becoming reality when the Ballwin
Board of Aldermen, at its July 10 meeting,
approved a special use exception for the
new operation on the three-acre nursery
parcel directly south of the dealership.
According to city documents related to
the transaction, ELCO is buying the property
and will demolish the nursery to build a
20,800-square-foot service and repair operation.
The land earlier was rezoned to C-1
commercial; however, a special use exception
was required in the C-1 district for the
intended operation. Before the rezoning, the
nursery was a non-conforming use under
Ballwin’s R-2 residential provisions.
Ballwin Nursery has been in operation
under its current ownership since the late
1970s when Richard Reinisch Sr. purchased
the business. Since Reinisch Sr. and his wife,
Grace, retired a few years ago, the nursery
has been operated by their son, Richard Jr.
Reinisch Jr. was a teenager when his
father acquired the nursery and has been a
part of the business since. The elder Reinisches
still live in the West County area.
Richard Reinisch Jr. at Ballwin Nursery
“I guess you could say we are on our
farewell tour right now,” the younger Reinisch
said. The current growing season will
be the operation’s last at the Old Ballwin
Road location, he added.
A key aspect of the nursery and landscaping
business is answering customers’ questions,
he observed. “If I had $1 for every
question I’ve answered over the years, I’d
be a millionaire by now.”
As for what the future holds, “That’s
the $25,000 question,” he noted. “I want
to stay active in the business one way or
another, but I’m not sure exactly what I’ll
be doing or where.”
He said he enjoys landscaping and might
opt to specialize in that. The nursery’s
current business mix is about two-thirds
retail and one-third landscaping work, he
explained.
Ballwin selects architect for city hall
Our special section featuring issues,
events, products and services of
interest to our 50-plus readers.
COMING
August 9
By JIM ERICKSON
The Ballwin Board of Aldermen has
selected an architectural design firm to
prepare plans for a new city hall in the
northeast portion of Vlasis Park.
In a unanimous vote at the board’s July
10 meeting, Chiodini Architects of Brentwood
received the nod over eight other
firms that submitted proposals.
Navigate Building Solutions, the company
Ballwin hired in February to coordinate the
project, had narrowed the field to three, interviewed
the finalists and recently completed
contract negotiations with Chiodini.
Navigate’s Todd Sweeney told aldermen
that the recommendation was based
on Chiodini’s municipal design expertise,
local references, its views on how the new
structure should complement Vlasis Park
and the team that will work on the project.
Chiodini previously has developed plans
for the ELCO car dealership in Ballwin,
the proposed renovation of Ballwin Plaza,
retail operations in Old Central Plaza and
Bank of America’s Ballwin location. The
firm also has completed architectural work
for St. Louis County and a number of its
municipalities as well as elsewhere in the
state, including in Jefferson City and facilities
operated by the federal Department of
Veterans Affairs.
City Administrator Eric Hanson said the
firm “clearly recognized Vlasis Park as our
jewel and its value to the community.”
As part of its proposal, Chiodini suggested
possible future projects to complement
the new city building and enhance the
park itself. One idea was for an amphitheater
in the area of the current city building.
Navigate negotiated a maximum fee
of $229,109 for the company’s work on
the new city hall, an amount Sweeney
described as “fair and reasonable.”
The cost of the overall project earlier was
estimated at $3.641 million. Current projections
call for building construction and
occupancy to be completed by March 2019.