Thursday, July 28, 2016

Review of a Day at City Museum in St. Louis

City Museum in St. Louis photo by mbgphoto
City Museum St. Louis

Unique Museum


Imagine an interactive museum built in an old shoe factory and made up of reclaimed building materials.  That is exactly what acclaimed artist, Bob Cassilly, did when he developed City Museum in St. Louis.  City Museum in St. Louis opened in 1997 in the former International Shoe Company building.

In the museum you will find reclaimed building materials such as chimneys, salvaged bridges, construction cranes, lots of interesting tiles and even two abandoned planes.  There is also architectural salvage from some wonderful old buildings from the early 1900's in St. Louis.  All of this is put together in an amazing maze of wonder and delight for children and adults alike.  In the museum every inch seems to be used.  There are tunnels between walls and under exhibits.  There is so much to explore both inside and outside the museum.  Even the roof is put to use.

On a hot July day I took two of my granddaughters, my sister, and her two great nephews to explore the museum.  The kids ranged in ages from 5 to 12 and there was something for everyone.  I'm not much for climbing and tunnels but I loved taking photographs and I will share our adventure with you on this page.


Outside Adventure


The outside is a maze of wire tunnels, slides, and lots of places to climb.  Here are a few of our photos taken in the outside museum area.  You could even climb up into this old airplane.
Outside the City Museum in St. Louis photo by mbgphoto

City Museum in St. Louis photo by mbgphoto
City Museum in St. Louis photo by mbgphoto

photo by mbgphoto

Inside the 600,000 Square Feet Building


The inside is full of surprises at every turn.  The kids really enjoyed all the slides and tunnels.  On one of the upper floors is a huge area set aside for toddlers under 6 and there is a small train ride they can take around the area. One of the slides was 3 stories tall and others were shorter but made of different shapes.  On one floor there was a restaurant and lots of unique old signs.
photo by mbgphoto

Sign City Museum in St. Louis photo by mbgphoto

photo by mbgphoto

Architectural Features 


I found many of the old architectural features fascinating.  There were signs near many of the items telling what old buildings they were taken from.  A good part of one of the floors was full of these old features.  They were a photographer's delight!  I understand this area can also be rented for wedding receptions and corporate events.

City Museum in St. Louis photo by mbgphoto

City Museum in St. Louis photo by mbgphoto

City Museum in St. Louis photo by mbgphoto

Our Exploring Crew


Here is our group for the day.  Back row my granddaughter Rachel, my sister Julie, and granddaughter Ella.  Front row great nephews, Nathaniel and Alex.  They are standing in part of an old train. We  spent about 5 1/2 hours in the museum and the kids probably would have stayed longer.  It was a fun filled day.  In addition to all the climbing and sliding they tried some old time pin ball machines and went to a short old time circus performance.
photo by mbgphoto

Visiting the Museum


The museum is located at 750 N 16th Street in downtown St. Louis.  For more information you may cal 314-231-2489 or check out citymuseum.org



Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


8 comments:

  1. It looks like a great museum to visit for both children and adults! What a wonderful way to reclaim a building and make it into a place shared by everyone. Really cool!

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  2. Wow, I wish I were still nimble enough to crawl through the tunnels. What kid wouldn't enjoy a place like this awesome museum? And what photographer? Great pictures and fun review, Mary Beth!

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  3. Looks like a great place to visit, and yes those tunnels are certainly for kids lol, looks like a ton of fun - beautiful photos too

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  4. I will put this in a special space. I would love to go to St. Louis on day soon....

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  5. What a fascinating place for children to explore. I wish I had been able to take Jason there when he was young. He would have loved all that climbing, crawling, and sliding. He also would have been in that plane. He actually did get to fly a plane once as part of a home school extracurricular activity.

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  6. What a fascinating place for children to explore. I wish I had been able to take Jason there when he was young. He would have loved all that climbing, crawling, and sliding. He also would have been in that plane. He actually did get to fly a plane once as part of a home school extracurricular activity.

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  7. Sounds like a fantastic place to visit if I ever get to St Louis.

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  8. My daughter lives in St. Louis and has told me about City Museum many times (she has taken visitors with children there often). Last month I visited my son & family in Iowa and then brought my 14-year-old grandson to St. Louis for a visit. We only had one full day to participate in a 'tourist' type activity, so had to choose between the St. Louis Arch and City Museum. Ryan chose the Arch, since it was his first visit to the city and it's such a famous landmark. But, most definitely, City Museum will be the agenda on the NEXT visit. Thanks for this great review, Mary Beth. Your photos really give me a sense of the whole place.

    ReplyDelete

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