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Forest Park is a public
park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...
in western
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. It is a prominent
civic center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, th ...
and covers . Opened in 1876, more than a decade after its proposal, the park has hosted several significant events, including the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 mi ...
of 1904 and the
1904 Summer Olympics The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 29 August to 3 September 1904, as part of an extended s ...
. Bounded by
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University i ...
, 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 Saint Louis Zoo, officially known as the Saint Louis Zoological Park, is a zoo in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri. It is recognized as a leading zoo in animal management, research, conservation, and education. The zoo is accredited by the ...
, the
St. Louis Art Museum The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is one of the principal U.S. art museums, with paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from all corners of the world. Its three-story building stands in Forest Park in St. Louis, ...
, the
Missouri History Museum The Missouri History Museum in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri, showcases Missouri history. It is operated by the Missouri Historical Society, which was founded in 1866. Museum admission is free through a public subsidy by the Metropolitan ...
, and the St. Louis Science Center.New York Times (May 9, 2004)
Since the early 2000s, it has carried out a $100 million restoration through a public-private partnership aided by its Master Plan. Changes have extended to improving landscaping and habitat as well. The park's acreage includes meadows and trees and a variety of ponds, manmade lakes, and freshwater streams. For several years, the park has been restoring
prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...
and
wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free ( anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
areas of the park. It has reduced flooding and attracted a much greater variety of birds and wildlife, which have settled in the new natural habitats.


History


Early proposals

An 1864 plan for a large park in the city limits was rejected by St. Louis voters. In 1872, St. Louis developer Hiram Leffingwell proposed a park about three miles (5 km) outside the city limits near land which he owned.Primm (1998), 306. After a period of intense
lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...
by Leffingwell, the
Missouri General Assembly The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Senate and a 163-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses of the General Assembly are ...
authorized the city to purchase the land; however, city taxpayers challenged the purchase in court, and in 1873, the
Missouri Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...
overturned the authorization. The next year another developer, Andrew McKinley, prepared another proposal that met legal challenges. The tract selected that became Forest Park included a heavily forested area west of Kingshighway along Olive Street (now Lindell Boulevard).


Creation of the park

Using McKinley's proposal as a guide, in 1874 the General Assembly passed the Forest Park Act, which established the park and created a county-wide property tax to fund it. In November 1874, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the new law and referred all questions of land ownership and value to the circuit court. The largest parcels of land needed for the park belonged to Thomas Skinker, Charles P. Chouteau, Julia Maffitt, and William Forsyth, who in 1874 and 1875 sold their land to the city. The city purchased the land for $849,058, with another million dollars dedicated to maintenance and improvement. The state of the parkland in 1876 was rural: on the eastern and western edges of the park were unpaved roads (Kingshighway and Skinker Road, respectively). Flowing through the northern lowlands and turning southeast in the park was the
River des Peres The River des Peres (French: ''rivière des Pères'') () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 metropolitan river in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the backbo ...
, which at times was very low while in some seasons could flood large areas. The southwestern part of the park was heavily forested land, and the east-west Clayton Road ran through the southern part of the park. A railroad right-of-way cut through the northeast corner of the park. Maximillian G. Kern and Julius Pitzman, the Prussian-born St. Louis Surveyor, designed the Park's original plan. The park was dedicated June 24, 1876 with a crowd of about 50,000 in attendance. Officials and a band occupied a music stand and podium, and dedicated a statue of
Edward Bates Edward Bates (September 4, 1793 – March 25, 1869) was a lawyer and politician. He represented Missouri in the US House of Representatives and served as the U.S. Attorney General under President Abraham Lincoln. A member of the influential ...
, the Attorney General under President Abraham Lincoln. By the early 1890s, streetcar lines reached the park, carrying nearly 3 million visitors a year. A zoological gardens had been established around 1876 in Fairgrounds Park, on the north side of the city; its animals were eventually transferred to the new Forest Park facility.


