Museum history
With everything from a 10-story slide to an in-house circus to a 3,000-pound praying mantis perched on the roof, City Museum is one of the most weird and wonderful places to explore in St. Louis. Housed in the old International Shoe Warehouse building, City Museum was founded in 1997 and celebrated its 25th birthday in 2022. Although it was purchased in 2019 by Oklahoma City–based Premier Parks, it retains the DIY spirit of its late founder, Bob Cassilly, through its reliance on found materials and flotsam as key construction materials. Visitors who are ready to trade screen time and video games for a unique and active experience will always find something new to see or do at City Museum, says Jessica Hentoff, founder of Circus Harmony, an independent nonprofit social circus that operates inside City Museum. “People need and want to test their physical limits and not just use their thumbs, and City Museum is a place where you can use your whole body,” she says. “It’s a museum for doers.”
Must-see exhibits
There’s a lot to see at the 6,000-square-foot City Museum, which boasts more than 29,000 artifacts including oddities like the world’s largest pencil, which shares space on the third floor with a giant pair of underwear and the museum’s Skateless Skatepark, architectural museum, and pinball hall, among other attractions.
Discover fun things to do with the family
Subscribe to the St. Louis Family newsletter for family-friendly things to do and news for local parents, sent every Monday.
The fourth floor, which houses the St. Louis Art Center, is worth a gander as well, including “Abstract Sculptures (Giant big, me ideal)” Flexing bronze sausage man by Erwin Wurm, “Floor” by Do Ho Suh, “Psychogeography 76” and “Psychogeography 92” by Dustin Yellin.
Former employee Ollie Weber says that visitors can’t miss the “iconic” massive whale sculpture on the first floor, which also offers one access point to the tunnels and caves that wind through the museum and have access points on both the first and fourth floors.
“My personal favorite is probably the caves,” says Weber, who worked as floor staff and created content for the museum’s TikTok account. “It’s a really fun spot to get lost in. The caves are just one big illusion because all the tunnels lead back to the same room. You can be in a tunnel for 20, 30, 40 feet, and you’ll come out about 5 feet left of where you came in. It’s astonishing.”
When visitors are ready for a break from climbing, crawling, and sliding, they can explore the Louis Sullivan exhibit on the fourth floor or the architectural museum and Circus Harmony ring on the third floor. There, they might watch a 20- or 30-minute performance, staged a few times a day during museum operating hours, or observe students and performers practicing various skills.
“Even when we’re not doing shows, we almost always have people practicing or professionals training,” Hentoff says. “I honestly think parents and other caregivers feel it’s a bit of a respite from taking your children in the caves and tunnels.”
Read our ideas for attractions we’d love to see at City Museum here.
When to go
When the weather is nice, any attractions, including outdoor ones like the enormous praying mantis that presides over the rooftop or the outdoor playground known as MonstroCity, are fair game. However, any time of year is a good time to enjoy the tunnels, slides, free circus shows, and other indoor amusements. We recommend buying museum tickets online in order to skip the line, which can be long, especially in the summer. We also advise bringing your own water. (Policies permit plastic water bottles.)
Heat can definitely deter people from exploring and enjoying the museum’s rooftop attractions, which are open from March through September. Summer is also the museum’s busiest time, so Weber recommends visiting during the window between spring and summer break or in the fall. Evenings also offer cooler temperatures and a unique vantage point, especially from atop the Big Eli Ferris Wheel.
“The Ferris wheel lights come on, and you get the best view of the sunset,” Weber says. “That’s my favorite time to be up there.”
Ferris wheel fans might consider investing in a Gold Membership for $54.99 or the Basic Membership for $49.99.
Safety tips
Wearing closed-toe shoes is a must. We also recommend pairing kids for group outings, as well as bringing plenty of adult chaperones to supervise and guide kids who might be wary of exploring the slides and tunnels on their own.
And, whether you’re with a Scout troop, a school group, or just your own kiddos, it’s important to write your name and number on their wristbands, Weber says. The museum has wristbands and permanent markers available at the front desk for this purpose. Weber also recommends snapping a smartphone photo that clearly shows what kids are wearing that day to make it easier for staff to help track them down in case they get separated from a group.
What City Museum doesn’t have are headlamps and kneepads for rent, Weber says. (The museum gift shop usually has kneepads available for purchase, however.)
“With all the crawling and climbing on tile, cement, and rebar, kneepads are very helpful,” Weber says.
It’s also important to follow safety policies and other common sense rules, like not crossing your ankles while you’re on one of the slides, advises Weber, who created a TikTok showcasing the safety tip.
“It’s not a waterslide. Please stop crossing your ankles.”
Fast stats
Good for: Generally older kids, but there is a Toddler Town on the third floor.
Price: $20 per person. Kids under 3 play for free.
Hours: Hours vary by month. See the website for details. The rooftop is generally open March–September.
Is there food?: There are eight food options located throughout the museum.
Location: Downtown West, 750 N. 16th
Website: citymuseum.org
Phone: 314-231-2489
