Architects of a proposed future home to a professional soccer team in downtown St. Louis unveiled designs for a 22,500-seat stadium Saturday morning.
The renderings show a rectangular, open-air stadium with a translucent canopy to protect spectators from weather and a field that sits 40 feet below street level. The design features entrances on all sides of the stadium and open views of the city to the north and east. It would be built just west of Union Station.
The design by Snow Kreilich Architects and HOK also includes an area of mixed-use retail, restaurants and gathering spaces that would be open year-round, according to a press release from the MLS4THELOU ownership group.
The release of the proposed stadium design comes just days after Major League Soccer officials announced the organization would expand to include 30 teams. That decision came as a relief to soccer fans in St. Louis and Sacremento, California, two cities that were widely viewed as the top contenders for the league's final 28th expansion-team bid.
“It has been an amazing 36 hours for our effort to bring an MLS team to St. Louis," said Carolyn Kindle Betz, who leads the St. Louis ownership group, in a statement.
"With Major League Soccer’s announcement that the league will expand to 30 teams, combined with being able to share our initial stadium design plan, we are inching closer to making this a reality for St. Louis.”
If the league does award St. Louis a franchise, the stadium would host approximately 20 regular season MLS home games annually, according to the MLS4THELOU website. The venue could also be used to host collegiate and high school matches and tournaments, concerts and other events.
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