Louisiana Purchase Exposition

In 1901, Forest Park was selected as the location of the 1904 World's Fair, known as the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 mi ...
.Primm (1998), 376. The fair opened April 30, 1904 and closed December 1, 1904, and it left the park vastly different.Primm (1998), 393. In addition to the fair, the park hosted the
diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...
,
swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
, and
water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...
events for the
1904 Summer Olympics The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 29 August to 3 September 1904, as part of an extended s ...
. Fifteen sports offered Olympic competition events, but women could compete only in archery. The 1904 Games were the first time that African Americans were allowed to compete.
George Kessler George Edward Kessler (July 16, 1862 – March 20, 1923) was an American pioneer city planner and landscape architect. Over the course of his forty-one year career, George E. Kessler completed over 200 projects and prepared plans for 26 comm ...
, the fair's landscape architect, dramatically changed the park: the
wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free ( anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
areas in the western part of the park were drained and converted into water features and five connected lakes. Sewer and water lines installed during the fair remained for public use in the park. After the fair, thousands of trees were planted and vistas were created. In 1909, the fair's directors gave the balance of the remaining profits from the fair toward the construction of a monument to
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
, on the former site of the Fair's entry gates; when completed in 1913 it became the Missouri History Museum building. Other structures left from the fair include the St. Louis Art Museum, the '' Apotheosis of St. Louis'' (a statue of French King
Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...
), the 1904 Bird Cage, (now a part of the St. Louis Zoo), and the Grand Basin, located at the foot of Art Hill, which was the location of the Festival Hall and cascades at the Fair. Though often mistakenly counted among relics of the Fair, the World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park is a later structure, constructed in 1909 with proceeds from the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The Palace of the Arts, a building now known as The Saint Louis Art Museum in Forest Park, was divided into six classifications: painting, etchings and engravings, sculpture, architecture, loan collection, and industrial art. In addition to art displays, many novelties were showcased for the first time at the Fair. Electricity, still considered young at the time, was showcased in a number of ways. Attendees at the Fair were awestruck by the electric lighting, both inside and out, of all of the important buildings and roads. The electrical plug and the wall outlet were also displayed. Two of the more notable technological achievements demonstrated were the x-ray machine and the baby incubator.


River des Peres

At one time the
River des Peres The River des Peres (French: ''rivière des Pères'') () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 metropolitan river in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the backbo ...
ran openly through the park, but due to sanitary concerns, a portion was put underground in a wooden box shortly before the 1904 World's Fair. In the 1930s, the portion of the River des Peres that runs through Forest Park was diverted entirely underground in huge concrete pipes. More recently, an artificial waterscape linking park lakes has been created. The river remains underground in the park. Since the 2000s, the park has restored numerous areas of prairie and wetlands in the park; these new habitats are serving not only to reduce flooding, but to attract a greatly increased variety of birds and wildlife. They provide a richer experience for walkers and bikers in the park, and the restored areas are full of birdsong.


Hospital lease controversy

In 1973,
Barnes-Jewish Hospital Barnes-Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, it is the adult teaching hospital for the Washington University School of Medicine and a major component of ...
, located across Kingshighway from the eastern edge of the park, leased an area of land in Forest Park located to its south for construction of an underground parking garage. After construction was complete, the surface was restored and a
playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people w ...
was installed; in 1983, the lease was extended to 2050 and the garage was expanded to more than 1,900 spaces.St. Louis Business Journal (March 19, 2006)
Starting in 2006, the hospital engaged the city to renegotiate the lease to allow for the construction of a building on the site, known as Hudlin Park (although part of Forest Park). The hospital proposal also included an extension of the lease by 46 years to 2096, providing the hospital 90 years of tenancy. Under the proposal, the annual rent would increase from $150,000 to between $1.6 and $2.2 million. The hospital sought to lease more than for which it would pay $2.2 million, or as an alternative it would lease the current for which it would pay $1.6 million a year. Under a January 2007 revised proposal from the hospital, the city would receive $2 million for the lease of , while the hospital would agree to make improvements to two areas in Forest Park. In February 2007, to gain the support of city Comptroller Darlene Green (one of three members of the St. Louis Board of Apportionment and Estimate, a board that recommends lease proposals to the full Board of Aldermen), the hospital agreed to build, fund, and staff a trauma center in North St. Louis.St. Louis Business Journal (February 22, 2007)
In the February 2007 revised proposal the hospital also agreed to retain 15 percent of the land as green space. Despite considerable protests, the proposal advanced to the
St. Louis Board of Aldermen The St. Louis Board of Aldermen is the lawmaking body of St. Louis, an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It consists of 28 alderpersons who are each elected from one of the city's wards. The President of the Board of Aldermen is a se ...
.St. Louis Post-Dispatch (January 23, 2007)
/ref> An activist group called Citizens to Protect Forest Park gathered 28,000 signatures to place a ballot measure that would require citywide voter approval of all leases or sales of park land. But, the ballot measure was enacted in April 2007, two months after the revised lease was approved by the Board of Aldermen.


