Article: Grass root ideas wither in St. Louis political weather.(disputes over the renovation of the Kiel Opera House in St. Louis, MO)

The interminable fight over the Kiel Opera House seems strange and perverse. Perhaps better than any recent controversy, the struggle over whether to reopen Kiel - one of the most significant opera houses ever built in the United States - reveals one of the reasons St. Louis remains a leading example of urban failure.

St. Louis's civic elites have always circled the wagons when confronted with a challenge to their hegemony. Perhaps for this reason the city has rarely been in tune with the times. St. Louis long ago turned its back on the river as a centerpiece of renewal, making it one of the few waterfront cities in the country to do so. Now its civic leadership ...

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