Dickman Park

Dickman Park is 1 of 108 parks in St. Louis.  Located in the Baden Neighborhood, the park came into existence in 1938 and makes up 5.21 acres of the total 2,956 acres of dedicated park space in St. Louis.

I couldn't find any information on the person the park was named after.  Please leave a comment if you know and I'll update the post.

The park is near the intersection of Newby Street, Switzer Avenue and Baden Avenue.  Here's a bird's eye view of the park space which as you can see is really just a swath of nothing...a weed field.

Dickman Park is just north of Calvary Cemetery and the housing that surrounds the park ranges from new construction to small neatly kept sided homes from the mid-20th Century (think Dogtown).

The south side of the "park" is bordered by train tracks and warehouses/light industrial.

There is an old hand-laid retaining wall that is still in place on the north side of the park.

Other than that, nothing to see folks...move right along.

There is no signage or otherwise that would identify this as a St. Louis park...nothing.  There is nothing here, just a few random trees and mowed weeds.

Notice the steeple rising above the field/park in the above photo?  That is the historic Holy Cross Catholic church that has been there since 1909.  The church is still open and could be a perfect partner in what could be for this "park".

Check out the post and amazing photos from the excellent resource Built St. Louis (my inspiration for STL blogging):

Our Lady of the Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church dominates the landscape of Baden. Sitting atop a hill on a 2-acre wooded site west of North Broadway, the church's steeple is visible for miles.Built in 1909, the red-brick Gothic-styled church is the centerpiece of the parish complex of buildings. It was built by German architects for a German congregation, but today serves a more diverse population.

photo credit:  Built St. Louis

I imagine a controlled burn and re-seeding with native prairie grasses.  Walking paths through the prairie plants could provide this part of St. Louis with some much needed connections with nature and Missouri and the Midwest.  I hope to revisit this space with a landscaper, prairie expert to revisit this place and see if this is a good candidate for prairie reclamation.