Use

Forest Park has more than 12 million visitors per year, surpassing the number of annual visitors to both
Busch Stadium Busch Stadium (also referred to informally as "New Busch Stadium" or "Busch Stadium III") is a baseball stadium located in St. Louis, Missouri. The stadium serves as the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) f ...
and the
Gateway Arch National Park Gateway Arch National Park is an American national park located in St. Louis, Missouri, near the starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The memorial was established to commemorate: *the Louisiana Purchase and subsequent westward mov ...
combined.City of St. Louis Parks Department: Parking and Access Report
.
The St. Louis Cardinals had 3.3 million visitors in 2010, according t

while the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial had 2.4 million visitors in 2010, according t
National Park Service Statistics
.
In 2022, Forest Park was named the nation’s best city park in the annual ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' Readers’ Choice Awards. The park has a diverse patronage, including tourists and local visitors, visitors to park institutions, and special event patrons, with roughly one third of patrons living within ten miles (16 km) of the park, another third between 10 and , and another third living beyond from the park. 88 percent of park visitors drive to the park, while the remaining 12 percent are split between public transit and walking or bicycling to the park. The park has eleven multi-modal access points, listed below by the edge of the park: * East: Clayton Avenue (outbound), Barnes Hospital Drive, West Pine Boulevard * West: Forsyth Avenue, Wells Drive (inbound) * North: West Pine Boulevard, Union Drive, Cricket Drive, Debaliviere Place * South: Tamm Avenue, Hampton Avenue The Hampton Avenue entrance is used by about 60 percent of users entering the park; this has led to traffic congestion issues that have become more problematic in recent years.Fox2Now (April 3, 2011)
.
To remedy the problem, traffic has been redirected away from the Hampton park entrance and
trolley-replica bus A tourist trolley, also called a road trolley, is a rubber-tired bus designed to resemble an old-style streetcar or tram, usually with false clerestory roof. The vehicles are usually fueled by diesel, or sometimes compressed natural gas. The ...
es have been used to shuttle patrons.Riverfront Times (March 29, 2011)
.
Forest Park hosts several annual St. Louis cultural or entertainment events, including the Great Forest Park Balloon Race (a
hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries ...
competition), LouFest Music Festival (August 27–28, 2011), the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, the St. Louis Earth Day Festival, and the St. Louis African Arts Festival. The annual St. Louis Wine Festival, Beer Heritage Festival, and St. Louis Micro-Fest (a microbrewery showcase festival) also are hosted in Forest Park. In winter months, the Jewel Box greenhouse hosts a
poinsettia The poinsettia ( or ) (''Euphorbia pulcherrima'') is a commercially important flowering plant species of the diverse spurge family Euphorbiaceae. Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834 ...
show with holiday decorations. Forest Park also hosts athletic events, such as the St. Louis Pace Series (an annual track event), the Midnight Ramble (a nighttime bicycling event), the Forest Park Cross Country Festival, and a variety of run-walk fundraisers. The park has also hosted the
USA Cross Country Championships The USA Cross Country Championships is the annual national championships for cross country running in the United States. The championships is generally held in mid-February and it serves as a way of designating the country's national champion, a ...
. On Art Hill in early September, the
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is the second-oldest professional symphony or ...
offers a free outdoor concert. The St. Louis Art Museum sponsors free outdoor film showings in the summer on the hill.University News (July 1, 2011)
Fair St. Louis was held for the first time here in 2014, due to renovations at the
Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Some sources conside ...
grounds, which presents new opportunities for the fair. The fair got off to a smooth start on July 3.


Features

Forest Park is home to five of the region's major institutions: the St. Louis Art Museum, the St. Louis Zoo, the St. Louis Science Center, the Missouri History Museum, and the Muny amphitheater.City of St. Louis Parks Department: Forest Park.
It has several recreational facilities, including the Dwight Davis Tennis Center, the Steinberg Skating Rink, the Boathouse Restaurant (with boat rentals), the Forest Park Golf Course, the Highlands Golf and Tennis Center, handball courts, and fields for softball, baseball, soccer, cricket, rugby, and archery. The park also features over 30 miles of walking and bicycling paths.


Saint Louis Zoo

The most visited feature of the park is the
Saint Louis Zoo The Saint Louis Zoo, officially known as the Saint Louis Zoological Park, is a zoo in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri. It is recognized as a leading zoo in animal management, research, conservation, and education. The zoo is accredited by the ...
, a free
zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zool ...
that opened in 1910.St. Louis Zoo: History
.
In 2010, the zoo attracted 2.9 million visitors to its collection of more than 18,000 animals.
St. Louis Zoo: Animals
/ref> The zoo is divided into five animal zones: the River's Edge, which includes elephants, cheetahs, and hyenas; The Wild, which includes penguins, bears, and great apes; Discovery Zone, which includes a
petting zoo A petting zoo (also called a children's zoo, children's farm, or petting farm) features a combination of domesticated animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, many general ...
; Red Rocks, which features lions, tigers, and other big cats; and the oldest part of the zoo, Historic Hill, which features the 1904 Flight Cage, a herpetarium, and primate house.St. Louis Zoo: Your Visit
.
A sixth zoo zone, known as Lakeside Crossing, features several dining and retail options. For animal care, the zoo also features a veterinary hospital and animal nutrition center.


