The upper deck of the new St. Louis Football Stadium design has a transparent canopy for rain protection and the sports lights will create a glow that illuminates the upper region of the stadium. (Rendering by HOK)
The St. Louis office of HOK, an international design, architectural and engineering firm, has completed its design for a proposed open-air stadium to be built in downtown St. Louis. The stadium project sits on a 93-acre development in the North Riverfront section on the bank of the Mississippi River.
The approximately 62,500-seat stadium design allows for the seat number to be expandable up to 72,000. The stadium’s features include multilevel entries, pedestrian bridges, and two large scoreboards at each end of the stadium, as well as glass-and-steel shades spread out across the top of the stadium. All of the stadium lighting will be LED.
Eli Hoisington, HOK design principal, indicated he and his HOK team haven’t scrimped on the comfort elements of the planned stadium, designing 20-inch and 20-inch-plus seat widths throughout the stadium and using 36-inch treads at a minimum.
HOK presented its initial designs to NFL executives this summer and will present an updated version to NFL owners at an as-yet-undetermined date in October.
“First and foremost, the change here is to do something that the NFL and the ballclub are going to be really proud of and that ownership, which will be coming from the club and from the stadium task force, can say ‘This represents everything we look for – a great football experience and a great venue the NFL can be really proud of,’” said Hoisington.
John Loyd, hired by St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority as Developer’s Representative to consult on stadium construction and design agreed about the project’s primary purpose. Loyd has served as an owner’s representative and construction consultant for several professional sports organizations over the years, including the Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates, as well as working on other stadium projects for Cleveland and Miami, basketball arena projects in Cleveland and Oakland, and a football stadium project for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.
“Our goal is to produce a top-tier NFL stadium that will be attractive to the Rams,” said Loyd.
The new stadium is an acknowledged attempt by the governor of Missouri and other interested parties to keep the Rams NFL franchise in St. Louis, or to attract another NFL team to town if the Rams leave. Gov. Nixon formed a stadium task force late last year, which is working to make the new stadium a reality and keep the Rams franchise in the Gateway City.
In January, multibillionaire real estate developer and St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke proposed a $2-billion stadium in Inglewood, Calif., as incentive for the NFL and Los Angeles to support the move of the Rams franchise back to the Los Angeles area. L.A. is the franchise’s historic home where the L.A. Rams played from 1946 until 1994. Kroenke’s plan was formally presented to NFL owners in August.
The decision by the NFL on what city the Rams call home in the future won’t likely be made until early in February 2016, according to Hoisington. Nevertheless, the HOK-designed St. Louis stadium process is moving forward. The stadium plan currently calls for a February 2016 construction start and a June 1, 2019 completion.
“We’ll be shovel-ready,” said Hoisington. “Basically, the land will be set, we’ll be ready to go and that will allow us to open in June of ’19 so we can be ready for the 2019 season.”
Loyd said the timetable is proceeding apace.
“We are right on schedule with the production of the design packages,” acknowledged Loyd. “We anticipate that we would be able to start bidding some of the early site demolition packages late this year. We would like to move onto the site in March 2016 and begin construction. That is our goal and we’re right on target with that.”
Loyd elaborated on further components of the planned stadium.
“Our stadium is incorporating a transparent canopy at the upper deck for rain protection and the sports lights will create a glow that illuminates the upper region of the stadium,” said Loyd. “There’s a lot of emphasis being made on site lighting that will feature not only the landscaping but the approaches and the public gathering areas. We’ll have two very large video screens, one on the north end zone, one on the south and quite a bit more video product and the opportunity for some of it to be visible from outside the stadium. And of course, our sound system will be world-class.”
Though keeping the Rams in St. Louis and providing the city a new NFL-caliber stadium is the focus of the St. Louis NFL Stadium Task Force, Hoisington noted that HOK has had more in mind than football during the design process. The plans incorporate special features for wider appeal such as a 30-foot-wide observation deck that stretches over the Mississippi River flood wall, a public art wall and a three-story brew pub.
HOK’s design also incorporates significant green space including rainwater gardens, grass lawns rather than asphalt parking lots that can bear the weight of visitor vehicles, and two bike trails, one just west of the stadium and another to the east that connect to the city’s Great Rivers Greenway Network. Altogether, the new stadium’s design adds 38 acres of public space, of which 21 acres are landscaped green space.
“There’s an obligation to the City of St. Louis and to everybody who lives here that this be something way more than just football,” said Hoisington. “Our notion is, okay, NFL first but we want it to support other things too – concerts, NCAA, MLS, other outdoor events so that people are down there not just a few days a year but maybe 100 days a year. This is an opportunity to redefine the whole riverfront. It’s going to be a major statement for St. Louis.”
Revitalization of an unproductive, unattractive piece of downtown land is the added benefit of the project.
“It completely redevelops a blighted 93-acre parcel in downtown St. Louis,” noted Loyd. “There is very little commercial activity going on down there now. HOK has taken advantage of the grade profile across the site, which drops about 60 feet from Broadway down to the river. The firm has designed a stadium that fits perfectly into that site. There are multiple points of entry at grade, which means a lot of fans can get to their seats without having to take elevators and escalators.”
Loyd is optimistic about not only the new stadium as a sports facility but also its potential as a gathering place and recreational site for visitors.
“When we finish, we think the stadium complex and grounds will be a magnet for visitors to the city. There are a lot of attractive public gathering areas and activity areas just outside the stadium.”
Hunt Construction Group/Clayco has been named the construction manager to build the stadium. Hunt/Clayco will lead a joint venture with St. Louis-based firms KAI Design & Build and Legacy Building Group, collectively branded as HCKL. The group will report to Loyd. St. Louis-based Kwame Building Group and will provide project management support services.
Funding plans to build the $998-million arena in St. Louis include, according to an Aug. 18 news report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, paying for construction with “$450 million from the National Football League and the team that plays in the new stadium, $201 million in bond proceeds from the state and the city of St. Louis, $160 million from the sale of seat licenses and $187 million in tax credits.”
Interviewed for this story: Eli Hoisington, (314)754-4290; John Loyd, (816) 921-8000