Love Bank Park

Founded by the community in 2015, Love Bank Park is scheduled for a development project to be completed in Spring 2023. The project entails a new design for the existing pocket park at the corner of Nebraska and Cherokee Streets. The new and improved community space will include updated landscaping and basketball courts, benches and tables, trees, and a performance stage for outdoor events. In addition to an ecological emphasis on new plantings, permeable pavement on the basketball courts, and "rainscaping," donors can sponsor a brick so that their name will appear as part of the foundation of the new park. Love Bank Park was established in 2015 when community members and a local business owner worked together to clean up a vacant lot and install a basketball hoop. Since 2015, many community events have been held at the site, and the Cherokee Street Community Improvement District has worked to raise funds for the next phase of this community-driven project.

Love Bank Park was founded in 2015 when neighborhood residents worked together with a local business owner to clean up a vacant lot and install a basketball court at the site. The community-led development of the park is currently underway, with the new and improved Love Bank Park set to be completed in spring 2023. The Cherokee Street Community Improvement District has raised funds and stewarded the project to fruition, while working with two women-owned design firms: Patterhn Ives (lead architect) and Arbolope Studio (landscape architecture services). E.M. Harris is serving as the General Contractor.

Along with day to day use, Love Bank Park will be a community gathering space for special events, such as musical performances and festivals. The development of the park has sparked ongoing debate amongst neighborhood residents and business owners. Some have expressed concerns that the project reflects gentrification; others have expressed concerns about a rise in neighborhood crime. The Cherokee Street Community Improvement District, which owns Love Bank Park, has stated that the park evolved through a community decision-making process as gathering space for the benefit of the community, and that the park will not displace any existing residents, which would otherwise be characteristic of gentrification. It has also acknowledged both the risks and the benefits that accompany public spaces.

Speaking from the perspective of the Cherokee Street Community Improvement District, Kaveh Razani, Pacia Elaine Anderson, and Eric Prospect White gave an interview about Love Bank Park for the radio show, St. Louis on the Air. Pacia Anderson discussed how the park initially became a community gathering space, its significance growing over time through events that have ranged from birthday parties to memorials held on site since 2015. To date, Love Bank Park is the only public gathering space located on Cherokee Street. The name of the park reflects the philosophy that Love Bank Park is a positive place for the community where people can "bank on love."

Emily Thenhaus, the executive director of the Cherokee Street Community Improvement District, has also shared her view of Love Bank Park, noting its value for the community now and in future:

“One of the core missions of our community improvement district is creating beautiful, safe, and active public spaces... Places like Love Bank Park are important because they provide a platform to bring all of those folks together in conversation and collaboration, in celebration, and in mourning together. They really are the basis of community."

Landscaping design plans for the park include new trees and other plantings. The design plans provided by Arbolope Studio were awarded the 2017 Honor Award by the St. Louis Association of Landscape Architects. The Love Bank Park project received further recognition when it was selected as the recipient of a Rainscaping Large Scale Grant from the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD). This grant is part of the MSD's Project Clearwater initiative to improve the management of stormwater runoff. Love Bank Park will be unique within the region as the only park with permeable pavement on its basketball courts. Permeable pavement means that excess rain and stormwater will be absorbed directly into the ground through the surface of the courts, rather than resulting in stormwater runoff, which typically occurs in excess with standard asphalt courts.

In addition to this ecological emphasis, the overall design of the park provided by Arbolope Studio will allow sufficient space for food trucks to temporarily park on the basketball courts during special events, such as festivals and concerts. To complement the updated landscaping throughout the park, the architectural firm of Patterhn Ives has designed a new structure for a performance stage. Patterhn Ives conceptualized a canopy constructed from galvanized steel, which will provide shade during the day. At night, the canopy will appear illuminated, serving as a container for the performance stage within.

Dan Guenther, alderman for the 9th ward where Love Bank Park is located, has described the development project in the following way:

“Love Bank embodies the DIY spirit and creativity of Cherokee Street. It began as an open space for the youth of our community and through its evolution has centered on the needs and dreams of our younger neighbors. Love Bank creates a space where youth can be active, imaginative and feel a sense of pride in their neighborhood.”

Park, Cherokee Street. Accessed December 4th, 2022. https://cherokeestreet.com/park.

Love Bank Park, Patterhn Ives. Accessed December 5th, 2022. https://www.patterhn-ives.com/#/love-bank-park/.

Miller, Mike. Renovations planned for Cherokee Street’s Love Bank Park, St. Louis Magazine. October 8th, 2022. Accessed December 5th, 2022. https://www.stlmag.com/health/outdoors/renovations-planned-for-cherokee-street%E2%80%99s-love-bank-park/.

Love Bank Park on Cherokee Street Will Get Some TLC Next Spring, St. Louis On The Air. Accessed December 5th, 2022. https://player.fm/series/st-louis-on-the-air-2993223/love-bank-park-on-cherokee-street-will-get-some-tlc-next-spring.

Love Bank Park, Arbolope. Accessed December 5th, 2022. https://www.arbolope.com/work/love-bank-park.

Deters, Kathy . Redevelopment plans announced for area park, St. Louis Sprout. November 18th, 2022. Accessed December 5th, 2022. https://www.stlsprout.com/articles/news/item/9382-redevelopment-plans-announced-for-area-park.