Craig and Andie LaBarge, Andy and Barbara Taylor
Andy Taylor, pictured second from right.
Andy Taylor, executive chairman of Enterprise Holdings, is the latest winner of the St. Louis Award, an honor given to a St. Louisan for philanthropy and service to the community. The award was established in 1931 by philanthropist David P. Wohl. David W. Kemper, the president of The St. Louis Award committee, announced Taylor as the winner in a private ceremony on Tuesday at the Forest Park Visitor Center's Trolley Room. The latest win for Taylor places him in the company of Dr. William Danforth, Joe Edwards, and Emily Rauh Pulitzer, other notable recipients of the award.
The award committee cited Taylor's commitment to two projects—the $380 million Gateway Arch Park renovation and the $30 million Soldiers Memorial Military Museum renovation—as proof of his dedication to the city. But perhaps Taylor's most exciting (though yet-to-be-completed) project: potentially bringing a Major League Soccer team to St. Louis, cleverly hash tagged #MLS4TheLou. Members of the Taylor family—including Taylor and his niece, Senior Vice President Carolyn Kindle Betz—announced in October that they are making a bid to bring a Major League Soccer team to St. Louis. If the group of investors succeeds, the team will be the first in the league's history to be majority women owned—and one of few in professional sports.
On Wednesday of last week, the Housing, Urban Development, and Zoning aldermen sub-committee passed a resolution 8-0 to bring a Major League Soccer stadium to the city after three hours of nuanced deliberation. On Friday, the full St. Louis Board of Alderman passed it 26-2. President Lewis Reed voted yes to the plan, which will set the foundation for incentives and financial plans going forward. "This Resolution brings us one step closer to our goal and helps demonstrate that America’s original soccer capital, St. Louis, is at the top of the table for an MLS expansion team," the ownership group said in a statement on Friday.
But there's still a lot of work to be done to bring a team here—namely, convincing the league we're worthy of hosting one. MLS commissioner Don Garber might visit as early as mid-December, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
