City Museum
Encyclopedia
City Museum is a museum, consisting largely of repurposed architectural and industrial objects, housed in the former International Shoe building in the Washington Avenue Loft District of St. Louis, Missouri
.
Popular among residents and tourists, the museum bills itself as an "eclectic mixture of children's playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel." Visitors are encouraged to feel, touch, climb on, and play in the various exhibits. The museum attracted over 300,000 visitors in 1999 and over 600,000 in 2007. It has been named one of the "great public spaces" by the Project for Public Spaces
, and has won other local and international awards as a must-see destination.
, who remained the museum's artistic director until his death, and his then-wife Gail Cassilly. The museum's building was once a shoe factory and warehouse but was mostly vacant when the Cassillys bought it in 1983. Construction began in January 1995 and the building opened to the public on October 25, 1997. The museum has since expanded, adding new exhibits such as MonstroCity in 2002, Enchanted Caves and Shoe Shaft in 2003, and World Aquarium in 2004. A circus ring on the third floor offers daily live acts. The City Museum also houses The Shoelace Factory, whose antique braiding machines makes colorful shoelaces for sale.
The building's fifth floor houses apartments, dubbed the Lofts at City Museum, which range in size from 1,300 to more than 2800 square feet (260.1 m²).
The museum has been visited by various celebrities, including Miley Cyrus
in 2007 and the Jonas Brothers. The Museum has hosted concerts.
Also located in the Enchanted Caves is a 1924 Wurlitzer
Pipe Organ (installed in 2007) from the Rivoli Theater
in New York City
.
The middle of the room highlights our 'hamster wheel', which is a donated piece from McDonnell-Douglas, and was used to create the fuselage of small airplanes.
Off to the side of the Vault Room and leading to the Enchanted Caves is St. George's Chamber, which holds a collection of vintage opera posters and a statue of St. George from Saint George's Catholic Church in Chicago
.
," a collection of antique door knobs, and the Museum's current exhibit of Elmslie and Sullivan. Off Architectural Hall, the Museum recently started to add a Natural History Section. On display are a number of insects and taxidermy items. Finally, on the 3rd Floor, the entrance to the three story slide that leads back to the first floor.
The 3rd Floor is also home to a small number of hauntings. There have been reports of a piano playing on its own and small children being seen near the Alco Train and various other people talking or crying.
. It also has a slide that goes under a small pond. The pond has stepping stones
that go from one side to the other. The roof also has a school bus
that had actually worked once, extending past the edge of the building. Visitors can walk in the school bus and open the door from the driver's seat. Also found on the roof are a giant rope swing contained in a free-standing aluminum dome underneath the roof's centerpiece; a giant metal praying mantis. It is possible to climb a series of enclosed metal ladders inside the dome to an exit at the top.
that can be crawled through, and two ball pits, one for young children and one for older ones, each pit being filled with large, rubber dodge balls.
The Cabin Inn is an early-19th-century log cabin located beneath MonstroCity. Originally the home of the son of Daniel Boone
, it was owned by the Hezel family for more than a century and is now a bar and entertainment venue.
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
.
Popular among residents and tourists, the museum bills itself as an "eclectic mixture of children's playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel." Visitors are encouraged to feel, touch, climb on, and play in the various exhibits. The museum attracted over 300,000 visitors in 1999 and over 600,000 in 2007. It has been named one of the "great public spaces" by the Project for Public Spaces
Project for Public Spaces
Project for Public Spaces is a nonprofit organization based in New York dedicated to creating and sustaining public places that build communities. Planning and design rooted in the community form the cornerstone of PPS’s work. Building on the techniques of William H...
, and has won other local and international awards as a must-see destination.
History
City Museum was founded by artist Bob CassillyBob Cassilly
Robert James Cassilly Jr. was an American sculptor, entrepreneur, and museum director. Based in St...
, who remained the museum's artistic director until his death, and his then-wife Gail Cassilly. The museum's building was once a shoe factory and warehouse but was mostly vacant when the Cassillys bought it in 1983. Construction began in January 1995 and the building opened to the public on October 25, 1997. The museum has since expanded, adding new exhibits such as MonstroCity in 2002, Enchanted Caves and Shoe Shaft in 2003, and World Aquarium in 2004. A circus ring on the third floor offers daily live acts. The City Museum also houses The Shoelace Factory, whose antique braiding machines makes colorful shoelaces for sale.
The building's fifth floor houses apartments, dubbed the Lofts at City Museum, which range in size from 1,300 to more than 2800 square feet (260.1 m²).
The museum has been visited by various celebrities, including Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus is an American actress and pop singer-songwriter. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana....
in 2007 and the Jonas Brothers. The Museum has hosted concerts.