Saint Louis Science Center

The Saint Louis Science Center, across Interstate 64 on the southern edge of Forest Park, received slightly more than a million visitors in 2010. Part of the science center, the McDonnell Planetarium, is located within the park and is connected to the main building by an enclosed
footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
.Forest Park Forever: Science Center
In addition to the Orthwein StarBay
planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariu ...
show featuring more than 9,000 stars on an ceiling, the facility offers exhibits about living in space. It also hosts monthly public
stargazing Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...
events co-sponsored by the St. Louis Astronomical Society.St. Louis Science Center: Planetarium
.


Missouri History Museum

The Missouri History Museum, located on the northern edge of the park, received slightly more than 500,000 visitors in 2010 to both its permanent and temporary exhibits. The museum has two continuing exhibits: ''Seeking St. Louis'', two galleries focusing on the history of
Greater St. Louis Greater St. Louis is a bi-state metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis, the principal city. It includes parts of both Missouri and Illinois. The city core is on the Mississippi Riverfront on t ...
;Missouri History Museum: Seeking St. Louis
/ref> and the ''1904 World's Fair, Looking Back at Looking Forward'', an exhibit of artifacts from the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.Missouri History Museum: 1904 World's Fair, Looking Back at Looking Forward
/ref> The museum had a 16-ton statue of Thomas Jefferson sculpted by
Karl Bitter Karl Theodore Francis Bitter (December 6, 1867 – April 9, 1915) was an Austrian-born American sculptor best known for his architectural sculpture, memorials and residential work. Life and career The son of Carl and Henrietta Bitter, he was ...
, which was unveiled at the opening of the museum in 1913.St. Louis City Parks Department: Statues and Fountains

/ref> The museum completed a major expansion in 2000, with the addition of the Emerson Center, a building with of exhibition space, the Lee Auditorium, a 350-seat theater, and space for retail and dining options.


Saint Louis Art Museum

The Saint Louis Art Museum, which opened as the Palace of Fine Arts as part of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, is located in the only permanent structure built for the fair.St. Louis Art Museum: History
/ref> The building, designed by
Cass Gilbert Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minnesota, Arkansas and We ...
, houses a comprehensive
art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily con ...
with particular depth in
Oceanic art Oceanic art or Oceanian art comprises the creative works made by the native people of the Pacific Islands and Australia, including areas as far apart as Hawaii and Easter Island. Specifically it comprises the works of the two groups of people who ...
,
Pre-Columbian art Pre-Columbian art refers to the visual arts of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, North, Central, and South Americas from at least 13,000 BCE to the European conquests starting in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ...
, ancient
Chinese bronzes Sets and individual examples of ritual bronzes survive from when they were made mainly during the Chinese Bronze Age. Ritual bronzes create quite an impression both due to their sophistication of design and manufacturing process, but also beca ...
, and 20th-century German art.Saint Louis Art Museum: Collections
/ref> The museum began an expansion and renovation project in January 2010 under the direction of architect
David Chipperfield Sir David Alan Chipperfield, (born 18 December 1953) is an English architect. He established David Chipperfield Architects in 1985. His major works include the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire (1989–1998); the Muse ...
. The construction relocated surface parking underneath the addition and created a new lower-level gallery, with a total of more than of new building area which allows display of more of the collection. The project includes new landscaping, with groves of white birch trees. A site-specific sculpture was commissioned from
Andy Goldsworthy Andy Goldsworthy (born 26 July 1956) is an English sculptor, photographer, and environmentalist who produces site-specific sculptures and land art situated in natural and urban settings. Early life Goldsworthy was born in Cheshire on 26 Ju ...
, who completed installation of '' Stone Sea'' in the fall of 2012.


The Muny

The Muny, officially known as the Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis, has operated in Forest Park since 1916.The Muny: History
/ref> The first production, ''
As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...
'' by
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, predated the current building by one year; as part of an advertising convention, St. Louis constructed the Municipal Theatre in 1917. Starting in 1919, the Muny was incorporated, and more than 1,500 seats in the 11,000-seat amphitheater were reserved as permanently free.


The Jewel Box

The Jewel Box, an
art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...
, operates as an event venue and
horticultural Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
facility.City of St. Louis Parks Department: Jewel Box
The building has nearly of display space and is high, and it was built in 1936 using funds from the
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
. The Jewel Box was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 2000. In 2002, the Jewel Box received a $3.5 million renovation, which included the removal and reinstallation of interior plantings, upgrades to the heating and air conditioning systems, and modifications to allow the building to be used for catered events.


