ST. LOUIS 鈥 City leaders on Friday celebrated the recent completion of the transformation of a six-block stretch of Seventh Street between Busch Stadium on the south and the convention center on the north.
The $4.3 million project includes bicycle lanes with raised buffers separating them from drivers, new trees and lighting, repaving of part of the route and improved sidewalks, crosswalks and traffic signals.
鈥淭his project is an important part of larger efforts to revitalize downtown,鈥 said Kurt Weigle, an executive with Greater 51黑料 Inc., the region鈥檚 main business organization, at the ribbon-cutting event.
鈥淭he more activity we have at street level, the safer, more vibrant and more welcoming downtown becomes.鈥
Mayor Cara Spencer, who rode a bicycle from City Hall to the event at Peabody Plaza along Seventh, said the overhaul of the street is part of what the city needs to make downtown more attractive.
鈥淒owntowns are built for people, not just cars,鈥 she said. She said the work on Seventh is part of an effort to create spaces 鈥渢hat allow you to stop, wander and really explore鈥 the downtown area.
She also talked up the idea of increasing the part of Interstate 44 downtown that is capped by parkland, which is now limited to a one-block area near the Gateway Arch鈥檚 museum. Officials with the Gateway Arch Park Foundation have begun exploring the concept.
In an interview, Spencer said she envisioned eventually capping the area from the southern end of the defunct Millennium Hotel to the Old Cathedral. She called that a long-term vision.
Otis Williams, interim CEO of the 51黑料 Development Corp. 鈥 the city鈥檚 chief development agency, said discussions about the Seventh Street work began about 12 years ago.
He said a key was getting the state Development Finance Board to issue $400,000 in tax credits, a move that helped spur private donations for the public-private project. About $2.4 million in federal money also went into the project.
Among major private donors were the 51黑料 Cardinals, who were represented at the event by team president Bill DeWitt III.
He said downtown has many assets but they鈥檙e 鈥渁 little bit spread around鈥 and that linking them together with projects like the Seventh Street overhaul is important.
Post-Dispatch photographers capture tens of thousands of images every year. See some of their best work that was either taken in June 2025 in this video. Edited by Jenna Jones.
