It’s hard to imagine, but since the City Museum opened 25 years ago this month, it has actually scrapped some ideas for being too out there. Consider how, before his untimely death in 2011, founder Bob Cassilly had a grander vision for the building’s top: a water park. “It was a goal of his,” says Rick Erwin, creative director of City Museum. “But the roof couldn’t hold the water needed.”
In his role, Erwin strives to fulfill the fantastical and endearingly strange creative vision of his predecessor. While he has plenty of freedom and flexibility to shape the way City Museum looks and feels, Erwin has also encountered lots of ideas that just can’t happen. At least, not yet.
Among them, he’d love to install a life-size claw machine that hangs off the roof. (The claw is in storage, just no machine yet.) He and his team also once approached a structural engineer about adding a children’s Ferris wheel with cars that would jut halfway outside the building.
To be honest, we think these ideas are pretty cool and hope they actually happen in the museum’s next quarter century. In the spirit of the City Museum’s ridiculous over-the-topness, we have some of our own ideas that celebrate the institution’s—and the city’s—unique brand of quirkiness.
Britt Spencer
1. EXPERIENCE WHAT IT’S LIKE TO DRIVE IN ST. LOUIS—WITH BUMPER CARS. This attraction starts innocently enough before—BAM!—another driver rear-ends you and speeds away. In the local tradition, expired temporary tags will be affixed to each car.
2. TRY TO RECONNECT ST. LOUIS CITY AND COUNTY. It has been146 years since “The Great Divorce” separated St. Louis City and County. In this hands-on exhibit, visitors will try to connect puzzle pieces that represent the city and the county’s 91 municipalities. There’s one catch: The magnets are of the same polarity, and they fundamentally repel each other.
3. SLIDE INTO A POTHOLE. This feature celebrates potholes, our region’s greatest natural resource. Adventure awaits as kids plunge into a pothole that’s two stories deep.
4. RIDE AN ELECTRIC SCOOTER. This one doesn’t seem that exciting, until you remember that city officials recently banned the use of electric scooters downtown. Collect the Birds and Limes, charge ’em up, and turn ’em loose at City Museum’s skateless skate park, the only place downtown where you can electric scoot.
5. ENJOY A RIDE IN A REPLICA OF THE LOOP TROLLEY. In honor of the Loop Trolley, City Museum will spend several years and millions of dollars developing an extremely authentic replica that will take riders on a slow trip around the building.
6. RIDE THE ROLLER COASTER OF BEING A CARDINALS FAN. Oh, what fun it is to cheer for one of the most historic franchises in baseball history. This ride will simulate the experience of rooting for the Redbirds, beginning with an exhilarating start that will make you believe anything is possible. Thanks to unpredictable ups and downs and built-in turbulence encountered halfway through the course, you’ll feel as if the operator has no idea what they’re doing. At the end, holograms of iconic former players donning red coats will wave you to the finish, hypnotizing you with a unique blend of schmaltzy nostalgia that will keep you coming back for more.
