Occupy St. Louis protesters receive 24-hour warning about use of Kiener Plaza

St. Louis Public Radio | By Rachel Lippmann

Published November 10, 2011 at 1:51 PM CST

The Occupy St. Louis encampment at Kiener Plaza in downtown St. Louis. Protesters have been warned by the city that they will have to leave the area by 1 p.m. tomorrow or face enforcement.

Updated 3:28 p.m. to reflect later time of enforcement

Occupy St. Louis has now announced via Twitter and Facebook that the time of enforcement is now 3 p.m. Friday. According to the group's Facebook page, city officials delivered two notices to the group, one of which lists the new time.

Original Story

The group of Occupy St. Louis protesters encamped in St. Louis' Kiener Plaza will have to vacate the premises soon - or the city will remove the camp for them. Occupy St. Louis tweeted this afternoon that they have received an email from Gary Bess, Parks and Recreation Director of the City of St. Louis, saying:

"I would like to give you notice that effective 1:00 p.m. tomorrow, November 11, 2011 or any time thereafter, the City of St. Louis will begin strict enforcement of all ordinances and regulations pertaining to the use of Kiener Plaza. If you have any questions, please contact me..."

Mayor Francis Slay outlined the city's stance on the encampment in a blog post published on his website Thursday.

The Mayor also said in his blog that he has asked for the creation of a "Freedom Square" area downtown - a curfew-exempt space:

I have asked Parks and Recreation Director Gary Bess to begin work on plans to rededicate a part of the block of the Gateway Mall across Market Street from the U.S. Post Office as “Freedom Square” – or some other appropriate name – and to work with the St. Louis Board of Aldermen to draft legislation that would exempt it from the ordinary 10 p.m. curfew for parks. If the Board approves, the space would become available as a 24/7 as a place of assembly and speech, but not as a tent encampment or place on which temporary structures may be erected.

According to the blog post, two members of Slay's senior staff met with the Occupy St. Louis protesters last night, but, the Mayor says, that the "group gathered last night flatly rejected all proposals. It is possible that an Occupy group gathered today may reach a different conclusion."