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Your readers should call 1-800-916-0037 (USA and Canada) or 1-314-421-1023 for a free copy of the Official St. Louis Visitors Guide or point, click and explore St. Louis online at www.explorestlouis.com

  
 
UNIQUE ST. LOUIS VENUES SET THE STAGE FOR
MEMORABLE MEETINGS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

Among a meeting planner's many challenges is the ability to find a meeting site which reinforces the theme of their meeting, boosts attendance by piquing the interest of their audience and enhances the overall meeting experience of their participants. St. Louis offers a variety of options for planners wishing to schedule an event at locations, which are anything but the obvious.

Planners wishing to deliver the sun, moon, and stars to their attendees can do so easily by hosting an event at the Saint Louis Science Center. The Science Center's James S. McDonnell Planetarium has undergone an extensive renovation and reopened with a state-of-the-art Space Station. Groups also can take in a giant screen Omnimax Theatre film, enjoy a reception in the shadow of life-size animatronic dinosaurs or explore the history of flight and the miracles of technology in hands-on galleries.

Speaking of space, those whose requirements demand lots of it can find 162,000 square feet on the floor of St. Louis' biggest venue, the Edward Jones Dome at America's Center. Guests can kick field goals on the same floor where the Super Bowl XXXIV champion St. Louis Rams play and watch instant replays or pre-recorded association or corporate videos on the giant Sony Jumbotron video boards.

Meeting alfresco? The 7.5 acre park just outside the Edward Jones Dome gives planners the greenscape they crave with the convenience of a location just outside America's Center's 84 meeting rooms and 502,000 square feet of exhibit space. At the Missouri Botanical Garden, groups can conduct business in a modern auditorium and break for dining in settings as varied as a recreated rain forest, the nation's largest authentic Japanese Garden or a Victorian fantasy land complete with maze and observatory. At Boat Lake in historic Forest Park, guests can party dockside while other attendees drift along the park's meandering canals in romantic gondolas. Country picnics with all the delicious trimmings are fun and festive at Eckert's Country Store & Farms located in nearby Belleville and Millstadt, Illinois. Located within a 20-minute drive from downtown St. Louis, the picturesque farms offer haywagon rides, horseshoe pitching, sand volleyball and washer games. Attendees can wander the lovely orchards to pick their own strawberries, peaches, apples and pumpkins in season.

If sitting in a conference room turns convention delegates into bears, planners can cut them loose to roam among the wild things at the Saint Louis Zoo. The Zoo hosts meetings, receptions and dinners at the Living World facility. Two theatres plus a lovely dining area are found here along with exhibit halls featuring displays on the diversity of life on Earth. Docents will wander among the group with some of the Zoo's friendly animal residents. The world-famous Zoo recently opened McDonnell Center at River Camp for meetings and social functions for up to 200 people. River Camp's three combinable rooms - the Missouri, the Mississippi and the Meramec, named for St. Louis' largest waterways - are equipped with the latest technology presentation equipment and high speed internet access. In the meeting rooms, floor-to-ceiling windows overlook tumbling waterfalls, pretty wildflowers and plantings and, of course, some of the Zoo's animal inhabitants. A massive window wall looks into a giant-sized aquarium brimming with paddlefish, gar, turtles and other Missouri River critters.

Meetings really roll - down the mighty Mississippi, that is - when held on an authentic paddlewheel riverboat. Gateway Arch Riverboats' Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher excursion vessels can handle large and small groups for day or evening cruises, team races, or Dixieland or Blues dinners. Groups can roll down the railroad tracks while in St. Louis, too. The St. Louis Car Company's private rail cars are located under the massive train shed at historic St. Louis Union Station. These beautifully renovated train cars can travel or stay in place to give guests the chance to board at their leisure and experience the Station's many shops, restaurants, and entertainment options.

Attendees will feel like kings at the Royal Dumpe Dinner Theatre. King Henry VIII and his serving wenches dish out medieval-style humor and entertainment along with a delicious dinner. A wee bit of meeting planner-provided background information prompts the cast to playfully skewer the association president or CEO and work in an anecdote or two about that day's agenda.

Major league events happen at the homes of St. Louis' professional sports teams. During baseball season, the St. Louis Cardinals offer fun and functional spaces on the playing field, in the Homer's Landing picnic area, the Batter's Eye Club, the Hall of Fame Club, the Stadium Club, or in one of Busch Stadium's many private boxes. Private boxes and party suites are also available at the Scottrade Center, home of the NHL's St. Louis Blues as well as the Edward Jones Dome home of the St. Louis Rams NFL franchise.

Dramatic events are often staged at St. Louis' Fabulous Fox Theatre. This lavishly decorated former 1920's-era movie palace welcomes groups for meetings, receptions and custom-made entertainment extravaganzas. Also located in the Grand Center performing arts district, just blocks away from the Fox, are the intimate Grandel Theatre, the Versailles-style Powell Symphony Hall and the elegant Backstage Bistro, each of which offer space for private functions.

Seeking divine intervention for an inspired special event location? Your prayers can be answered by holding a heavenly event at a deconsecrated church turned party palace located in St. Louis' simmering Soulard neighborhood. Nestled among the blues music clubs, pubs and restaurants of an historic neighborhood located only minutes south of downtown St. Louis, Patty Long's 9th Street Abbey serves up glorious food in a unique indoor or outdoor garden setting. 		 
 

MEDIA NOTE: For more information or photography of St. Louis, send an e-mail to pr@explorestlouis.com or call Becky Sharp at 1-314-992-0652. For up-to-date information about St. Louis, your readers should call the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission at 1-800-916-0040 or check out our website at www.explorestlouis.com. This news release is also available in electronic form. To obtain an electronic version, e-mail your request to pr@explorestlouis.com or go to St. Louis’ online media center at www.explorestlouis.com/media.