Turtle Park

Turtle Park is a
sculpture park A sculpture garden or sculpture park is an outdoor garden or park which includes the presentation of sculpture, usually several permanently sited works in durable materials in landscaped surroundings. A sculpture garden may be private, owned by ...
created by
Bob Cassilly Robert James Cassilly Jr. (November 9, 1949 – September 26, 2011) was an American sculptor, entrepreneur, and creative director based in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1997, Cassilly founded the idiosyncratic City Museum, which draws over 70 ...
located at Oakland Avenue and Tamm Avenue. The park contains concrete sculptures of seven turtle species that are indigenous to
Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
, a
clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...
of eggs and a snake. The three large turtles are a
snapping turtle The Chelydridae is a family of turtles that has seven extinct and two extant genera. The extant genera are the snapping turtles, '' Chelydra'' and '' Macrochelys''. Both are endemic to the Western Hemisphere. The extinct genera are '' Acherontem ...
, a Mississippi map turtle and a
red-eared slider The red-eared slider or red-eared terrapin (''Trachemys scripta elegans'') is a subspecies of the pond slider (''Trachemys scripta''), a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States ...
and the four smaller turtles are a
stinkpot turtle ''Sternotherus odoratus'' is a species of small turtle in the family Kinosternidae. The species is native to southeastern Canada and much of the Eastern United States. It is also known commonly as the common musk turtle, eastern musk turtle, o ...
and three
box turtle Box turtle is the common name for several species of turtle. It may refer to those of the genus '' Cuora'' or '' Pyxidea'', which are the Asian box turtles, or more commonly to species of the genus '' Terrapene'', the North American box turtles. ...
s. The snapping turtle is 40-foot long and used 120,000 pounds of concrete. The design allows kids to climb on the turtle's shells and in their open mouths.


Dwight Davis Tennis Center

The Dwight Davis Tennis Center is a tennis facility with 19 lighted tennis courts and a clubhouse, named after St. Louis tennis player Dwight Davis.City of St. Louis Parks Department: Dwight Davis Tennis Center
The facility offers tennis training programs, and sponsors tournaments. It hosts the St. Louis Aces, a local tennis singles team, who play in the 1,100-seat Stadium Court. In 2006 and 2007, several courts were refinished, while new shade awnings and benches were provided for players and spectators.


Boathouse

The Boathouse at Forest Park is both a restaurant and boat rental facility.
Since the opening of Forest Park in 1876, boating has been an activity in the park; in 1894, the ''
St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...
'' paid more than 6,000 workers to expand one of the lakes in the park.Boathouse Restaurant: History
/ref> In the early 2000s, a new boathouse opened with access to both Post-Dispatch Lake and the Grand Basin at the foot of Art Hill. The boathouse, open year-round, offers paddle boat rentals. It was designed by St. Louis architect Laurent Torno in the style of early 20th-century Midwestern boathouse cottages.


Pagoda Circle

Pagoda Circle, located in front of the Muny, is a circular drive located around a lake with an island.City of St. Louis Parks Department: Master Plan
On the island is the Nathan Frank Bandstand, which was built using funds donated by local businessman Nathan Frank in 1926. The bandstand, in the
classical style Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...
, replaced an earlier structure with Asian motifs. In the early 2000s, the landscaping of the area was restored by the Flora Conservancy and the St. Louis Parks Department to a design by Oehme, van Sweden and Associates; more than 27,000 perennial flowers were planted in the area.


Dennis and Judith Jones Visitor and Education Center

The Dennis and Judith Jones Visitor and Education Center, formerly known as the Lindell Pavilion, was built in 1892 as a
streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
station for the Lindell Railway.City of St. Louis Parks Department: Visitor Center
Designed by
Eames and Young Eames and Young was an American architecture firm based in St. Louis, Missouri, active nationally, and responsible for several buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. History The principals were Thomas Crane Young, FAIA and Will ...
, the Visitor Center is in the
Spanish Revival The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the ...
style. In 1904, it was occupied by tenants of the World's Fair. In 1914, the building opened as a golf shop and locker room, which it remained until the early 2000s. After the renovation of the adjacent Forest Park Golf Course, the building was converted into the park Visitor Center. The $4 million conversion project restored the
clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...
and installed new heating and air conditioning systems, public restrooms, and locker rooms. Part of the facility is available as an event venue known as the Trolley Room, which can accommodate up to 400 guests, while Forest Park Forever, a local non-profit group, operates its headquarters in the building. Other groups in the building include the
Missouri Department of Conservation The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and the Missouri Conservation Commission were created by Article IV Sections 40-42 of the Missouri Constitution, which were adopted by the voters of the state in 1936 as Amendment 4 to the constitution ...
and Older Adults Services and Information Systems (OASIS). The restoration included establishment of the Forest Perk Cafe, a coffee and sandwich shop. The building is the base of the World's Fair Bike Rental, which rents cruiser bicycles for public use in the park.City of St. Louis Parks Department: Bicycle Rentals
.


