In 2013, the Saint Louis Art Museum completed construction of a handsome new facility to compliment its Cass Gilbert building that dates back to the 1904 World’s Fair.
The new building greatly expands the gallery and education space and underscores the Art Museum’s stature as one of the best comprehensive art museums in the United States.
The collection numbers more than thirty thousand works of art that include Monets, Rembrandts, 20th century German masterpieces, Chinese bronzes, and Oceanic and pre-Columbian art.
The Saint Louis Art Museum also maintains an extensive library and has developed a vigorous education program that reaches across the community.
The Missouri Botanical Garden is generally regarded as one of the three best botanical gardens in the world. Since joining the District, a wide array of new gardens have been developed, including the Iris and Daylily gardens, the Nanjing China garden, and the popular Children’s garden.
Through significant donor support, major science education, and research facilities have been built and renovations have been made to the Climatron, and Tower Grove House and the Museum Building. Special exhibits and programs such as the Chihuly, Chapungu, the Lantern Festival, the Whitaker Music Festival, and the Best of Missouri Market, Garden Glow, and Flora Borealis have made the Botanical Gardens a vital part of St. Louis life. Dramatic increases in the number of visitors, volunteers, and education programs since the Botanical Garden joined the District demonstrate its vitality as a community treasure.
The Botanical Garden’s attractions also include three additional area campuses: the Sophia Sachs Butterfly House, the Shaw Nature Reserve, and the EarthWays Center.
Our community has built and nurtured the most visited and probably the best regional history museum in the country.
The Missouri History Museum offers extensive educational programs and special exhibitions that range from Lewis & Clark to civil rights to the history of baseball.
The History Museum has become a national leader in exploring and honoring the demographic diversity of our area. Collections at the History Museum now exceed 175,000 artifacts and 700,000 photographic images.
It also maintains a readily accessible and widely used library for research that could range from personal genealogy to scholarly investigations.
The History Museum’s greatly enhanced exhibit and meeting space is a testimony to its expanded scope and vision as well as the embodiment of our citizens’ philanthropy.
In an agreement with the City of St. Louis, the Missouri Historical Society has assumed operations of Soldiers Memorial, a downtown attraction. The Missouri Historical Society is currently overseeing a substantial renovation and reconstruction on the site. Soldiers Memorial reopened on November 3, 2018.
The Saint Louis Science Center attracts nearly one million visitors annually and is ranked among the top five science and technology museums in America.
Over the last twenty-five years, the transformation of the Science Center has been remarkable. In 1985 the small museum (previously known as the Museum of Science and Natural History) moved to the Planetarium and six years later it built a $34 million facility across the highway from Forest Park. On November 1, 2011 Boeing Hall, a 13,000 exhibition facility, was dedicated. The Science Center maintains more than seven hundred fifty hands-on exhibits.
The latest sign of distinction for the Science Center is its designation as a Smithsonian Institute Affiliate.
By helping to preserve species and bringing information and insight about the challenges of the natural world to its visitors, the Saint Louis Zoo has become a leader in wildlife education and conservation.
The Zoo attracts about three million visitors each year. USA today recognized the Saint Louis Zoo as America’s Top Free Attraction in 2016 and Best Zoo in 2017.. A regular visitor to the Zoo has seen numerous transformations in the last forty years.
New or renovated facilities like Big Cat Country, Jungle of the Apes, Rivers Edge, the Children’s Zoo, Penguin and Puffin Coast, Sea Lion Sound, Polar Bear Point, and most recently, Grizzly Ridge, have appeared since the Zoo Museum District was formed.
Private donors have made many of these outstanding enhancements possible.