City Museum

Last updated
City Museum
City Museum logo.jpg
City Museum outdoor structures.jpg
City Museum outdoor playground
Location750 North 16th Street, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, 63103
Coordinates 38°38′01″N90°12′02″W / 38.63361°N 90.20056°W / 38.63361; -90.20056
OpenedOctober 25, 1997
Operated by Premier Parks, LLC
Operating seasonYear-round
Area600,000 square feet
Website www.citymuseum.org OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

City Museum is a museum whose exhibits consist largely of repurposed architectural and industrial objects, housed in the former International Shoe building in the Washington Avenue Loft District of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Opened in October 1997, the museum attracted more than 700,000 visitors in 2010. [1]

Contents

The City Museum has been named one of the "great public spaces" by the Project for Public Spaces, [2] and has won other local and international awards as a must-see destination.[ citation needed ] It has been described as "a wild, singular vision of an oddball artistic mind." [3]

History

City Museum was founded by artist Bob Cassilly and his then-wife Gail Cassilly. The museum's building was once an International Shoe Company factory and warehouse but was mostly vacant when the Cassillys bought it in 1993. Construction began almost immediately after the purchase of the building, and was shrouded in secrecy until visitors were first allowed into the museum to see the work in progress on New Year's Eve 1996. With the construction of the iconic giant whale in the lobby completed in 1997, the museum opened to the public on October 25 of the same year. Within two years, it was drawing 300,000 visitors a year. [4] Cassilly remained the museum's artistic director until his death in 2011. [5]

The museum has regularly expanded, adding new exhibits such as MonstroCity in 2002, Enchanted Caves and Shoe Shaft in 2003, and World Aquarium in 2004. [5]

City Museum roof City Museum, St Louis MO 988773 1280.jpg
City Museum roof

A circus ring on the third floor offers daily live acts, and the museum has also hosted concerts. It houses The Shoelace Factory, whose antique braiding machines make colorful shoelaces for sale. The building's fifth floor consists of apartments, dubbed the Lofts at City Museum, which range in size from 1,300 to more than 2,800 square feet (260 m2). [6]

Main building

The outside of the City Museum building St. Louis City Museum (building outside).jpg
The outside of the City Museum building

1st floor

The original part of the museum, the first floor is home to a life-size Bowhead Whale that guests can walk through to view a large fish tank from the mezzanine. Also on the first floor are a number of tunnels that run across the ceiling, hiding above a sea of aircraft Kevlar cut to give the impression of icicles. To get into these, one can climb up a giant Slinky, which is an old refrigerating coil (donated by Anheuser-Busch), or through a tree house, that now spans all the way to the third floor, which leads into a giant hollowed-out tree and a cabin on the other side of the floor. The floor itself is covered with the largest continuous mosaic in the US, which morphs its way up columns. In one area is a tunnel known as the "Underground Whaleway" which runs beneath the floor and into the "Original Caves."

One of the museum's most popular attractions, the Enchanted Caves and Shoe Shafts run through the center of the museum all the way to the 10th floor. Opened in 2003, the Caves are an elaborate system of tunnels hand-sculpted by Bob Cassilly and his crew. Since 2007, the Caves have also contained a 1924 Wurlitzer Pipe Organ from the Rivoli Theater in New York City. The Shoe Shafts were developed from structures built for the International Shoe distribution operation. To get the shoes from various floors to the loading dock, staff would place the shoes on spiral shafts. The Shafts opened in 2003 with one three-story spiral slide. Five years later, the museum added a ten-story slide that starts at the roof and leads down to the Caves' entrance. There is also a five-story slide and additional ten-story slide.

The Mezzanine

The Mezzanine contains the museum's food court.

2nd floor

The Vault Room, an 1870s vault withdrawn from the First National Bank of St. Louis, contains two 3,000-pound vault doors and a hall of mirrors. The room also has a marble bar and about 1,000 safety deposit boxes. Off to the side of the Vault Room and leading to the Enchanted Caves is St. George's Chamber, which holds vintage opera posters and a statue of St. George from the former Saint George's Catholic Church in Chicago. Also on this floor is The Shoelace Factory, featuring shoelace machines from the 1890s, where visitors can order custom-made laces.