Steinberg Skating Rink

The Steinberg Skating Rink opened in November 1957 after a donation by the Steinberg Charitable Trust.
Etta Steinberg, the wife of Mark C. Steinberg, gave more than $600,000 toward the $935,000 cost of the rink. The rink is open for
ice skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be perf ...
during the winter and sand volleyball during the summer. While
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
was regularly played on the rink during the 1950s and 60s, its large dimensions and lack of regulation dasher-board systems prevent it from allowing regular play today; however, at the close of skating season a charity
pond hockey Pond hockey is a form of ice hockey similar in its object and appearance to traditional ice hockey, but simplified and designed to be played on part of a natural frozen body of water. The rink is 50 to 80 percent the size of a standard NHL-speci ...
tournament is held on the rink. A dining and concession area, known as the Snowflake Cafe, offers
American cuisine American cuisine consists of the cooking style and traditional dishes prepared in the United States. It has been significantly influenced by Europeans, indigenous Native Americans, Africans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and many other cultures an ...
and
alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...
.Steinberg Skating Rink
/ref> During the early 2000s, the rink underwent a $1.4 million renovation that included a new rink surface, an ice-making system, and a new light and sound system. In addition, the parking lot for the rink was moved from the north end of the facility to the south end. A prairie and wetlands river area replaced the north parking lot, providing a walking path and
birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...
area near the adjacent lake.


The World's Fair Pavilion

Located on Government Hill, the World's Fair Pavilion sits on the site of the world's fair Missouri Government that was meant to be permanent but burned only weeks before the closing of the fair. It opened in 1910 as a gift from the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Committee and helped to fulfill their promise to restore the park after the 1904 World's Fair. Designed by English architect Henry Wright, the pavilion originally cost $35,000 to build. In the early 2000s, the building underwent a $1.1 million restoration with the addition of new restrooms and a catering kitchen. The eastern archways of the building were removed (thereby opening the building to its original state), new lighting was installed, and the twin towers of the building were reconstructed.


Forest Park Golf Course

The Forest Park Golf Course, also known as the Courses at Forest Park or the Norman Probstein Community Golf Course, opened in 1912 as a nine-hole
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". T ...
. The original course was designed by Scotsman Robert Foulis, an employee of the
Old Course at St Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links Trust und ...
, while a second and third set of nine holes were finished in 1913 and 1915. In 1929, the Forest Park Golf Course was home to the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. Between 2001 and 2004, the three courses and the clubhouse were rebuilt under the direction of course designer Stan Gentry. The rebuilding project initially was funded by St. Louis developer Norman Probstein with a gift of $2 million, followed by donations of $2 million from Eagle Golf, $2.4 million from the
Danforth Foundation The Danforth Foundation was one of the largest private nonprofit foundations in the St. Louis Metropolitan region. It closed its doors in 2011 after 84 years of operation and more than a billion dollars in grants distributed. Background Establishe ...
, $4.5 million from Forest Park Forever, and $1.6 million from the city of St. Louis. The three rebuilt courses are named for trees in St. Louis: the Hawthorn is a relatively flat and walkable layout; the Dogwood is a somewhat hilly course with a water fairway; and the Redbud is very hilly and the most challenging layout of the three. One glass-enclosed clubhouse serves all three courses, and it includes a restaurant open to all park users known as Ruthie's Grill. After the completion of the renovations, the Forest Park Golf Course was named the Best Golf Course in St. Louis by the local
alternative newspaper An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting l ...
, the ''
Riverfront Times The ''Riverfront Times'' (''RFT'') is a free progressive weekly newspaper in St. Louis, in the U.S. state of Missouri, that consists of local politics, music, arts, and dining news in the print edition, and daily updates to blogs and photo galle ...
''.Riverfront Times: Best Golf Course 2008


Highlands Golf and Tennis Center

The Highlands Golf and Tennis Center, formerly known as Triple A Golf and Tennis Club, opened in 1897 on the site of the current Forest Park Golf Course; in 1902, the course moved to a facility near the southeast corner of Forest Park due to the construction of the 1904 World's Fair. The new facility included a nine-hole golf course, tennis, handball and volleyball courts, a running track, and baseball and lacrosse fields. The tennis courts at the Highlands were where player
Jimmy Connors James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 ...
began his career, and the facility hosted
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organi ...
qualifying matches in 1927, 1946, and 1961.
Judy Rankin Judy Rankin ( Torluemke; born February 18, 1945) is an American professional golfer and golf broadcaster. A member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, she joined the LPGA Tour in 1962 at age 17 and won 26 tour events. Since 2010, Rankin has served ...
began her golfing career at Triple A Golf and Tennis Club as a young girl. Between 2008 and 2010 the Highlands underwent a complete reconstruction, with a new nine-hole golf course, the installation of clay tennis courts, a new 30-stall lit
driving range A driving range is a facility or area where golfers can practice their golf swing. It can also be a recreational activity itself for amateur golfers or when enough time for a full game is not available. Many golf courses have a driving range att ...
, and the construction of a full-service bar and restaurant known as Keagan's Pub and Patio.


