Breaking - Biondi Has Resigned

[BillikenLaw]

Oh, I wasn't being serious

[AlumniFan]

Oh, I wasn't being serious

And that pretty much sums up my point. Good luck with your law career.

[RiseAndGrind]

I guess it's just a bit too hard to congratulate Fr. Biondi, talk about possible successors, and move on?

[billslasttermdropout]

Who's gonna put up man-butt statues now?

[GOSLU68]

Well, you're putting words in my mouth. I said I want a president who will shift his focus more to those things than tear-down/construction projects, not that Biondi never did anything to improve those things and that anything good that happened there happened in spite of him.

For what it's worth, SLU was ranked in the 70's when I applied there for undergrad, and now we're barely clinging to life in the top 100 at #92..... I would prefer to bring in a president who will focus on reversing that trend, rather than allowing it to continue as Fr. Biondi did in his last ten years.

And for what it's worth, abolishing the office of the graduate school, attempting to gut faculty tenure, shifting focus to larger classes, more adjuncts, more online professors and less student-professor interaction like he wanted probably would not have helped.

I know we're not ready to compete with BC, Notre Dame, and Georgetown for applicants but don't think it's unreasonable to wish we were more like Marquette (who in 2003 was ranked eleven spots behind us and is now ranked nine spots in front of us) or even Fordham (who in 2003 was ranked four spots behind us and is now ranked thirty-four spots in front of us).

I know people who attended the university in the early 90's and before will continue to say "YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN WHAT SLU WAS LIKE *BEFORE* BIONDI!" I mean, yeah, okay, I get it. SLU was a smoking s***hole when he took over, and it isn't now, and he played the most important role in that transformation. Great.

That doesn't excuse that our rankings have slid steadily the past 10 years while similarly-sized Jesuit schools like Fordham and Marquette, who have half as large as an endowment as we do and used to be ranked behind us, are now handily in front of us.

I just want to see improvement.

In 1965 I had a girlfriend whose father was a SLU dental school grad and she couldn't get in and Marquette not only accepted her but she was a cheerleader for 4 years

[jimbofive]

In 1965 I had a girlfriend whose father was a SLU dental school grad and she couldn't get in and Marquette not only accepted her but she was a cheerleader for 4 years

PICS OR GTFO.

[BillikenLaw]

nice, was she hot

[bk18]

Oh, I wasn't being serious

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyclay/2013/01/05/the-top-10-jobs-that-attract-psychopaths/

#2

[BillikenLaw]

crap, i knew i should have been a beautician

[GOSLU68]

With his penchant for landscape art it would be fitting if the school re instituted a college of fine arts.

The building used to sit on the west side of grand opposite the Busch Memorial Student Union and it was torn do wn around 1967 or 1968 prior to Biondi

[BillyKen]

Regardless of whether you are one that wanted Biondi out for years, supported him to the end, or one who simply thinks the time has come for change, it is indisputable that Biondi did great things to create the school we love today. Sure, I wish he were a big sports fan and may not have agreed with all of his decisions, but he was great at transforming the landscape of slu and creating quite the presence in midtown STL.

Numerous on campus buildings, the research center, the new slu law school and, of course, the jewel of midtown were all on his watch.

How should he be honored? A building, a street named after him? Maybe a fund in his name/honor that goes towards tenuring more professors? Personally, my vote is for a Biondi statue.

[TRN]

I vote for a pimped out golf cart dedicated in his honor, or adding a few more nude statues.

[saluki762]

How should he be honored? A building, a street named after him? Maybe a fund in his name/honor that goes towards tenuring more professors? Personally, my vote is for a Biondi statue.

Since none of the statues are ever clothed, I am emphatically voting against the idea of a Biondi statue. That said, at minimum, he deserves a building named after him.

[biondifan]

Since none of the statues are ever clothed, I am emphatically voting against the idea of a Biondi statue. That said, at minimum, he deserves a building named after him.

+1 DuBourg or SLUMA would be good choices to rename after Father.

[saluki762]

+1 DuBourg or SLUMA would be good choices to rename after Father.

I don't think you change the name of an existing building. There will be enough future construction to enable naming a building after him.

[biondifan]

I don't think you change the name of an existing building. There will be enough future construction to enable naming a building after him.

You mean the Ambulatory Care Center? where Pevely used to be?

[GOSLU68]

I don't think you change the name of an existing building. There will be enough future construction to enable naming a building after him.

+1

You would never get a second vote on Du Bourg, anyway that would be as bad as renaming the Stan Musial Statue at the ballpark in twenty years because kids in school won't know who he was

Or renaming the Keil (oh, they did that) at least they waited until the Keil Bear was retired.

[AlumniFan]

You mean the Ambulatory Care Center? where Pevely used to be?

