A big splash: Your guide to St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A big splash: Your guide to St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A big splash: Your guide to St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Posted: 24 Dec 2019 11:00 AM PST

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If you thought the literal and proverbial train left St. Louis Union Station decades ago, your mind may be changed by several thousand fish, a few otters and a single giant Pacific octopus.

St. Louis Aquarium opens Christmas Day, and tickets for its big debut are sold out. The attraction is the last major element in the most recent $187 million transformation of the historic former train station.

Thousands of visitors have streamed to the venue in recent months to take a ride in its new 200-foot-tall observation wheel, sip a beer next to a carousel and miniature golf course, and balance on an indoor ropes course.

Steve O'Loughlin, president of Lodging Hospitality Management, which paid $20 million for the station in 2012, says the new attractions already are attracting twice the number of visitors he expected — up to 10,000 people daily on a busy weekend. He's even witnessed at least five marriage proposals at the  St. Louis Wheel.

"You're seeing St. Louis people support a St. Louis project," he says. "It's just fun seeing the place packed."

As he spoke on the phone, it buzzed as he received videos of the aquarium's new otter residents, Sawyer, Finn and Thatcher. They had just moved into their new habitat at the aquarium, and staffers couldn't get enough of their antics.

Union Station operators hope to attract 1.5 million visitors to the aquarium and its other attractions each year. The free St. Louis Zoo, one of the most-visited zoos in the country, attracts 3 million people each year.

St. Louis-based PGAV Destinations, which has been involved with aquariums around the world, designed this project. It was built by St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Cos., which also has aquarium experience. Since the station is a National Historic Landmark, they had to preserve certain elements, sometimes relying on original construction documents.

The aquarium is operated by the zoOceanarium Group, based in Dubai. More than one official has talked about giving visitors a "hands-wet" experience.

"We really want to encourage our guests to just explore," says aquarium director Tami Brown as she shows off a gnarled "tree" in an area that will house local river animals such as tree frogs, a milk snake and crayfish.

Brown came to St. Louis from the Greater Cleveland Aquarium in Ohio, which was built inside an 1880s powerhouse.

Touring the aquarium

Brown loves St. Louis Aquarium's historical nods to Union Station, starting with its ticket desk menu that resembles a train station flipboard and its downsized grand lobby with changing scenery on LED ceilings and walls. Colorful discus fish swim inside a clock-faced tank; its clock face is the same size as the one on the station's iconic tower.

Inside two spaces designed to look like full-size passenger train cars, benches rumble, and St. Louis native John Goodman narrates a historical journey, viewed through digital "windows." The trip starts in 1894 St. Louis, when Union Station was built, and travels under the Mississippi River to the present day.

"We played up the trains so much at this point," Brown says. "We need to transfer you from the train experience to the aquarium experience."

St. Louis Aquarium preps for grand opening

The front entrance to the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station that will be opening to the public on Christmas Day. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

Union Station's long journey

1894 • St. Louis Union Station opens as a train station

1902 • More tracks added and layout changed to accommodate 1904 World's Fair traffic 

1942 • Station and ticketing areas undergo major renovations to prepare for wartime traffic

1961 • Commuter trains to the suburbs stop running

1978 • Last train departs 

1985 • Station reopens after a $140 million restoration and renovation as a "festival marketplace;" Omni Hotel opens

2012 • LHM buys Union Station and 539-room hotel for $20 million, begins renovation of rooms and transformation of exhibit and meeting space

2014 • Light show in Grand Hall debuts; Polar Express holiday train ride debuts

2015 • LHM announces plans for 200-foot-tall observation wheel and roller coaster (which is later scrapped)

August 2016 • LHM announces plan for St. Louis

November 2016 • Fire and light show opens on lake

2017 • Final retail tenants vacate the train shed's second-floor food court

September 2019 • St. Louis Wheel, carousel, miniature golf course and Soda Fountain open

November 2019 • Ropes course, mirror maze and Train Shed restaurant open

Dec. 25, 2019 • St. Louis Aquarium opens

The aquarium is divided into six galleries, showing off the underwater worlds of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers as well as the deepest parts of the oceans. More than 13,000 animals at St. Louis Aquarium were relocated from other zoos and aquariums, as well as rescue organizations.

Staffers gradually introduced the animals to their habitats in recent weeks, covering the clear panels with paper so the residents could acclimate to their new homes before being exposed to the shadows and noise of visitors.