Lakes and water features

The Cascades are a waterfall northwest of the Art Museum and named for the waterfalls that flowed down Art Hill during the 1904 World's Fair. The park also has Round Lake and Jefferson Lake, the latter stocked with fish for anglers. The Missouri Department of Conservation assists with the operation of six
fish hatchery A fish hatchery is a place for artificial breeding, hatching, and rearing through the early life stages of animals—finfish and shellfish in particular.Crespi V., Coche A. (2008) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Gloss ...
lakes at the park. In the early 2000s, the lakes were drained, deepened, aerated and restocked with fish. A new bridge over the river that feeds the lakes also was constructed.


Kennedy Forest and Kennedy Woods

Kennedy Forest is in the southwest corner of the park, while the Kennedy Woods area is located near the Muny in the center of the park. Kennedy Forest features
hiking trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...
maintained by the Missouri Department of Conservation, while Kennedy Woods includes a walking path through wildflowers and native Missouri plants.


Cabanne House

The Cabanne House, built in 1876, is one of the oldest structures in the park and is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.City of St. Louis Parks Department: Cabanne House
.
The original Cabanne House was built in 1819 by Jean Pierre Cabanné, a French Creole
fur trader The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mo ...
and merchant. His descendants used it as a farmhouse until they sold the land to the city in 1875. When the park was opened, the farmhouse was converted into a lodge. It was demolished in the 1880s. The current Cabanne House was designed by James H. McNamara in 1875, built in the
Second Empire style Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which uses elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as i ...
to be the park keeper's house. From 1942, the house was the official residence of the St. Louis Parks and Recreation Commissioner. The City Beautification Commission repaired the building and occupied it for office space beginning in 1967. In the 1980s, the St. Louis Ambassadors, a local civic group, renovated the building. They have since used it as an office building and event venue.St. Louis Ambassadors: History
.
In 1985, the building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
for its architectural significance.