The World Aquarium was an animal exhibition and rehabilitation center on the second floor. It housed a variety of animals such as sharks, rays, sea turtles, parrots, tortoises, terrapins, otters, snakes, alligators and sloths as well as freshwater and saltwater fish. The World Aquarium portion of the City Museum closed on September 7, 2015, and relocated to Laclede's Landing, St. Louis, [7] before eventually shutting down several years later. The City Museum has since repurposed the aquarium space into the Artquarium.

3rd floor

The 3rd Floor is home to a number of attractions. In one area is Skateless Park, which is a collection of skateboard ramps. There is also the Everyday Circus, a circus school for all ages. which performs daily at the museum and does private parties. Just around the corner from the Circus is Toddler Town, a section dedicated to children six years of age and under. Beatnik Bob's is directly across from the Circus, which features the "World's Largest Underwear" (a pair of men's briefs that are about seven feet high and seven feet wide), a collection of vintage video and pinball games, and a concessions stand, bar and coffee shop. Outside Beatnik Bob's is a working 1/8-scale model of an Alco Train that children under 48 inches tall can ride. Past Architectural Hall, the museum's largest rental space, is the Architectural Museum. Off Architectural Hall is the Natural History Section called the Bug Room. On display are a number of insects and taxidermy items. An entrance to a three-story slide leads back to the first floor. The third floor is also home to the world's largest pencil, more than 76 feet in length. Weighing 21,500 pounds, the equivalent of 1.9 million regular No. 2 pencils, it includes 4,000 pounds of graphite and a 250-pound rubber eraser. It was created in 2007 for the 76th birthday of Sri Chinmoy by Ashrita Furman, who donated it to the museum, which installed it in 2009.

4th Floor

The 4th floor of the museum contains another food court, an entrance into the caves, Art City, and an art gallery. Art City is a place for people of all ages to partake in art and craft projects themselves. [8] The art gallery on the 4th floor has featured artists such as Kaws.

The roof

The roof has a small old-fashioned Ferris wheel and a wide ramp slide. The pond fountain, which once had stepping stones that connected one side to the other, has now been covered with astroturf with future plans unknown. The roof also has a school bus extending past the edge of the building. Visitors can walk into the school bus and open the door from the driver's seat. A 24-foot metal praying mantis stands atop a dome salvaged from the St. Louis Science Center during its remodeling. Cassily and his crew added the fiberglass cover and [9] metal ladders that lead to an exit at the top.

Outside

MonstroCity

Located in front of the building, MonstroCity features two Sabreliner 40 aircraft fuselages suspended high in the air, a fire engine, a castle turret, a 25-foot (7.6 m) cupola, four-foot-wide Slinkies that can be crawled through, and one very high climbing structure that leads to a slide. [10]

The Cabin Inn is an early-19th-century log cabin located beneath MonstroCity. Originally the home of the son of Daniel Boone, it was owned by the Hezel family for more than a century and is now a bar and entertainment venue. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Gherkin</span> Skyscraper in London, England

The Gherkin, officially 30 St Mary Axe and previously known as the Swiss Re Building, is a commercial skyscraper in London's primary financial district, the City of London. It was completed in December 2003 and opened in April 2004. With 41 floors, it is 180 metres (591 ft) tall and stands on the sites of the former Baltic Exchange and Chamber of Shipping, which were extensively damaged in 1992 in the Baltic Exchange bombing by a device placed by the Provisional IRA in St Mary Axe, a narrow street leading north from Leadenhall Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moody Gardens</span> Zoo in Texas, United States

Moody Gardens is an educational tourist destination, with a golf course and hotel in Galveston, Texas, which opened in 1986. The non-profit destination, established by The Moody Foundation, [5] uses nature to educate and excite visitors about conservation and wildlife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest Park (St. Louis)</span> Large city park in St. Louis, Missouri