1st floor
The original part of the museum, the first floor is home to a life-size Bowhead Whale that guests can walk through and view a large fish tank from the mezzanine or the always popular "Puking Pig." Also on the first floor, are a number of tunnels that run across the ceiling, hiding above a sea of fiberglass insulation cut to give the impression of icicles. To get into these one can climb up a Slinky, aka old refrigerating coil (donated by Anhueser-Busch), or through a tree house which leads into a giant hollowed out tree that leads to a cabin on the other side of the floor. The floor itself is covered with the largest continuous mosaic piece in the US, which then morph their way up columns, consuming every section of this floor. In one area is a tunnel known as the "Underground Whaleway" which runs beneath the floor and into the "Original Caves." New areas are currently being built.Enchanted Caves and Shoe Shaft
One of the most popular attractions, besides the outdoor MonstroCity, the Enchanted Caves and Shoe Shafts run through the center of the Museum, and go all the way to the 10th floor. In the Enchanted Caves, guests will find an elaborate cave system hand-sculpted by Bob Cassilly and his crew. From every direction, a different creature is staring back. The Shoe Shafts were left over from when the building was the International Shoe distribution building. To get the shoes from floor to floor, staff would place the shoes on the spiral shafts that would lead down to the loading dock. When the caves originally opened up in 2003, there was only one spiral shoe slide that was three stories tall, but in 2008 a second one was opened, becoming the daddy of them all. A ten-story spiral slide, that starts at the roof and goes down to caves' entrance.Also located in the Enchanted Caves is a 1924 Wurlitzer
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....
Pipe Organ (installed in 2007) from the Rivoli Theater
Rivoli Theatre (South Fallsburg, New York)
The Rivoli Theatre in South Fallsburg, New York, United States is located at the intersection of NY 42 and Laurel Avenue. It was built in 1923, renovated in the late 1930s and remains almost intact from that period....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The Mezzanine
The Mezzanine contains the Museum's food court and a number of sections that are also tied into the first floor.2nd floor
The Vault Room, which contains two 3,000 pound vault doors built in the mid-19th century and originally built in St. Louis, then installed in a bank in Chicago, Il. called the "Loop building", along with a marble bar, and about 1,000 safety deposit boxes.The middle of the room highlights our 'hamster wheel', which is a donated piece from McDonnell-Douglas, and was used to create the fuselage of small airplanes.
Off to the side of the Vault Room and leading to the Enchanted Caves is St. George's Chamber, which holds a collection of vintage opera posters and a statue of St. George from Saint George's Catholic Church in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Shoelace Factory
The Shoelace Factory houses a collection of vintage shoelace machines from the 1890s. If given enough time, one can request a design of their own shoelace.World Aquarium
An extension of St. Louis Children's Aquarium, this includes a shark tank with a glass tunnel running through it, big enough to crawl through, but too small to walk. Also this aquarium has stingray petting. They also allow stingray feeding for a fee at certain times.3rd floor
The 3rd Floor is home to a number of attractions. In one area is Skateless Park, which is a collection of skateboard ramps, without the skateboards. There is also the Everyday Circus, a circus school with students from 6 to 80+. The Everyday Circus performs daily at the museum and does private parties. Just around the corner from the Circus, is Art City where guests can try their hand at a number of different art techniques, as well as Toddler Town; A section dedicated only to those 6 and under. Beatnik Bob's is directly across from the Circus, which features the "World's Largest Underwear", a collection of vintage video/pinball games, and a concessions stand. Right outside Beatnik's is a 1/8 scale model of an Alco Train that children who are 48 inches high under can ride around the tracks. Past Architectural Hall, the Museum's largest rental space, is Architectural Museum. Located here is the cross from the "ExorcistThe Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
," a collection of antique door knobs, and the Museum's current exhibit of Elmslie and Sullivan. Off Architectural Hall, the Museum recently started to add a Natural History Section. On display are a number of insects and taxidermy items. Finally, on the 3rd Floor, the entrance to the three story slide that leads back to the first floor.
The 3rd Floor is also home to a small number of hauntings. There have been reports of a piano playing on its own and small children being seen near the Alco Train and various other people talking or crying.
4th floor
In the winter of 2007, Cassilly and crew cut a hole leading to the fourth floor. Located here is The Bale Out, one of St. Louis' largest vintage clothing stores.The roof
The roof has a small old fashioned Ferris wheelFerris wheel
A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...
. It also has a slide that goes under a small pond. The pond has stepping stones
Stepping Stones
The Stepping Stones are three prominent rocks lying 0.5 miles north of Limitrophe Island, off the southwest coast of Anvers Island. The Stepping Stones are located at . The Stepping Stones form one of a series of small boat refuges for parties working between nearby Palmer Station and Biscoe Bay,...
that go from one side to the other. The roof also has a school bus
School bus
A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
that had actually worked once, extending past the edge of the building. Visitors can walk in the school bus and open the door from the driver's seat. Also found on the roof are a giant rope swing contained in a free-standing aluminum dome underneath the roof's centerpiece; a giant metal praying mantis. It is possible to climb a series of enclosed metal ladders inside the dome to an exit at the top.
MonstroCity
Located in front of the building, MonstroCity features two Saber 40 aircraft fuselages suspended high in the air, a fire engine, a castle turret, a 25 feet (7.6 m) cupola, four-foot-wide SlinkiesSlinky
Slinky or "Lazy Spring" is a toy consisting of a helical spring that stretches and can bounce up and down. It can perform a number of tricks, including traveling down a flight of steps end-over-end as it stretches and re-forms itself with the aid of gravity and its own momentum.-History:The toy was...
that can be crawled through, and two ball pits, one for young children and one for older ones, each pit being filled with large, rubber dodge balls.
The Cabin Inn is an early-19th-century log cabin located beneath MonstroCity. Originally the home of the son of Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
, it was owned by the Hezel family for more than a century and is now a bar and entertainment venue.
Art lofts
Cassily has used the City Museum as a neighborhood anchor to help develop several nearby commercial and residential buildings, including:- Laclede Gas Building: An old building down by the entrance to the St. Louis Riverfront Trail which has been under development for a while.
- Windows On Washington
- Windows Off Washington