Convention Center is a
St. Louis MetroLink
MetroLink is the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan mass transit system serving Missouri and the Metro East area of Illinois. The system consists of two rail lines (Red Line and Blue Line) connecting St. Louis Lambert International Airport and ...
subway station. It is one of three stations to have an escalator system, with the other two being
8th & Pine and
Lambert Airport Terminal 1. This station is located in
downtown St. Louis and primarily serves the
Dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
and convention facilities at
America's Center
America's Center is a convention center located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, and is situated next to the Dome at America's Center, the former home of the National Football League's St. Louis Rams (now the Los Angeles Rams) and the current ...
, the
Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel, and the
Washington Avenue Loft District
__NOTOC__
The Washington Avenue Historic District is located in Downtown West, St. Louis, Missouri along Washington Avenue, and bounded by Delmar Boulevard to the north, Locust Street to the south, 8th Street on the east, and 18th Street on the ...
.
The station was built within the historic
St. Louis Freight Tunnel that originally opened in 1874. Built to carry train traffic between the
Eads Bridge and the
Mill Creek Valley
Mill Creek Valley was a historic neighborhood located in the central corridor between 20th Street and Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. European settlement began in the 18th century with mills established along ''La Petite Rivière'' ...
rail yards,
it saw its last train (
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
) in 1974. Renovation of the tunnels began in 1991 to prepare them for the opening of MetroLink in 1993. In 1992, just east of this station, a portion of the tunnel beneath Washington Avenue and Broadway collapsed, injuring no one.
In 1997, Metro's Arts in Transit program commissioned the work ''Birds in Flight'' by artists Peter Tao, Helen Lee, and Stuart and Stacey Morse for installation in the tunnel between the Convention Center and Laclede's Landing stations. The painted panels are meant to mimic the motion of a flying bird.
On January 20, 2023, Metro Transit announced that Convention Center would undergo a full rehabilitation. These improvements include updating elevator, escalator and stair access, lighting upgrades, improved signage and way-finding, a deep cleaning, and general infrastructure upgrades like new walls and flooring.
Station layout
The station's westbound platform is accessed via an entrance in the base of the former
Stix, Baer, and Fuller flagship department store building, now known as The Laurel. The westbound side can also be accessed via a set of subway stairs on the northeast corner of 6th Street and Washington Avenue. The eastbound platform is accessed via a set of subway stairs, an escalator, and an elevator in the public plaza of
600 Washington in addition to another set of subway stairs across 6th Street.
References
External links
St. Louis MetroNorth 6th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
MetroLink stations in St. Louis
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1993
Red Line (St. Louis MetroLink)
Blue Line (St. Louis MetroLink)
Railway stations located underground in Missouri
1993 establishments in Missouri
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