Maryland Heights: A Recreation And Entertainment Destination

FEATURE Review by Gabrielle Macaluso, MPPA, Assistant to the City Administrator

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

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

expand the park’s popularity and an amusement park, Electric Park, was built on the upper level of the park overlooking the lake. In 1904, Creve Coeur Lake hosted the Olympic Rowing Competition associated with the World’s Fair festivities. Rowing continues to be a popular activity at the lake today, but recreation offerings have expanded to include more modern elements such as paddle boarding, walking/biking trails and ziplines.

City Encourages Entertainment And Recreation

Maryland Heights has always been a destination for recreation and entertainment. After incorporation, city leaders embraced this legacy and pursued projects that would bring more visitors to Maryland Heights and encourage additional growth and development. An outdoor concert venue with 20,000 seats, owned and operated by Live Nation, now known as the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, opened in 1991. A casino, now owned and operated by Penn National Gaming as Hollywood Casino, opened in 1997. In 2016, the City approved financial incentives to facilitate the revitalization of Westport Plaza, an entertainment and business park originally built in 1971 and in need of upgrades. This $25 million investment to enhance public parking, provide facade and structural improvements, and build a new seven-story headquarters facility for technology giant World Wide Technology succeeded in creating 1,000 jobs and bringing new restaurants, tenants and visitors to Westport Plaza.

Over the years, numerous restaurants, hotels and other attractions have opened in Maryland Heights, bringing visitors. The growth of youth and amateur sports is also observed in Maryland Heights with Creve Coeur Park and the adjacent Lou Fusz and city-owned Sportport complexes containing a combined 37 soccer fields. The games and tournaments these facilities host draw hundreds of families to the region each weekend. Between these attractions and the more than 1,700 businesses that operate in the City, Maryland Heights’ daytime population grows from its base of 27,472 residents to approximately 75,000.

Additionally, the major corporations that call Maryland Heights home, namely World Wide Technology and Edward Jones, bring thousands of business travelers to the City for training.

“There’s a great synergy in Maryland Heights,” said Mayor Mike Moeller. “Our City is a destination for individuals traveling for both business and recreation. During the week, our hotel rooms are filled with those in town for work reasons and on the weekends, hotel rooms are booked by concert-goers and soccer families.”

In attracting both types of visitors, a strong hospitality industry has taken root in the City with nearly 4,000 hotel rooms, the second most in any municipality in the region after the city of St. Louis.

Completed in 2017, the 92,000-square-foot Maryland Heights Community Center features a fitness center, aquatic center, senior center, gymnasium and various meeting rooas.

Local children participate in swimming lessons at the aquatic center.

City Supports Hospitality Industry

Keenly understanding Maryland Heights’ economic niche as a destination location, the City worked with community leaders to establish a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Maryland Heights to visitors. This organization, the Maryland Heights Convention and Visitors Bureau (MHCVB), is supported by a 0.50% tax on hotel and motel rooms within the City. This tax was approved by voters in 2006 and took effect in 2007. The City collects the tax and submits the funds to the MHCVB by way of a contract for promotional services. From sports tournaments to family reunions, the MHCVB markets the City to those seeking vacations and opportunities. In a recent rebranding of the organization,

Community center patrons play basketball in the gymnasium.

the MHCVB adopted the tagline of being St. Louis’ backyard – a safe and attractive community close to the big city where visitors can have fun, relax and make connections. Additionally, the organization changed names to do business as Visit Maryland Heights, so that their purpose and function were more clearly understood by potential visitors.

Visit Maryland Heights is an integral part the local hospitality industry. Despite the temporary disruption of this industry by the COVID-19 pandemic, the City is in a strong position to return to normal traveler volume due to the efforts of Visit Maryland Heights.

“The relationships that Visit Maryland Heights staff have formed with hotel and attraction management, as well as their dedication to securing tournaments

The outdoor ice rink of the Centene Community Ice Center, also the referred to as The Barn, at sunset with Hollywood Casino in the background.

and promoting the City in any way they can, ensure that activity levels will return to normal,” said Mayor Moeller. “These connections and the support they provide are extremely valuable to hospitality establishments and the City.”

