I love you, Bob Cassilly

(stltoday.com) The new roof the City Museum, set to open in late July.
STLtoday: "High (and not so) Dry", on Cassilly's plans for the City Museum and Cementland

"The Ferris wheel is part of the City Museum's so-called rooftop attraction, the latest creation from City Museum founder/artist/madman Bob Cassilly. Poised to open this month, the roof will feature fountains, ramps and bridges, a cafe, a circus big top and three slides, including a 10-story ride to the bottom of the museum.
Cassilly has big dreams for the space — acrobats swinging from a trapeze underneath the one-time dome of the St. Louis Planetarium, families lounging under the shade of B-52 parachutes, kids splashing in the fountain fashioned from a carved elephant's trunk."

"I don't talk about money. That would be vulgar," he said."

"Cassilly has floated vague ideas for the site for years, but was forced to reveal his plans a month ago after St. Louis and the village of Riverview ordered Cassilly to stop work on the property. The site straddles both cities, but to no one's surprise, Cassilly never obtained permits from either."

""His story was always all of the work was being done in the city and then he'd tell the city all of the work was being done in Riverview. Finally we had to put our foot down. Let's just say working with him has been quite an experience.""

"St. Louis' most imaginative recycler, Cassilly built the rooftop attraction with slate from a St. Louis roofing company, bricks picked from the rubble of Cementland, mirrored blocks from Barnes-Jewish Hospital, steel panels from Boeing, benches from St. Louis Community College at Forest Park and old Cypress tanning barrels."

Gosh, I love him. It seems like the only way to get things done in this backward town is to do them and ask permission later. I hope Bob Cassilly runs for Mayor.


Bob Cassilly's Cementland in the New York Times: "One Part Cement, Two Parts Whimsy, One Odd Park"

"“In St. Louis, no one has the confidence in their creativity and intelligence” to make projects like the museum or Cementland work, said Tim Tucker, a developer who worked with Mr. Cassilly in the 1990s. “Lots of people conceive things, but very few can implement them as well as Bob.”"

"Pointing south, he rhapsodized about how downtown St. Louis would look from Cementland: “In the afternoon, when the sun shines on the city, you get this nice reflection. You don’t see all the trash and stuff. It’s the best view of the city.”"

"Mr. Tucker, the developer, was not encouraging when Mr. Cassilly told him of plans to buy a 750,000-square-foot complex for 69 cents a square foot. “If you’d given anyone half a million dollars in 1993, the last place to spend it was in St. Louis,” Mr. Tucker said.
Nevertheless, the Cassillys bought the complex, including the International Shoe Building, offices and a 10-story warehouse with a severe, boxy exterior that Mr. Cassilly described as “something Joseph Stalin would have designed.” He and a crew set about renovation, punching holes in walls and floors and transforming the site into the St. Louis City Museum."

"While the process has been slow, and Mr. Cassilly received a ticket for dumping with an expired permit in 2000, nature’s constancy will eventually be contrasted with man-made decay, as grass covers the dirt, Mr. Cassilly’s collection of obsolete machines grind and whir to no end and the core of the factory is flooded, allowing visitors to ride boats in and out of the buildings."

"The goal, he said, is similar to that of the City Museum: to create an unmistakable place “where people can come and do things they’re not supposed to.”"

View a slideshow of the progress of Cementland here.