The Jewel Box (also known as the St. Louis Floral Conservatory and the City of St. Louis Floral Display House) is a

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

located in

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China * Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fore ...

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

at the intersection of Wells and McKinley Drives. It now serves as a public

horticultural Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

facility and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

(NRHP). It was designed by architect William C. E. Becker and built in 1936 by the Robert Paulus Construction Company. It consists of five stepped, composition-covered wood roofs with

clerestories A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

, rather than a regular glass roof, in order to prevent damage from frequent

hailstorms Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...

. In 2002, just two years after being listed in the National Register of Historical Places (NHRP), the Jewel Box underwent a $3.5 million renovation.

History

In 1913, Nelson Cunliff became Commissioner of Parks and Recreation for St. Louis City. Public floral conservatories gained popularity in the city in the 1910s, when pollution and smog threatened much of the city's flora. Due to high levels of

smoke Smoke is an aerosol (a suspension of airborne particulates and gases) emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwante ...

and

soot Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. Soot is considered a hazardous substance with carcinogenic properties. Most broadly, the term includes all the particulate matter produced b ...

within the city, he began a survey to determine which plants could survive the conditions. He later asked city gardener John Moritz, who was in charge of the city's greenhouses, to set up a display greenhouse for public enjoyment to showcase various plants that could survive. It is said that someone called the displays "like a jewel box", hence the name. In 1933, Bernard Dickmann became

Mayor of St. Louis The mayor of St. Louis is the chief executive officer of St. Louis's city government. The mayor has a duty to enforce city ordinances and the power to either approve or veto city ordinances passed by the Board of Aldermen. The current mayo ...

and decided to build a new facility on a 17-acre site in Forest Park. The building cost about $117,000, with about 45% coming from Public Works Administration funds, and William C. E. Becker, then Chief Engineer of Bridges and Buildings for the city, was assigned to design the building. Construction began on December 12, 1935, and the facility opened on November 14, 1936. After city budget cuts at the end of the 20th century, local volunteer groups formed partnerships with the city Department of Parks and Recreation to maintain the landscape setting surrounding the Jewel Box.

Construction

Designed by city engineer William C.E. Becker and built by contractor Robert Paulus Construction Co., construction of the Jewel Box began late in 1935 and lasted just under a year. Becker studied climate patterns to produce a design measuring 144 feet (43.9 m) long and 55 feet (16.8 m) wide, containing about 7,500 square feet (696.8 m²) of floor space. The Jewel Box consists of of

plate glass Plate glass, flat glass or sheet glass is a type of glass, initially produced in plane form, commonly used for windows, glass doors, transparent walls, and windscreens. For modern architectural and automotive applications, the flat glass is ...

in over 4,000 panes, set in wood and

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

supports. The unconventional, cantilevered, vertical glass walls rise 50 feet high. Most of the glass is framed by copper with a

verdigris Verdigris () is a common name for any of a variety of somewhat toxic copper salt (chemistry), salts of acetic acid, which range in colour from green to a blue-green, bluish-green depending on their chemical composition.H. Kühn, Verdigris and Cop ...

patina Patina ( or ) is a thin layer that variously forms on the surface of copper, brass, bronze, and similar metals and metal alloys ( tarnish produced by oxidation or other chemical processes), or certain stones and wooden furniture (sheen prod ...

. The Jewel Box is supported by eight fixed arches carrying the structure's weight. There are also triangular trusses between every other arch. The ceiling is composed of wood planking. The Jewel Box's entrance is a vestibule made of limestone. Inside the greenhouse, there is a concrete-floored balcony located across the south end. The design also included three

reflecting pool A reflecting pool, also called a reflection pool, is a water feature found in gardens, parks and memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water with a reflective surface, undisturbed by fountain jets. Design Reflecting pools are o ...

s south of the structure, along with a network of footpaths connecting the greenhouse to Forest Park's existing pedestrian routes. The Art Deco-style greenhouse structure was designed to meet 3 major criteria: to minimize risk from hail, admit the greatest amount of sunlight, and minimize maintenance costs. The design was unconventional for the time. Unlike traditional greenhouses, all of the horizontal surfaces were metal rather than glass. The value of this innovative design was proven during a 1938 hailstorm that broke more than 1,000 glass panes in adjacent, glass-roofed greenhouses while the Jewel Box stood undamaged.

Renovations

In 1993, the City of St. Louis began work on a master plan to renew Forest Park and preserve it for future users, while meeting the needs of present families. The city involved thousands of people in the two-year planning process to create the Master Plan, taking extra care to ensure that the plan truly reflected the desires of everyone involved, resulting in: Restoring the Glory; A Campaign for Forest Park. The Campaign was adopted in 1995 and would be enacted over the following 10 years, costing $86 million, with hopes that all major construction be complete by the 100th anniversary of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. The Master Plan included plans to upgrade the Jewel Box and bring it back to life. ABS Consulting was selected to provide structural repairs for the Jewel Box. The greenhouse was designed by William C.E. Becker who would later help found Becker, Becker & Pannell, the same engineering firm acquired early in 2001 by ABS Consulting. This truly brought the landmark full circle, with the engineering staff assigned to the project including those formerly associated with Becker, Becker & Pannell keeping William C.E. Becker's original ideas alive. In 2002, a $3.5 million, year-long renovation of the building was completed. This renovation included removing all of the old vegetation and reconfiguring the planting areas to the sides of the building, leaving the interior free and flooding the Jewel Box with sunlight. The interior area gained a large fountain and water feature that can be removed for weddings and other events and large pots that line both sides of the pond and baskets of plants that hang from the ceiling. Floral display areas were improved along with the introduction of a catering area to better facilitate weddings and other large events. During the renovation, the Jewel Box's mechanical systems were replaced and a new heating and air conditioning system was installed to maintain comfortability inside during both the coldest and hottest weather extremes.

Present day

Today the Jewel Box is an aged St. Louis treasure that has been restored to its former glory. It remains open to the public. There are special floral shows at Christmas, early spring, Easter, Mother's Day, summer, and fall. It has tropical trees, foliage plants, flowers, a new water feature, and a fountain all year round.

References

Jewel Box

Forest Park - Jewel Box , TCLF
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External links