Entertainment And Recreation As Public Services

In addition to encouraging private sector hospitality, the City is committed to providing opportunities for recreation and entertainment as a public service. Over the years, Maryland Heights has invested in parks and recreation facilities, programs and services in an effort to enrich the lives of residents. In 2017, the City completed construction of a state-of-the-art, 92,000-square-foot community center. The facility features a fitness center, aquatic center, senior center, gymnasium and various meeting rooms. Much thought and consideration went into the planning of this facility to ensure that it had the amenities to serve the needs of the community and could accommodate future growth and interests.

Another investment in recreation is an extensive renovation of Aquaport, the City’s outdoor, 4.5-acre waterpark. Originally built in 1998, the facility was in need of structural improvements, a new filtration system, modern technology and a new feature. The City began the project in 2019. Pandemic-related product disruptions have delayed project completion and facility reopening. The City intends to celebrate Aquaport’s grand reopening in the summer of 2021. In addition to a new entrance, lifeguard offices and concession area, Aquaport will launch its new, wave-surfing simulation feature, the FlowRider.

In addition to these two flagship facilities, the City operates five parks plus a dog park, Dogport. Maryland Heights recently acquired a 10-acre athletic field complex that had fallen on hard times. The City will renovate, primarily using the in-house talents of staff from the departments of parks and recreation and public works. The City will restore the site to accommodate multiple sports and expects to open the first field in 2021. In spring 2020, the City secured a $850,000 grant from the St. Louis Community Foundation to build a greenhouse, garden and interpretive center to encourage and educate the community about gardening, sustainable lifestyles and reusable energy. The project is still in the planning stages, but it will include a variety of public and private partners.

The City is also a proud partner of the Centene Community Ice Center (CCIC), a 265,000-square-foot facility featuring four ice rinks, three indoor and one outdoor, located in the largely undeveloped northwestern edge of the City referred to as the Maryland Park Lake District. The $84-million project is funded through a publicprivate partnership with the city of Maryland Heights, the St. Louis Legacy Ice Foundation, St. Louis County and the state of Missouri. The CCIC that opened in September 2019, is the official practice home of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues with other tenants including Lindenwood University, the Lady Cyclones, St. Louis Blues Alumni, St. Louis Blues AAA and Mercy Sports Medicine. The outdoor rink features public ice skating in the winter months and will become the St. Louis Music Park, a 4,500-seat, multipurpose, outdoor concert venue that will be operated by Live Nation, in the summer months.

The CCIC is located adjacent to Hollywood Casino and the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, forming the foundation of an entertainment district. The CCIC is a critical investment made by the City to facilitate additional development in the Maryland Park Lake District. The project represents the future of the City as it draws more people to Maryland Heights for sporting events; these visitors will likely stay in hotels in town, gamble at the casino, buy a meal or

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attend a show during their stay. In short, the CCIC will have a multiplier effect on development, as well as provide another opportunity for residents and visitors to pursue recreation and entertainment, specifically ice sports, concerts and community events.

From the days of trolley cars to electric cars, Maryland Heights has remained a destination city. The pursuit of recreation, entertainment and corporate advancement bring people to Maryland Heights. Although the City enjoys a diverse economy with more than 1,700 businesses representing technology, hospitality, financial services, industrial and logistics firms, Maryland Heights’ identity is defined by recreation and entertainment. The City works hard to maintain these amenities by providing services, facilities and support to the local hospitality industry. In seeking out opportunities for collaboration, investment and growth, the City is moving forward and securing its position as a hub of recreation and entertainment activity.

Gabrielle Macaluso serves as the assistant to the city administrator and supervises the communications division for the city of Maryland Heights. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Administration from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and has served in municipal government for seven years. Learn more about the City at www.marylandheights. com.

A panoramic view of Aquaport prior to the renovation; the general layout and features will remain in place. Renovation highlights include a new entrance, concession stand, lifeguard office and feature, the FlowRider.