ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Fans will be able to get a history lesson when they attend games at the new MLS stadium in St. Louis thanks to a planned 1-mile stretch of the new Brickline Greenway. An experiential art exhibit will be placed outside the stadium, commemorating the former Mill Creek Valley neighborhood, a historic Black neighborhood demolished in the 1950s.
The neighborhood was located right where St. Louis CITY SC’s soccer-specific stadium is being built. It will also be part of the Great Rivers Greenway, which will ultimately include 20 miles of pathways, linking up to 17 neighborhoods connecting Forest Park, Gateway Arch National Park, Fairground Park, Tower Grove Park and hundreds of destinations in between.
Former Mill Creek resident, and author of The Last Children of Mill Creek, Vivian Gibson says the installation in the stadium's southwest plaza, will send a message regarding urban renewal that wiped out thousands of homes.
"It's really good to be able to show the rest of the country that we're trying to make a difference," Gibson says. "That we're trying to right a big, big wrong that happened and to learn from it."
Conceived by the nationally acclaimed post-disciplinary artist and St. Louis native Damon Davis to honor and recognize the 20,000 Black residents who were displaced from the once thriving Mill Creek Valley neighborhood in the name of urban renewal. The stadium’s southern side will be landscaped to show the exact plotline of the homes that stood on the stadium site over 50 years ago.
The greenway – which will stretch along Market Street from Harris-Stowe State University on Compton Ave. to the stadium on 20th Street – will opens in conjunction with St. Louis CITY’s inaugural MLS season in 2023.
The team will also share information and resources about Mill Creek Valley within the club’s app, as well as an interactive augmented reality experience around the permanent art exhibit
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