Visitors can learn more about the animals with the help of large touchscreens, even "flipping" an animal to see it from all sides. They can poke their hands into a pool filled with "doctor fish," which feed on dead skin and are used at some spas to nibble at people's feet.

"Only manicures; no pedicures," Brown says.

A J-shaped, 250,000-gallon tank — the aquarium's largest — holds 60 sharks and stingrays, thousands of schooling sardines and other shimmery swimmers, and one giant, grumpy-looking grouper that likes to hang out at the bottom. A wall opposite the tank opens to the midway at Union Station, providing an aquatic backdrop for special events.

St. Louis Aquarium preps for grand opening

Discus fish swim in a tank that serves at a clock at the entrance to the St. Louis Aquarium on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

The wheel deal: As the St. Louis Wheel opens, let's not forget the others

The St. Louis Wheel opens at St. Louis Union Station downtown at 10 a.m. Monday.

Guests can interact with divers inside the tanks and also with an animated otter at the "Otter Chat," similar to the "Turtle Talk With Crush" attraction at Epcot. An animated otter, controlled by a voice actor, can have conversations and play games with guests.

Kids can play at a large water table, experimenting with dams and water levels. They can also dress up and pretend to help sick animals or prepare food for them; in other areas, they can feed shrimp to stingrays or slices of carrot to turtles.

An ecological scavenger hunt for younger visitors includes learning experiences at 10 interactive stations.

Lord Stanley, a rare blue lobster donated to St. Louis Aquarium in June by a Massachusetts restaurant, will live in this area. (Sequined, stuffed likenesses of Lord Stanley are available in the aquarium's gift shop, naturally.)

St. Louis Aquarium preps for grand opening

St. Louis Aquarium diver Michael McKinney cleans a viewing port inside of the otters swimming tank on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019. McKinney was cleaning the glass viewing areas in preparation for the upcoming grand opening of the aquarium on Christmas Day. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

St. Louis Aquarium Foundation aims to reach and teach others

The St. Louis Aquarium wants as many people as possible to serve as good water stewards. It created the St. Louis Aquarium Foundation, which runs a free visitor center, just inside the lobby, and raises money to provide free aquarium entry to area students in need.

The foundation hopes to raise enough money to give tickets to up to 25,000 students in Title I schools and other groups. A curriculum is being developed for STEM-based education classes, and the foundation is creating a volunteer program and working with other conservation groups.

At the visitor center, guests can color a fish on a piece of paper, learn more about that specific fish and then place it under a special scanner that allows the fish to "swim" on a virtual screen.

Other interactive screens show the evolution of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and river watersheds in the United States. Another, globe-shaped screen shows short videos about ocean currents, melting ice caps, animal migration and the flow of trash into the oceans.

Another large screen displays interactive games, where visitors can work together to clean up a nature or river habitat. Tanks will show animals that can be found locally, such as a box turtle and tiger salamander. An outdoor rain garden will greet students at a bus dropoff area.

Even more kiosks let visitors zoom in on a map and find conservation groups in their area.

Inside the visitor center, artist Gart Britzman created a sculpture using 5,000 empty water bottles gathered from Busch Stadium and LHM-managed hotels. The piece represents the number of bottles bought in the United States every 1.5 seconds. The sculpture is sure to be popular with Instagrammers, but it hopefully also will make people think twice about how they get their water.

"We want them to leave and go, 'Now what? What can I do now?'" says Diane Bauhof, the foundation's executive director.

By Valerie Schremp Hahn

Making waves

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson got a sneak peek at the aquarium last week and loved its mix of animals, especially the stingrays, sharks and otters. She also envisions a promising future for that corner of the city, especially with the next-door soccer stadium, set to be complete by 2022.

"I see a few hours before the soccer game, lots of people in the area, some people are walking from their loft or apartment or condos, and after the game, going over, riding the wheel, taking a look at some fish," Krewson says. "I see people coming into St. Louis from out of town, staying in the hotels. It's just an incredible energy and a beautiful location."

That energy has already intensified.

Aaron Snivley, general manager of Maggie O'Brien's Restaurant & Irish Pub next door, says the establishment saw an uptick in business several years ago when redevelopment started at Union Station. It's picked up in recent months with the opening of the wheel and other attractions.

"It's already boosted people through the door substantially, so I can only imagine what the aquarium is going to do," he says.

Snivley, 48, grew up watching the second rise (as a shopping mall) and then the demise of Union Station. Maggie O'Brien's, open 40 years, felt similar growing pains.

"We kind of look at it as a payoff for us sticking it out," he says.

