JEFFERSON CITY — A state finance board is considering a plan to grant $2 million in tax credits to help complete a pedestrian greenway between ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ new professional soccer stadium and Harris-Stowe State University.
The Missouri Development Finance Board heard an overview of the request Tuesday from Susan Trautman, CEO of Great Rivers Greenway, which wants to develop the segment as part of the $245 million Brickline Greenway, a 20-mile-long urban trail connecting four major parks in the city.
Under terms of the proposal pending before the finance board, Great Rivers will use a combination of public and private funds worth $15 million and leverage the state tax credits to add another $4 million to pay for the project.
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A vote on the request could be held as early as next month.
Officials signaled they support the project.
“There are some game-changing projects in the city’s core,†said Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, who sits on the finance board.
“It looks like a lovely project,†added board chairwoman Marie Carmichael.
Trautman highlighted the start of the trail at the corner of the new City SC stadium, where artist Damon Davis created “Pillars of the Valley,†a series of eight granite pillars that evoke hourglasses honoring the former Black neighborhood of 20,000 residents called Mill Creek Valley, which was razed in the 1950s in the name of “urban renewal.â€
The segment would then run roughly along Market Street to the former Vashon Community Center on the Harris-Stowe campus.
“It’s going to be nice to see the trail take off from that exhibit,†said MDFB Executive Director Mark Stombaugh.
Trautman said the trail will take about 18 months to complete.
Eventually, the trail will be part of the larger network that will connect Forest Park, Tower Grove Park, the Gateway Arch grounds and Fairgrounds Park.
would run past organizations like the Boys & Girls Club of Greater ºüÀêÊÓƵ on North Grand Boulevard, and the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency at Jefferson and Cass avenues, as well as connect to the soccer stadium and City Foundry STL, the Midtown entertainment district.
Trautman said the goal is to help break down racial barriers and bring economic development to the areas along with path.
Great Rivers Greenway was created in 2000 by voters in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, ºüÀêÊÓƵ County and St. Charles County. It levies a one-tenth of 1 cent sales tax in those counties and an additional three-sixteenths of 1 cent sales tax in ºüÀêÊÓƵ and ºüÀêÊÓƵ County. The taxing body receives about $20 million to $25 million annually from taxes, one of the few greenway developers in the U.S. that collects tax dollars.
The rest of its funding comes from federal grants and private donors, including Enterprise’s Taylor family, which has developed the soccer stadium.
Of the Brickline’s $245 million price tag, $155 million will come from businesses and private donors.