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St. Louis bike rack design winner

Patty Vinyard, acting executive director of the St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation, passed along this press release about the winner of the group's bike rack competition:

The St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation has announced Justin Gerard of St. Louis as the winner of its bike rack design competition. The competition is part of the Bike Parking Demonstration Project which aims to work with local municipalities and businesses to get approximately 100 bike racks in the ground. The Bike Fed selected Justin’s design out of the 40 design submissions it received.

Justin’s design is reminiscent of the St. Louis Arch and incorporates a medallion that can carry a bike image or customized sponsor advertising. In addition to receiving name recognition on all racks produced with his artwork, Justin will also be able to choose the location for a bike rack to be installed.

The Bike Parking Demonstration Project received $40,000 in federal funding and a $5,000 grant from REI Gives.In addition, $5,000 will be funded to the Project through donations from individuals as well as matching funds from the William A. Kerr Foundation.

Honorable mentions in the bike rack design competition include: Brian Bergfeld, Mathew Wright, Robin Murez, Elizabeth Kramer and Annemarie Spitz.

About REI Gives: Annually, REI dedicates a portion of its operating profits to help protect and restore the environment, increase access to outdoor activities, and encourage involvement in responsible outdoor recreation. REI employees nominate organizations, projects, and programs in which they are personally involved to receive funding or gear donations. During 2006, REI granted $4 million to more than 430 of our community partners.

About the William A. Kerr Foundation: The William A. Kerr Foundation is a small family foundation funded by the estate of, and named after William A. Kerr. The Foundation is managed by Kerr’s two nephews, John Sweet of St. Louis, and William Sweet of Walnut Creek, California. The foundation focuses the majority of its charitable grants in these two geographical areas.

I like the design of the rack, at least on an aesthetic level. It incorporates the most iconic image of St. Louis, the Gateway Arch, and the medallions are a nice touch. Are the racks practical? That's a question that those of you who are engineers or use bike racks more often than I do might be able to answer.

Labels: bike racks, St. Louis, St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation

Roger 3 comments links to this post 1:31 AM

Comments:

That bike rack design is *so* perfect on a many levels. I love it!

As you mention, the design reflects the shape of your city's iconic Gateway Arch. Not only that, the lack of vertical sections discourages attempts to use the rack incorrectly by parking the bike perpendicular to the rack. It's ingenius!

# posted by  Fritz : 6:55 PM

 

I'm concerned about the medallion "that can carry a bike image or customized sponsor advertising." If I went to St. Louis (I will eventually) and ran into the rack pictured with the Cardinals logo, I'm not sure I'd be able to figure out what it was unless someone else was already parked there.

But I must say, they are quite beautiful.

# posted by  Jennifer : 9:46 PM

 

GEEZ! How could you not know that was a bike rack? ...? Did you look at the design photo? I mean seriously... did you? I think yer just uptight about it having a Cardinals logo since yer an Old Style swillin' cubs fan.

# posted by  Bikes Not Blogs : 10:23 AM

 

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