A Brief Plea For

Preservation and Adaptive Re-Use

of
The Iconic Desloge Tower and Chapel

and a
Specific Proposal
For a Whole Community Partnership

Respectfully Submitted to
SSM HEALTH

February 1, 2016
Bill Thompson
SSM Health
10101 Woodfield Lane
St. Louis, MO 63132
RE: Re-purposing Desloge Tower A Whole Community Partnership
Mr. Thompson,
On behalf of the legacy of the Desloge family, and for the wonderful future of our great city, we
express our excitement about SSMs major new hospital development on Grand Avenue.
While our whole region will no doubt thrive from the addition of this major new modern medical
center for a century ahead, we also trust that the architectural substance of both Desloge Tower and
Desloge Chapel shall be viewed with a rigor and excitement to join the new medical center
development for their own second century of service.
Toward this, and anticipating SSMs eagerness to blend a wonderful adaptive use of iconic buildings
with this development, and in support of the view of The Landmarks Association and the AIA and other
preservation stakeholders, we join the over five hundred of media comments and and Facebook
followers and respectfully submit the following 1) adaptive use recommendations, and separately, 2) a
specific proposal.
What are we trying to accomplish?
To set in motion an innovative and multi-faceted whole community effort to preserve the 1933
Desloge Chapel; and also the Desloge Tower at SSM Health/St. Louis University in St. Louis through
a balanced and adaptive re-utilization of this iconic St. Louis landmark.
Why should we work to save and creatively re-purpose this building?
To preserve these iconic structures that are a unique element of the St. Louis skyline, which
contributes to the distinctive and appealing character of the city, reinforces the sense of unique
community identity for a dynamic, interconnected set of urban neighborhoods, and serves as a
symbol of SSM/SLU and their legacy of service to the people of this metropolitan region and
beyond.
To continue using the structures in ways that are compatible with SSM/SLU's commitment to
service and status as charitable providers of education and health care services.
To serve as an example of a creative, balanced adaptive re-use project of Desloge Tower that
can inspire and serve as a model for other well-planned, viable multi-faceted preservation
efforts throughout the region and across the country.
To utilize the extremely well-built and adaptable structures as a cost-effective site for a
complementary mix of non-profit activities that benefit the entire region, and ancillary functions
that are useful to SSM/SLU, which would be augmented and supported by carefully planned
commercial activities and some market-rate housing and business tenants.
We encourage SSM to look to these other fine examples of successful adaptive uses
Other hospitals by example

St. Louis
Homer G. Philips
City Hospital
Other cities
New York State Inebriate Asylum : SUNY Upstate Medical University
Foxboro State Hospital (MA) : Chestnut Green mixed use
Western State Hospital (VA) : The Villages at Stanton
St. Elizabeths Hospital (Wash, DC) : Dept of Homeland Security
Buffalo State Hospital (NY) : Richard Olmstead Complex
Northern Michigan Asylum : The Village at Grand Travers Commons

Offering of Adaptive Use

What kinds of activities could go into the re-purposed Desloge Tower?
Supporting the work of SSM/SLU:
Auxiliary temporary guest housing for SSM patient families
Student housing (particularly for medical students)
Auxiliary teaching spaces
SSM Hospice and Home Care Foundation
Serving the local neighborhood communities and as a whole-community asset:
Senior Adult and Child daycare facilities:
Benefitting the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Region and beyond:
Museum and Public Education Center of the Legacy of African Americans in Healthcare
Professions
OUR Specific Proposal (see below) Non-profit incubator and support services FCP/The HiveSt. Louis as major tenant, including neighborhood and small community development planning
and consulting

A Specific Proposal
FCP is the Foundation for Commercial Philanthropy, a new St. Louis-based non-profit organization
that through its division NPO Growth is committed to serving other non profit and charitable
organizations in excellence, best practices and sustainability. FCP engages with both faith-based and
secular groups that are working to improve the lives of people throughout our region and Missouri by
their efforts in social services, healthcare, arts and cultural activities, preservation and heritage
activities, and generating new economic opportunities.
As an NPO ourselves, every dollar of profit from any FCP business is channeled to serve those in deep
poverty and homeless.
We are proposing that FCPs newest group called The Hive-St. Louis become a major potential
tenant for the repurposed Desloge Tower.
The Hive-St. Louis, is a non-profit incubator project under development by FCP, which will serve as a
means to provide assistance and support for new nonprofit and charitable groups in the same way that a
for-profit business incubator helps new business start-ups. From both virtual space and a physical
location hopefully in the re-purposed Desloge Tower Hive-St. Louis will engage with groups that

are needed and potentially viable, but which are facing challenges and barriers. To help them build on
their strengths and overcome the barriers, The Hive-St. Louis will offer services such as:

