FEATURE Review
by Gabrielle Macaluso, MPPA, Assistant to the City Administrator
Maryland Heights:
A Recreation And Entertainment Destination
The City issued $25 million in incentives in 2016 to revitalize Westport Plaza, an entertainment and business park originally built in 1971. Westport Plaza now features improved public parking and storm water storage amenities, new restaurants and a seven-story headquarters facility for World Wide Technology. The project created 1,000 additional jobs in Maryland Heights.
Incorporated in 1985, Maryland Heights is one of the youngest cities in St. Louis County. Because of this, it has been said that Maryland Heights has a limited history. However, long before Maryland Heights incorporated as a third-class city, the 23.2-squaremile area located at the intersection of present-day Interstates 270 and 70 was already an established community with a long and colorful history. Early settlers arrived in what is now Maryland Heights in search of farmland and opportunities. Life revolved around agriculture, trade routes and Creve Coeur Lake, which at 320 acres is one the 16
theReview November/December 2020
A city of just under 27,500 residents located at the intersection of Interstates 270 and 70, Maryland Heights, Missouri, is a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, in western St. Louis County.
largest natural lakes located in Missouri and the namesake of the modern-day Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park owned and operated by St. Louis County. Creve Coeur Lake became the main attraction for the area, not only for the sustenance it provided, but also as a source of recreation. By the late 1800s, community members were harvesting ice from the lake in the winter and hosting boat races in the summer. A trolley line was extended in the late 1890s from the city of St. Louis to the park, bringing weary citydwellers to the countryside for fun-filled days on the water. The trolley helped