I am glad that eyesore was torn down. It was likely to sit there and become more and more decrepit. It was on a relatively industrial and isolated corner with little chance for material non-SLU related development. There is a lot more to do in that general area, but that was a good start. The most effective efforts at preserving buildings have those where there is a concentration of nearby similar buildings with similar activity/development or at the fringes of these areas. Pevely was neither.

[Pistol]

I am glad that eyesore was torn down. It was likely to sit there and become more and more decrepit. It was on a relatively industrial and isolated corner with little chance for material non-SLU related development. There is a lot more to do in that general area, but that was a good start. The most effective efforts at preserving buildings have those where there is a concentration of nearby similar buildings with similar activity/development or at the fringes of these areas. Pevely was neither.

Ooh, I'm not on board with this statement at all. Pevely - if not the building, definitely the site - had potential. Med student/professional housing is a big need around there. Also could use a coffee shop and decent restaurants. The med school and hospital are kind of an island over there.

I say we name the pile of rubble that now sits on the Pevely site after Biondi. Good riddance.

[RiseAndGrind]

Ooh, I'm not on board with this statement at all. Pevely - if not the building, definitely the site - had potential. Med student/professional housing is a big need around there. Also could use a coffee shop and decent restaurants. The med school and hospital are kind of an island over there.

I say we name the pile of rubble that now sits on the Pevely site after Biondi. Good riddance.

You guys know that the main Pevely building, the one on the corner is still standing, right? Or at least it was Friday.

The whole thing was handled so poorly that SLU now needs to get another demo permit before it can tear down the rest (since it took over a year to formulate a plan, which allegedly had already been approved, but I digress).

[jbizzle09]

Yeah, the old factory complex was a real eyesore, but the huge piles of rubble and a partially demolished building that have been there for nearly a year are absolutely wonderful to look at, right? Regardless of your stance on the Pevely building (historical landmark or needed to be razed for progress), it is hard to argue that what is on that corner right now, and has been for months, is an improvement for that area than the previous buildings, smokestack and Pevely sign.

[bk18]

You guys know that the main Pevely building, the one on the corner is still standing, right? Or at least it was Friday.

The whole thing was handled so poorly that SLU now needs to get another demo permit before it can tear down the rest (since it took over a year to formulate a plan, which allegedly had already been approved, but I digress).

There is one building in the middle - Missouri Belting company or something like that which won't sell. So Biondi have the construction workers pile up the Pevely rubble next to it as a way of strong arming the guy to sell. He is asking 4 x what he asked a year ago. Soon enough he will cave in and Pevely will be destroyed and a surgical center will be built.

The idea of student housing for med students, health science students stands no chance. It WILL be an ambulatory surgical center.

I haven't heard anything about it's naming, but I would imagine it is the next major SLU building project after Biondi's resignation and for that reason it may have a chance to be named after him.

[Pistol]

There is one building in the middle - Missouri Belting company or something like that which won't sell. So Biondi have the construction workers pile up the Pevely rubble next to it as a way of strong arming the guy to sell. He is asking 4 x what he asked a year ago. Soon enough he will cave in and Pevely will be destroyed and a surgical center will be built.

The idea of student housing for med students, health science students stands no chance. It WILL be an ambulatory surgical center.

I haven't heard anything about it's naming, but I would imagine it is the next major SLU building project after Biondi's resignation and for that reason it may have a chance to be named after him.

1. I don't blame the guy. He's getting bullied out, so he might as well shoot for the moon.

2. Yet another stumbling block that Biondi could have avoided had he built on the NW corner of Grand and Chouteau instead of the SW corner. It's an empty lot of the same size. Had he started there, we'd already see a building forming. Instead, we have a pile of rubble.

[davidnark]

I am a regularly reader of NextSTL and the many other local real estate/urban preservation blogs, sites, and forums. What is so frustrating is how many posters and bloggers purport to be experts but have never built, financed, or designed an actual commercial construction project. Restoration, redevelopment, and adaptive re-use is difficult, expensive, and--more often than not--cost prohibitive; it is also very, very limiting in terms of use and options. While a skilled architect and engineer may be able to design workable plans, it will usually not present the most economically favorable or desired use of the site. I love historic buildings, and believe our historic architecture is a huge competitive advantage for STL. That being said, the idea that ever old or brick structure should be preserved is unrealistic. I am not privy to details of the Pevely site, but I am guessing it would have cost of ton of money to redevelop the existing structures into facilities that were less than desired for the intended use.

[Box and Won]

Interesting read from STLToday - Biondi's replacement need not be a Jesuit.

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/not-only-jesuits-need-apply-for-slu-s-top-post/article_51cda18b-795f-5695-99d6-3c312446599a.html