Low- cost or rent-free office space and meeting rooms in an FCP area of Desloge Tower
Opportunities for participation in the idea factory represented by multiple groups with similar
goals and challenges working in proximity
Information about grants and access to an Innovation Fund
Training opportunities that include experiential learning, field trips, skill-building workshops,
peer-to-peer learning, and hands-on executive coaching
Rapid assessment services and tactical planning assistance
Networking opportunities
Marketing assistance
High-speed Internet service
Help with accounting/financial management
Help with presentation skills
Information about continuing education resources
Opportunities to connect with strategic partners
Management team recruitment
Legal, intellectual property, and regulatory compliance assistance
Neighborhood and small community development planning/consulting
Food services for residents, students, hospital workers, etc. and community venues through a
Non-profit cafe (the Apiary) and the Grand Patio

What makes this concept unique?

The creative re-purposing of Desloge Tower with these kinds of components can create a dynamic,
positive environment in which multiple non-profit groups and individuals can work together in
pursuing:

NPO excellence
Incubation
Sustainability
Capacity-building
Innovation
Mentoring/shepherding
Development
Experimentation in a laboratory of ideas
Network leveraging
Evolving a new approach to community engagement
Creation of a Donors' University
Access to cost-effective office space and resources
Promotion of excellence and best practices
Ongoing learning opportunities through a Governance & Legal Institute

Who can help make this happen with their support, and also benefit from their
participation?
SSM Healthcare/St. Louis University, St. Louis Landmarks Association, AIA, Les Amis, The

Foundation for Commercial Philanthropy, and other corporate, community, and non-profit partners
such as:
United Way
Universities & High Schools
Schools of Social Work
Foundations that support projects in the arts, humanities, community development, and social
service
Grant-making agencies (Missouri Arts Council, Missouri Humanities Council, RAC)
NPOs that are open to collaboration in applying for grants
Grand Center and its component entities

Apiary nonprofit Community Cafe

We propose a concept as a food service enterprise that is presently being referred to as the APIARY
a reference to the good cultivator ideal of beekeeping, and the metaphor of the beehive, in which
collaborative action and hard work benefits the community as a whole, as well as the individuals who
make up the community.
A Community caf will serve as a venue for engagement of the local community, and a social issue
beehive, open to St. Louis University residents, hospital staff and the public. The primary Apiary
facility would consist of a Community Caf located on what we have renamed The Grand Patio and the
floor of the building that adjoins that space. It would not just be place for residents, students, SSM
patients and families to have good food in a pleasant space, it would also serve the other tenants of the
building as an NPO Pollination Space and a venue for programs & events, and offer an environment
that would encourage synergy, collaboration, connection and learning.
The Apiary Caf has been conceived of as being operated by a consortium of culinary schools, NPOs &
community volunteers, and be an active food service employer with living wages.
In addition to the Grand Patio and associated space on that floor, the same consortium will also develop
a meeting and events venue space on the top floor of Desloge Tower the Grand View a space that
would rival the Starlight Room for ambiance and become St. Louis most dramatic venue for NPO (and
SSM) events.
Framed within the Market
St. Louis Hive and Apiary will stand alongside these other stellar regional centers:

Cortex
Danforth Plant Science center
Doisy Research Center
Perfectly situated as bookend to Grand Center The Intersection of Art & Life

Why is Hive St. Louis and Apiary important?

According to the Missouri Attorney General's website:
Missouris 31,000+ nonprofits are essential to the states well-being. Missouris nonprofits care for
the most vulnerable among us and provide many valuable community resources....nonprofits are also
important economic engines. In 2013, Missouris nonprofits had revenue of $46.33 billion and

constituted 17.9% of Missouris gross state product.

We know that among new for-profit corporations, the failure rate nation-wide is about 43%. Figures
are harder to come by for new nonprofits, but they suggest that rate at which new non-profits disappear
is less than half the rate at which commercial enterprises fail. Nonetheless, it is not just a question of
whether a nonprofit will continue to exist: the question is, will they thrive and have the best possible
impact for the people they are trying to serve. There are a great many non-profits in Missouri, and in
the part of the metropolitan St. Louis region that includes western Illinois.
As government entities are able to do less, and private charities become more vital, there will be a large
number of non-profits facing challenges: our goal with FCP/The Hive-St. Louis will be to help them
achieve their goals.
In sum, in addition to our adaptive use suggestions, we believe our proposal for Hive St. Louis and
Apiary create a Whole Community partnership for a whole new type of community, energizing to
human spirit, creating a compelling and needed resource for all of St. Louis region & Missouri; is
important to the City of St. Louis, and is costless to taxpayers.
We look forward to a dialogue with SSM as to the potential and possibility of these suggestions and our
proposal.
Respectfully Submitted,
THE FOUNDATION FOR COMMERCIAL PHILANTHROPY INC.

Christopher D. Desloge
Chairman