Convention Center station is a light rail station on the Red and Blue lines of the St. Louis MetroLink system.[2] This subway station is located beneath the intersection of 6th Street and Washington Avenue in St. Louis' Central Business District.
History
Station construction in 1991
Convention Center was built within the historic Downtown Tunnel, constructed in 1874 to carry trains between the Eads Bridge and the Mill Creek Valley rail yards.[3] The tunnel closed after a final Amtrak train passed through in 1974. Rehabilitation began in 1991 in preparation for the opening of MetroLink in 1993, which now uses the tunnel to connect communities in Illinois and Missouri via downtown St. Louis.[4] In 1992, just east of this station, a portion of the tunnel beneath Washington Avenue and Broadway collapsed, injuring no one.[5]
On January 20, 2023, Metro Transit announced that Convention Center will receive a full rehabilitation.[6] These improvements include updating elevators, escalators and stair access, lighting upgrades, improved signage and wayfinding, cleaning, and general infrastructure upgrades like new walls and flooring.[7] The rehabilitation is expected to begin shortly after the completion of the 8th & Pine station rehabilitation around December 2024.[8][9]
Station layout
Eastbound elevator access in 2016
The station's westbound platform is accessed via an entrance in the base of the former Stix, Baer, and Fuller flagship department store building, now known as The Laurel. The westbound side can also be accessed via a set of subway stairs on the northeast corner of 6th Street and Washington Avenue. The eastbound platform is accessed via a set of subway stairs, an escalator, and an elevator in the public plaza of 600 Washington in addition to another set of subway stairs across 6th Street.
In 1997, Metro's Arts in Transit program commissioned the work Birds in Flight by artists Peter Tao, Helen Lee, and Stuart and Stacey Morse for installation in the tunnel between the Convention Center and Laclede's Landing stations. The painted panels are meant to mimic the motion of a flying bird.[10]
^Primm, James, Neal (2010). Lion of the Valley, St. Louis, Missouri 1764–1980 (3rd ed.). United States: Missouri Historical Society Press. pp. 289–292. ISBN978-1-883982-25-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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