City Museum
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Housed in the former International Shoe building in the Washington Avenue Loft District of St. Louis, Missouri, City Museum is a unique destination that is popular among both St. Louis residents and tourists. It bills itself as an "eclectic mixture of children's playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel." Unlike many museums, visitors are encouraged to feel, touch, climb on, and play in the various exhibits. The museum attracted over 300,000 visitors per year in 1999 [1] and over 600,000 visitors per year in 2005 according to the St. Louis Business Journal. It has been named one of the "great public spaces" by the Project for Public Spaces.[2]
[edit] History
City Museum was founded by artist Bob Cassilly and Gail Cassilly. Bob Cassilly remains the museum's artistic director. The building where the museum is located was once a shoe factory and warehouse but was mostly vacant when the Cassillys bought it in 1993. Construction begain in January of 1995 and the building opened to the public on October 25, 1997. Since the original opening, the museum has continued to expand, adding new exhibits such as MonstroCity in 2002, Enchanted Caves and Shoe Shaft in 2003, and World Aquarium in 2004. A new circus ring is expected to be completed in 2006.
