St. Louis MLS Stadium Designs Emerge

With the momentum growing for an MLS expansion to come to St. Louis, MLS stadium designs emerge for the Union Station area. Design firm SPACE Architecture + Design (SPACE A+D), based out of St. Louis, stepped forward with a concept on Clark Street with a redesigning of an MLS concept design that would connect all three stadiums via Clark Street. In an effort to revitalize the heart of downtown region around sports and entertainment.

I interviewed Alex Ihnen – Director of Business Development with SPACE A+D, asking about the project. It was designed by fellow coworker Jeremy Clagett for the Building Better Infill event they hosted a few years back but with the recent emergence of efforts to bring the MLS to the area, they reposted Clagett’s work and became a trending topic on Facebook ( Jan, 26th, 2016) that was brought up by multiple local news networks.

The St. Louis stadium design projects to be able to hold about 20,000 people based of their estimation. When asked about could it be made to hold upwards of 25,000 Ihnen said, “Expansion is possible in theory, but would need to be explored.” Meaning the foundation and infrastructure of the area would be need to be explored further, he explained during the interview.

Alex Ihnen also brought up that this area is already being looked into as a part of an effort to reconfigure the region of downtown that the design lays in. There are many ideas the local government has put out there but have not made 100% commitment to doing. For Ihnen the goal of a new stadium in the Union Station area would help anchor a core of downtown St. Louis nightlife.

Though many people bring up just putting it in the North Riverfront area the Rams stadium would of been. Ihnen said the area is isolated from downtown and makes sense for a large stadium because it makes parking space easier to install, however there is not much for nightlife there within walking distance. Putting it in either the Union Station area, or potentially the Gateway Mall area would put it in the heart of entertainment even if it wasn’t in use that specific day.

“If you can get it (the stadium) in the right spot it adds to the vitality of the area… There will be always something going on even when nothing is going on in the stadium” said Alex Ihnen

It was emphasized that this is just a concept at this point and there would be many things that would have to happen to make it a reality but he was very confident that the location would boost the downtown region and entertainment industry.

The aim for a trio of stadiums in a close area would make parking seem like a hassle but keep in mind that downtown has enough parking for NFL sized crowds and MLB sized crowds on the same day, having the MLS, NHL, or MLB playing on the same day is not inconceivable, though obviously still a semi-hassle as usual.

The stadium also could be used to host events other than just MLS games such as concerts, major college/ high school matches, international friendlies, and more.

Here are the renderings if you have not seen them. Also visit SPACE A+D article on the project here.