Bob O’Loughlin enjoys a challenge. It’s evident in the projects that the chairman and CEO of Lodging Hospitality Management (LHM) chooses to tackle.
Take his current endeavor: Westport Plaza, the once-bustling entertainment hub in Maryland Heights. Even before the pandemic, the outdoor mall and office area had fallen on tough times. O’Loughlin has already started to change Westport’s fate. He opened Westport Social, a veritable playground for adults with such games as foosball, shuffleboard, and bocce ball. He’s also looking to add residential living and to create a suburban version of Three Sixty, the rooftop bar atop the downtown Hilton.
He approaches all of his projects with a distinct philosophy: “I look at something that other people look at and dream, and say, ‘Why not?’”
Paul Nordmann
That was O’Loughlin’s attitude when LHM bought Union Station. The historic landmark’s had its share of ups and downs over more than a century. By the time that LHM took over the property, in 2012, the hotel and former train station needed a lot of work. “I had no idea what I was eventually going to do with the facilities,” O’Loughlin recalls. “I thought it was a good buy for a 560-room hotel. I felt that the hotel would take care of everything else.”
O’Loughlin thought about using the rest of the space for offices—but then had another idea. “As time wore on…I started to think, St. Louis is the largest city in the country without an aquarium.” He began to research the prospect, traveling to other aquariums, and soon realized that an aquarium alone wouldn’t cut it. We need family entertainment to go with it, he decided. One would play off the other.
He considered the iconic Ferris wheel at the 1904 World’s Fair and thought a giant wheel would complement the aquarium. He also reflected on Union Station’s origins. “If you’re going to own a train station, you might as well own a train,” O’Loughlin says. So LHM acquired eight train cars, and Union Station began hosting Polar Express–themed rides during the holidays. He also installed a ropes course, a mirror maze, and mini-golf course.
IF YOU’RE GOING TO OWN A TRAIN STATION, YOU MIGHT AS WELL OWN A TRAIN,” O’LOUGHLIN SAYS. SO LHM ACQUIRED EIGHT TRAIN CARS, AND UNION STATION BEGAN HOSTING POLAR EXPRESS–THEMED RIDES DURING THE HOLIDAYS.
While all of Union Station’s attractions are a way to bring families to the city, O’Loughlin sees his investment as a boon to downtown as a whole. He says it likely helped influence the decision to put the new soccer stadium a stone’s throw away from Union Station, just across Market Street.
Although O’Loughlin says Westport Plaza will be his last major endeavor, he can’t help but envision another opportunity to make St. Louis even more of a family attraction: the downtown riverfront. “I would love to see if we could work with the federal government to do a Millennium Park, like Chicago, down on the riverfront,” he says. “I remember when we connected the Arch with the downtown area to make it more convenient, John Danforth said that you can go to the Arch, but there’s nothing to do down there. And I still think we have to have more things to do there.”
While O’Loughlin says he’s not necessarily the person to get a riverfront project off the ground, he is hopeful that someone sees the opportunity that he saw in St. Louis. He firmly believes that St. Louis is a worthwhile investment for family entertainment.
“Who was going to do a wheel? Who was going to do an aquarium? It is very risky to do an attraction when you have a free zoo and free science center or free history museum,” he says. “It’s very innovative and risky to do it, but I felt this is the location that you ought to take a risk. I took a big risk, and it worked.”
