City Museum is one of the most unique places in the world and definitely worth planning an entire trip around to visit. Located in the heart of St. Louis, the museum is a must-see for anyone who enjoys art, history, or culture. This amazing museum is like no other, with its cavernous spaces, towering slides, and eclectic collection of found objects. A visit here is sure to be an unforgettable experience.
The minute you step into the museum, you’ll be transported into a world of fear and excitement. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before, and you’ll find yourself struggling to put the experience into words for your friends. They won’t be able to understand the complex emotions you felt while you were there. There is a certain charm to this amusement park that can only be found by visiting one in person. They are a place where you can lose your kids a few times but eventually will be okay with it. This amusement park is also a place with unique touches of culture and creativity that are impossible to fully experience in one, two, or even three visits. There is an almost magical feeling that comes from spending a day at this amusement park.
This is our best effort to describe the City Museum. It’s an experience that cannot be missed, a place where you can explore, imagine, climb and slide. It’s a world unto itself, one that will delight both young and old. Originality abounds at this truly unique destination.
Welcome to the City Museum
The museum’s parking lot is surrounded by a concrete serpent, setting the tone for visitors even before they arrive. As you approach the museum, you can’t help but notice the massive, castle-like structure looming overhead. This is MonstroCity, where the employee who takes your money for parking hangs out. It’s hard to believe that such a massive structure could be built before you even enter the museum, but that’s just how it is. The two planes are positioned perpendicular to each other, with plenty of mental structures and slides in between them. The castle-like buildings loom in the distance, adding to the surreal atmosphere of the scene. This park is a magical place because of these features. While the entrance to the museum may be unassuming, don’t be fooled – inside holds many hidden treasures. You’re likely to be over-stimulated by all the other opportunities once inside, so it’s unlikely you’ll start your adventure at the entrance. In fact, if you see the bus hanging off the side of the roof as you look up, that too is part of the museum.
It was pointed out earlier that you can lose your children or grandchild. If you aren’t careful, you’ll lose your children or grandchild. As you walk past the ticket windows it could be done. One darts up the stairs, the other is going towards the whales and the tree house is out of sight. This is City Museum. It’s a really cool place with a lot of really awesome stuff to see and do. The spindles on the Ferris wheel actually spin and there’s the world’s largest pencil at the park. There are also a skateless park, caves, art, giant underwear, pipe organs, sculptures, and within it all, about three different routes you can take at any turn. You could easily spend hours upon hours in here and never get bored because there’s just so much to see and do.
There are a number of factors to consider when choosing a name for this museum. You might guess that the first alternate was Slide City. The number of slides in the museum is unknown, as it is a closely held secret. Some have guessed that there are 30 slides, but this has not been confirmed. What is known is that there are a variety of slides, ranging from a few feet to 10-stories tall, meaning that there is a slide for everyone to enjoy. It’s always a good sign when you’re asked by the attendant which slides you want to go down. That means there are multiple slides to choose from! It’s surreal to pick the tallest one, but sometimes it’s fun to mix things up and try a different one. Just know as parents or grandparents, that a large chunk of your time will be spent trying to figure out where a slide begins and ends.
The museum has several floors full of amazing exhibits, and the roof is just one more example of the creativity and brilliance that this museum has to offer. Visitors can see the city in a whole new light when they visit the City Museum, and they are sure to be impressed by all that it has to offer. From the rooftop, visitors can see some of the most famous landmarks in St. Louis, such as the Arch and Busch Stadium. There’s no other museum in the world quite like this one. Not only does it have a school bus hanging over the edge of the building, but it also has a vintage Ferris wheel on top. It’s truly a unique and unforgettable experience. It’s a few extra dollars to access the roof, but not visiting would be like making it to the lobby of the Empire State Building and not going to the observation deck. You’d be missing out on one of the best views in the city!
If you get on the roof, go inside the bus and join the rest in the front. The bus door is open for you to look at stories in the archives, so you can test the gravity of the stories. There are additional slides and climbing, and unique touches like a praying mantis and a Hippo sculpture on the roof as well.
Metal is the material of choice at the playground because it is strong, durable, and can be molded into a variety of shapes. It’s been used to create a swinging bridge, slides, tunnels, and more. Metal is a great material for playground equipment because it can withstand rough treatment and weather conditions. I was amazed that so much rebar could be used in such a creative way. Director Rick Erwin stated that there is a large amount of metal that could be used to construct an entire highway overpass. Some structures are smooth to the touch and others have a rougher feel.
At the City Museum, there is a love of aquatic life. This is evident in the aquarium area, as well as the various aquariums located throughout the museum. In addition to providing a place to view and learn about different types of fish, these aquariums also create a calm and relaxing atmosphere. You can experience the City Museum in true style by crawling inside one of the fish tanks. You don’t need to worry about getting wet, as the tank is completely sealed. There are 70 different species of fish found throughout the museum, including clownfish and catfish.
Tucked away in a small corner of the museum, there is shop selling cords and shoelaces made in-house on antique machines. This is a nod to the building’s history as a shoe company warehouse. The shop is complete with old-fashioned wooden shelves and displays, adding to the nostalgic atmosphere. It can feel completely random when you walk into a store and see colored shoelaces for sale, but if you know the history it’s only a little less random. You may wonder why anyone would need colored shoelaces, but after learning about their past you may want to buy some yourself.
There are plenty of places to relax in the bar, including benches, tables, and chairs. However, the seating areas may be hard to see, since they are in the sculptures and theme areas. If it looks like you can sit on it, do it, as everything in the museum was made to climb on, sit on, or scale.
It’s not surprising that a museum like this would also serve great cocktails and food. After all, St. Louis is a city that loves its drinks. In a place where you’re most likely to get injured while completely sober, it makes sense that the zoo would serve cocktails as well. Additionally, St. Louis is well-known for its thin-crust pizza, and the City Museum actually produces some of the best examples of this type of pizza. At Beatnik Bob’s on the third floor, you can find Ronnie’s Rocky Mountain Ice Cream cone. It’s not clear why it is so great but it may be due to the quality of the ingredients.
The City Museum would not be possible without the creativity of artist Bob Cassily. When you step into the City Museum, you are experiencing Cassily’s one-of-a-kind vision. This is a space where visitors can engage with their surroundings in novel ways, and it’s all thanks to Cassily’s innovative spirit. You’ll quickly come to realize that he never saw a relic that he didn’t take and eventually incorporate into his creations. The old shoe warehouse that the couple took over in the early 1990s was an abandoned 10-story building. They envisioned it as “a city within a city,” where people could live, work, and play. The creators of City Museum, Bob Cassily, and his team worked for four years to design, create, and mold the museum before it officially opened in 1997. Sadly, Bob Cassily passed away in 2011. But even though he is no longer with us, his brilliance lives on through the museum that he created. Bob’s innovative thinking has inspired others and will continue to do so for years to come.