Statues and memorials

Near the Cascades waterfall on the western edge of the park is an 1876 statue of
Edward Bates Edward Bates (September 4, 1793 – March 25, 1869) was a lawyer and politician. He represented Missouri in the US House of Representatives and served as the U.S. Attorney General under President Abraham Lincoln. A member of the influential ...
, who was
US Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
under President
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
. He had been a prominent attorney and judge in St. Louis, and also assisted in
freedom suits Freedom suits were lawsuits in the Thirteen Colonies and the United States filed by slaves against slaveholders to assert claims to freedom, often based on descent from a free maternal ancestor, or time held as a resident in a free state or ter ...
by
slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. His was the first statue installed in the park. Originally located at the southeast entrance to the park, it was moved during the 1950s during construction of Interstate 64. Medallions at the base of the statue depict James Eads, Hamilton R. Gamble,
Charles Gibson Charles deWolf Gibson (born March 9, 1943) is an American broadcast television anchor, journalist and podcaster. Gibson was a host of ''Good Morning America'' from 1987 to 1998 and again from 1999 to 2006, and the anchor of ''World News with Char ...
, and Henry S. Geyer. The second-oldest statue in the park is the statue of Frank Blair, a
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
general and
U.S. senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...
from Missouri. The statue, located at Kingshighway and Lindell boulevards, was donated by the Blair Monument Association in May 1885. At the corner is the
modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
''Jewish Tercentenary Monument'', sculpted by Kurt Perisee in 1956. Commemorating the 300th anniversary of the first Jewish settlement in
New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
, the main figures represent the
Four Freedoms The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Monday, January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freed ...
. Created by Danish-born Carl C. Mose, head of the Sculpture Department at Washington University, the monument features a flagpole with a wave-like limestone base. Depicted on the base are Biblical quotations relating to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous “Four Freedoms”: freedom from tyranny; of religion; from fear and war; and from want. Among other figures, a ship, symbolic of that which bore the refugees to New Amsterdam, is also represented. In 1989, the monument underwent a $275,000 restoration funded by Howard Baer, an organizer of the Zoo-Museum District, which funds regional museums. The '' Apotheosis of St. Louis'', located at the north entrance of the St. Louis Art Museum, is a bronze sculpture of an armored and mounted King
Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...
of France, preparing for battle. In the early 2000s, the statue was restored; the more than $22,000 cost covered cleaning of the statue, refinishing of the patina, adding protective coating, and restoring the granite pedestal. The original plaster model by the sculptor
Charles Niehaus Charles Henry Niehaus (January 24, 1855 — June 19, 1935), was an American sculptor. Education Niehaus was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to German parents. He began working as a marble and wood carver, and then gained entrance to the McMicken ...
was displayed at the entrance to the 1904 World's Fair, and the finished bronze was given to the city in 1906 by the organizers of the fair. Two statues flank the museum entrance: ''Sculpture'' and ''Painting'' by
Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best known for his 1874 sculpture '' The Minute Man'' in Concord, Massachusetts, and his 1920 monum ...
and
Louis Saint-Gaudens Louis Saint-Gaudens (January 1, 1854 – March 8, 1913) was a significant American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation. He was the brother of renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens; Louis later changed the spelling of his name to St. Ga ...
, respectively. In 1913, the St. Louis
Turnverein Turners (german: Turner) are members of German-American gymnastic clubs called Turnvereine. They promoted German culture, physical culture, and liberal politics. Turners, especially Francis Lieber, 1798–1872, were the leading sponsors of gy ...
donated funds for the construction of a monument to Friedrich Jahn, the founder of the Turnverein and modern
gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoul ...
. Designed by Robert Cauer, the statue is located on the former site of the German Pavilion at the 1904 World's Fair. The next year, in 1914, the Ladies Confederate Monument Association donated a Memorial to the Confederate Dead on the north side of the park, near the Dwight Davis Tennis Center. Sculpted by
George Julian Zolnay George Julian Zolnay (Gyula Zsolnay) (July 4, 1863 – May 1, 1949) was a Romanian, Hungarian, and American sculptor called the "sculptor of the Confederacy". Early years Zolnay was born on July 4, 1863,Enc.Am. p. 723. to Ignác (Ignatius) Z ...
, it depicts an allegorical figure of an angel and a Southern family sending its only male child to fight in the American Civil War. The Confederate monument was removed from the park in 2017 to be relocated elsewhere. The National Federation of Musicians donated funds for the ''Musicians Memorial and Fountain'' to honor Owen Miller and Otto Ostendorf, members of the federation. The memorial, built in 1925, was designed by Victor Holm. Two years after the creation of the Musicians Memorial, the Steinberg family donated ''Joie de Vivre'', a work by
Jacques Lipchitz Jacques Lipchitz (26 May 1973) was a Cubist sculptor. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915–16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, dominated by a synthetic style of C ...
depicting the joy of life, which is located adjacent to the Steinberg Skating Rink. Near the Jewel Box is the Colonial Daughter Fountain, donated by the Missouri Society of Colonial Daughters in 1947. Also on the grounds of the Jewel Box is a statue of
St. Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...
, sculpted by Carl Mose and donated by Mrs. Harry Turner; her husband was a publisher in St. Louis.


Gallery

Image:ForestParkFountain.jpg, Underlit fountain at Forest Park Image:StLouisBalloonGlowFireworks2.jpg, Fireworks at the annual Balloon Glow in Forest Park Image:ForestParkWineFestival.jpg, Wine Tasting event at Forest Park Image:ForestParkFootbridge.JPG, A footbridge in Forest Park Image:Forest Park Annual Easter Car Show, April 16, 2006.JPG, The Easter car show on the lower Muny parking lot


Brickline Greenway

The Brickline Greenway Project is a major public-private partnership that aims to connect Forest Park and the
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University i ...
Danforth Campus The Danforth Campus is the main campus at Washington University in St. Louis. Formerly known as the Hilltop Campus, it was officially dedicated as the Danforth Campus on September 17, 2006, in honor of William H. Danforth, the 13th Chancellor of t ...
to the Gateway Arch grounds. Among the partners leading this project are the Arch to Park Collaborative, St. Louis City, and
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University i ...
. The Brickline Greenway was known as the Chouteau Greenway prior to March 10, 2020.


See also

* Culture of St. Louis * Parks in St. Louis *
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 Sh ...
** Forest Park-DeBaliviere MetroLink station ** Central West End Metrolink Station ** Skinker Metrolink Station *
Bob Cassilly Robert James Cassilly Jr. (November 9, 1949 – September 26, 2011) was an American sculptor, entrepreneur, and creative director based in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1997, Cassilly founded the idiosyncratic City Museum, which draws over 70 ...
, sculpted statues in the zoo and the large turtle sculptures on the southern side of the park * Delmar Loop Trolley


References

*


External links


St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission Fact Sheet on Forest Park

Forest Park Map (pdf)
*

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