Have a wonderful experience in historic Downtown St. Louis! Stroll the streets of our traditional central business district that offers many places to eat, shop and relax and enjoy the convenient parking and easy access to all of our businesses.
Downtown St. Louis is a quaint, picturesque place that is still the focal point of the City and is home to the many community events that occur each year. In addition to the businesses, downtown still has most of the town's key features including St. Louis High School, Clapp Park and the W.T. Morris Memorial Swimming Pool. The recently renovated GEM Theater is home to regular Blues performances and an annual St. Louis Blues Festival has been hosted by the GEM in cooperation with River Rock Bar & Grill, the City and the Gratiot Area Chamber. The downtown is truly part of a neighborhood too, as the business district is surrounded by traditional residential homes. You can still see a nice selection of Victorian homes, especially along M-46 including the magnificent Elwell Castle on the corner of M-46 and Delaware Street.
In 2007-2008 the City partnered with MDOT and the St. Louis Area Historical Society on an Enhancement Project at the Depot Museum area and South Main Street leading into the downtown. Victorian lighting, stamped concrete, new sidewalks and landscaping were added from M-46 south to the railroad tracks at Crawford Street and the Depot site itself got paving, landscaping and historic light poles as well as renovation work done on the depot exterior, a historic toll booth from the Old Plank Road and a brand new Transportation Pavilion for the display of a 1917 Republic Truck and other local historic items related to transportation. This $700,000 project certainly adds to the already historic atmosphere of the downtown. This project continued the plan started in 2003 when three blocks of M-46 received $344,000 in enhancement money and another $240,000 of CDBG funds helped repave downtown parking lots and alleyways.
Business activity has increased over this time period, with many new businesses locating downtown. Some of the newer businesses include:
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Center Stage at the GEM Theater
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The Bustle & Grind Coffee & Antiques
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Common Threads Quilt Shop
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River Rock Bar & Grill
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Victoria's Flower Cottage
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Rhonda Clark Law Office
- Herbs in the Middle natural food store
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Discount Tire & Battery
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Weathervane Antiques
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Reichard Insurance - Farm Bureau
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Hair Worx Plus
Building owners have shown also a lot of pride in the appearance of their storefronts. The DDA Facade Grant and Sign Program was instituted in 2006 and has provided grant money to businesses within the DDA area to help improve the appearance of their storefronts. Since the program's inception, 26 grants had been awarded and every year more businesses invest in their downtown properties and downtown continues to look better and better.
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