Bob O'Loughlin, chairman and CEO of LHM (and Steve O'Loughlin's father), says he wasn't sure what would become of Union Station when his company took over.

"We knew how iconic and beautiful it was," he says.

LHM officials tossed around potential concepts such as a train museum and even a roller coaster, eventually warming up to the idea of an aquarium. St. Louis was the largest city in the country without one, he says.

They traveled the country, visiting aquariums and contacting companies including Ripley's and Sea Life to gauge interest.

O'Loughlin is sure St. Louis Aquarium will have staying power, citing the longevity of other family attractions such as the Magic House, City Museum and St. Louis Zoo. Families want things to do together and return to, he says, and it's a bonus that LHM's attractions are at iconic Union Station.

"It's a great feeling to know you've taken something that literally could have been shut down, and you bring it back," he says.

Where St. Louis Aquarium, Union Station, 201 South 18th Street • How much $25, $18 for ages 3-12; annual passes available • More info 314-923-3900; stlouisaquarium.com • Hours Noon-6 p.m. Dec. 25, 10 a.m.- 9 p.m Dec. 26-Jan. 4; regular hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Water, water everywhere

Cost • Development of the complex cost $187 million. About $20 million is covered by a tax-increment financing agreement and two preexisting special taxing districts that collect a 1% tax on sales at Union Station. The rest is privately funded.

Size • 120,000 square feet with 1.3 million gallons of tank space. For comparison, Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga is 190,000 square feet with 1.1 million gallons, Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is 452,000 square feet with 5 million gallons and Sea Life in Kansas City is 28,000 square feet with 260,000 gallons.

Animals • The aquarium is home to more than 13,000 animals representing 257 species.

Union Station map

More to see and do

A-Maze-Ing Discoveries Mirror Maze • This indoor attraction, on the second level, honors the 1904 World's Fair in an unusual way: with a surprisingly disorienting mirror maze, a "distortion room" with black-and-white spirals and lights, and a gusty "cave of wind." Photos and interactive elements from the era of the fair dot the 900-square-foot space. (10 a.m.-10 p.m. daily; $8)

Mini Golf • No-frills yet challenging 18-hole golf course, decorated with stonework and water elements, is ADA accessible. It's tucked next to the carousel, with the St. Louis Wheel as a backdrop. (10 a.m.-10 p.m. daily; $10)

Carousel • This carousel features two chariots and 30 animals, including a bald eagle and an ostrich. It was made by Chance Rides of Wichita, Kansas, and opened in September. (10 a.m.-10 p.m. daily; $5)

Ropes Course • Adults and kids can challenge themselves on this indoor course, which includes more than 45 rope bridges and other obstacles, 50 feet above the Union Station lobby. Each participant is strapped into a harness and attached to an overhead rail. A 100-foot zip line sends riders soaring above spectators below. Young adventurers under 48 inches tall can test themselves on a separate, smaller course. (10 a.m.-10 p.m. daily; $15, $5 for children's course)

St. Louis Wheel • Climb into one of 42 climate-controlled gondolas to ride to the top of this 200-foot-tall observation wheel. On a clear day, visibility is nearly 20 miles, operators say. The enclosed gondolas each hold eight passengers and are wheelchair-accessible. A ride takes 12 to 15 minutes, and a rotation takes 2 minutes. Splurge for a ride on the VIP car, which has a glass floor and four leather captain's chairs. The 1.6 million LEDs brighten the night sky with a kaleidoscope of colors. (10 a.m.-10 p.m. daily; $15, $10 for ages 3-12, $50 for VIP car)

Fire and light shows • Every half-hour, from 5 to 9 p.m. daily, see a thrilling display of fire, water and light, set to music, on the lake behind Union Station. Every hour from 5 to 10 p.m. daily, watch a 3D light show on the Grand Hall's 65-foot-high vaulted ceiling. 

Food and drinks • The complex includes several options for dining, including the new St. Louis Soda Fountain (in the old Hard Rock Cafe space), which specializes in diner fare, outlandish milkshakes and other sweet treats; the Train Shed (in the former Houlihan's space), serving contemporary American cuisine and cocktails; 1894 Cafe (on the second level), a family-friendly spot with sandwiches, salads and quick options; and an outdoor beer garden and beverage kiosk, made from a repurposed shipping container. Landry's Seafood House remains, located behind Union Station near the St. Louis Wheel, and a bar inside the Grand Hall serves small plates and signature cocktails named for railroad companies.

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