Ballpark Just the Beginning for Downtown St. Louis

April 10, 2006

April 10, 2006

Extreme makeover

Ballpark just the beginning for downtown St. Louis

New Busch Stadium is state-of-the-art facility that also offers an old-time feel.
Elsa/Getty Images

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Opening Day is always cause for celebration in baseball-mad St. Louis, but Monday's opening of the new Busch Stadium created one of the most anticipated days in the city's recent history.

The nearly 50,000 fans gathering at the $365 million ballpark were also seeing a downtown on the way back after years of neglect and decline. At a stadium dedication ceremony, Mayor Francis Slay said Busch "represents the kind of partnership that can change entire cities and entire regions."

The stadium alone hasn't changed things, but Slay said it gave confidence to businesses and investors, helping create momentum that is transforming downtown St. Louis from its desolate, dilapidated state of a decade ago.

By the mid-1990s, many buildings sat crumbling and empty. Restaurants opened just long enough to feed office workers at lunch, then shut down long before dinner. Few people lived there. New development was almost nonexistent.

"It was certainly an area that needed a lot of help," said Jim Cloar, president and chief executive officer of the Downtown St. Louis Partnership.

In 1998, civic groups decided to start with Washington Avenue, one of the major east-west streets through downtown. A renewed effort was made to seek tax credits to revitalize historic buildings, many dating to the 19th century.

Today, many of those buildings now house restaurants, shops, lofts and apartments. And many others are in the process of being gutted and remodeled. Before long, the revitalization spread to the rest of downtown.

People are starting to come back, too. As evidence: After a half-century of decline, the city's population rose for the third straight year in 2005, to nearly 353,000. Cloar said the population of downtown, now 10,000, is expected to double by 2010.

Investment is growing at an unprecedented pace. In 2004, the city had $341 million in downtown investment. That grew to $590 million in 2005, and downtown boosters are predicting $1 billion in investment for 2006.

Part of this year's development is the new Busch Stadium, where the Cardinals hosted the Milwaukee Brewers in Monday's home opener. The new ballpark offers a picturesque view of the Gateway Arch and the historic Old Courthouse.

"This truly is a wonderful addition to St. Louis," Gov. Matt Blunt said during a dedication ceremony prior to the game. "It is a symbol of the renaissance under way in this great city."

The Cardinals are developing a 10-acre area outside the stadium known as Ballpark Village that will feature restaurants, shops and condominiums. The project is expected to cost $350 million.

Aside from Ballpark Village, the stadium is generating other new development nearby. The Cupples Station complex is well into renovation. The upscale Westin Hotel opened in one of the complex's four buildings a few years ago. Another of the buildings will soon house 131 apartments. Development is planned for the other two buildings, too.

To the southeast, the former Pet Building is being transformed into luxury apartments called Pointe 400.

"I think what the ballpark does is not only serve as an important anchor and centerpiece for the revitalization effort, but it really adds to the momentum that will create a lot of new activity in that area," said Tom Reeves, a bank president and executive director of another downtown booster group, Downtown Now.

Many other large-scale projects are in the works:

• On the north end of downtown, $300 million will be spent on redevelopment of what is known as the Bottle District. Plans call for at least two condominium towers offering Mississippi River and Arch views, along with more than 300,000 square feet of entertainment and retail space. The entire project is expected to be finished by 2010.

• In the heart of downtown, developers are spending $81.6 million to redevelop the Syndicate Trust Building, and $80 million to redevelop the former Union Pacific Building.

• The Old Post Office on Olive Street is already being refurbished into office and commercial space in a $77 million project.

• Pinnacle Casino is spending $400 million on a casino and hotel development at Laclede's Landing. Close by, Rodgers Group Development plans a $25 million, 10-story condominium building called Port St. Louis.

For Monday, the focus was on the latest addition to the city's skyline.

"Opening Day in St. Louis is always a great time, but it really doesn't beat today -- Opening Day at a new ballpark," Slay said.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.