Forest Park is a public park in western St. Louis, Missouri. It is a prominent civic center and covers 1,326 acres (5.37 km2). Opened in 1876, more than a decade after its proposal, the park has hosted several significant events, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 and the 1904 Summer Olympics. Bounded by Washington University in St. Louis, Skinker Boulevard, Lindell Boulevard, Kingshighway Boulevard, and Oakland Avenue, it is known as the "Heart of St. Louis" and features a variety of attractions, including the St. Louis Zoo, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum, and the St. Louis Science Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimbell Art Museum</span> Art museum in Texas, US

The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts an art collection as well as traveling art exhibitions, educational programs and an extensive research library. Its initial artwork came from the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, who also provided funds for a new building to house it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mathias Ham House</span> Historic house in Iowa, United States

The Mathias Ham House is a 19th-century house in Dubuque, Iowa, that is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located at the intersection of Shiras and Lincoln Avenues, near the entrances to Eagle Point Park and Riverview Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banning State Park</span> State park in Pine County, Minnesota

Banning State Park is a state park in Pine County, Minnesota, United States, stretched along 10 miles (16 km) of the Kettle River near the town of Sandstone. The centerpiece of the park is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of churning rapids, some up to Class IV. The daring kayakers and canoeists who shoot Blueberry Slide, Mother's Delight, Dragon's Tooth, Little Banning, and Hell's Gate each spring attract spectators to the park. Landbound visitors can hike along the state's first Wild and Scenic River amid dramatic sandstone rock formations, large potholes carved by the river, and the remains of a historic quarry. Other features are Wolf Creek Falls and Robinson Ice Cave. The park is located directly off Interstate 35. Banning State Park is open daily from 8am until 10pm. Each vehicle entering the park requires an up-to-date permit which can be purchased online or at the park office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marvel Cave</span> Large cave in Stone County, Missouri

Marvel Cave is a privately owned cave located just west of Branson, Missouri, in Stone County. It is one of the main attractions of Silver Dollar City and is registered as a National Natural landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnum's American Museum</span> Former museum in New York City

Barnum's American Museum was a dime museum located at the corner of Broadway, Park Row, and Ann Street in what is now the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City, from 1841 to 1865. The museum was owned by famous showman P. T. Barnum, who purchased Scudder's American Museum in 1841. The museum offered both strange and educational attractions and performances. Some were extremely reputable and historically or scientifically valuable, while others were less so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montreal Aquarium</span> Defunct public aquarium in Canada

The Montreal Aquarium, also known as the Alcan Aquarium, was a public aquarium on St. Helen's Island, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Built for the 1967 World's Fair, the two-building site operated for nearly a quarter of a century in La Ronde before shutting down in 1991. The main aquarium building was demolished in 1997, but the pool building still remains. Apart from a brief re-purposing as a video game center, it has been vacant ever since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemp Brewery</span> Beer brewing company in St. Louis, Missouri

The Lemp Brewery was a beer brewing company established in 1840 in St. Louis, Missouri that was acquired by the Griesedieck Beverage Company in 1920, which subsequently became the Falstaff Brewing Corporation. The brewery complex property consists of 27 buildings on a 13.7-acre (0.055 km2) site in the Marine Villa neighborhood. St. Louisian Steve DeBellis has been the owner of the Lemp Brewing Company trademark since 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Cassilly</span> American sculptor, entrepreneur, and creative director

Robert James Cassilly Jr. was an American sculptor, entrepreneur, and creative director based in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1997, Cassilly founded the idiosyncratic City Museum, which draws over 700,000 visitors a year and is one of the city's leading tourist attractions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aquarama Aquarium Theater of the Sea</span> Zoo in Pennsylvania, U.S.

