The ownership group for Major League Soccer’s St. Louis team has unveiled their broader vision for an entire mixed-use stadium district to be located in the city’s Downtown West area.
The 22,500-seat stadium is open and transparent. It provides visual connections to the city from the bowl and glimpses from the city into the pitch. The scale and form are drawn from the stadium’s urban context.
Its form is based on a simple, flat portico created by a horizontal canopy and tall, slender columns that frame the upper seating bowl. Yet this project is much more than a stadium. The design conceives a new stadium district as an extension of this sport, supporting movement, community celebrations, healthy foods, music and a variety of outdoor activities.
“Our vision is to create a district around our proposed MLS stadium that will get people excited to visit Downtown West, not only before and after games, but on non-game days as well,” said owner Carolyn Kindle Betz. “We believe this district will not only be the heart of St. Louis soccer, but a special piece of downtown that will fuel the renaissance currently underway.”
The area of primarily undeveloped land immediately west of Union Station will now serve as a key spot for the team’s headquarters, practice facility and sites for future development.
When combined with the new proposed stadium footprint north of Market, the entire project will result in the development of approximately 31 acres in the area from I-64 north to Olive. Along with Union Station and the western portion of the Gateway Mall, this future development will help transform Downtown West into a flourishing urban activity hub, perfect for hosting music festivals, youth sports tournaments and charity events, all anchored by an MLS stadium.
As part of the updated proposed stadium plan, the ownership group plans to assume all future risk for this development and own the stadium and practice facility.