Aquarama Aquarium Theater of the Sea, also known as Aquarama, was a unique 1960s aquarium attraction located in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the intersection of Broad Street and Hartranft Street, just west of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, south of Marconi Plaza, north of FDR Park, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and Philadelphia Naval Hospital. It adjoined the east border of the newly developed residential neighborhood Packer Park at 3300 South Broad Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Witte Museum</span>

The Witte Museum is a museum located in Brackenridge Park in San Antonio, Texas, and was established in 1926. It is dedicated to telling the stories of Texas, from prehistory to the present. The permanent collection features historic artifacts and photographs, Texas art, textiles, dinosaur bones, cave drawings, and Texas wildlife dioramas, in addition to nationally acclaimed traveling exhibits. Artwork in the collection includes sculpture by San Antonio-born Bonnie MacLeary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower Woodward Avenue Historic District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Lower Woodward Avenue Historic District, also known as Merchant's Row, is a mixed-use retail, commercial, and residential district in downtown Detroit, Michigan, located between Campus Martius Park and Grand Circus Park Historic District at 1201 through 1449 Woodward Avenue and 1400 through 1456 Woodward Avenue. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haus des Meeres</span> Aquarium in Vienna, Austria

The Haus des Meeres is a public aquarium in Vienna, Austria. It is located in Esterhazy Park in the centre of Mariahilf district, one block south of the busy Mariahilfer Straße. The Haus des Meeres houses over ten thousand aquatic beings on an area of around 4,000 square meters (43,000 sq ft) inside a tall concrete flak tower built during World War II. In 2012 the Haus des Meeres attracted a record high of 650,000 visitors. The Haus des Meeres is managed by Aqua Terra Zoo, a private non-profit organization which, according to its web site, receives only marginal financial support from municipal authorities. However, the maintenance costs for the former flak tower are paid by the taxpayer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism in Toronto</span>

Toronto is one of Canada's leading tourism destinations. In 2017, the Toronto-area received 43.7 million tourists, of which 10.4 million were domestic visitors and 2.97 million were from the United States, spending a total of $8.84 billion. Toronto has an array of tourist attractions and a rich cultural life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Performing Arts Collection</span> Australian museum collection

The Australian Performing Arts Collection at Arts Centre Melbourne, formerly known as Performing Arts Museum (PAM), is the largest specialist performing arts collection in Australia, with over 780,000 items relating to the history of circus, dance, music, opera and theatre in Australia and of Australian performers overseas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cementland</span> Abandoned public art project in St. Louis

Cementland is an incomplete public art exhibit on the 54-acre site of a former cement factory just north of St. Louis, Missouri. The brainchild of sculptor Bob Cassilly, who also created St. Louis' City Museum, it contains giant concrete sculptures and obsolete machinery, and was planned to have navigable waterways, among many other features.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turtle Park</span> Park in St. Louis, Missouri, US

Turtle Park is a sculpture park located at the southern edge of Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri at the intersection of Oakland Avenue and Tamm Avenue. The park contains seven concrete turtles and one snake. The turtles were designed and sculpted by Bob Cassilly and the park opened in August 1996. Turtle Park can be seen from Interstate 64 and the Saint Louis Zoo to the north.

Boone County Historical Society was established in 1924. Located in Columbia, Missouri, United States, the Boone County Historical Museum has been collecting, preserving and exhibiting artifacts and records of the people of Boone County, Missouri.

References

  1. ↑ Dougherty, Connor (May 1, 2010). "This Museum Exposes Kids to Thrills, Chills and Trial Lawyers". The Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  2. ↑ The City Museum - Great Public Spaces | Project for Public Spaces (PPS)
  3. ↑ Whet Moser, "St. Louis’s Wondrous City Museum" Archived 2017-11-10 at the Wayback Machine , Chicago , October 2, 2012.
  4. ↑ Louis, St. (January 30, 2000). "Bob Cassilly and Gail Cassilly".
  5. 1 2 Fenske, Sarah. "Bob Cassilly Was Beaten to Death, Medical Expert Concludes". Riverfront Times. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  6. ↑ Lofts at City Museum Archived 2008-03-24 at the Wayback Machine . Citymuseum.org. Retrieved on 2010-11-03.
  7. ↑ "World Aquarium closing its doors today". 7 September 2015.
  8. ↑ The City Museum - Plan Your Visit
  9. ↑ "History - City Museum".
  10. ↑ Attractions Archived 2008-03-22 at the Wayback Machine . City Museum. Retrieved on 2010-11-03.
  11. ↑ Cabin Inn Rental Archived 2008-05-11 at the Wayback Machine . City Museum. Retrieved on 2010-11-03.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.