St Louis City SC looks to MLS future by remembering hard truths of the past – The Guardian

When Major League Soccer decided to build Centene Stadium in St Louis, the first priority was honoring the hard truths of the past. The 22,500-seat soccer-specific stadium is designed with canopy shading and is 40ft below street level. It also sits on the same block that was once a part of Mill Creek Valley, the predominantly Black neighborhood on the Southwest end of St Louis once home to 20,000 residents, 800 businesses and more than 40 religious institutions. In addition to Madame CJ Walker, Americas first Black woman millionaire, Mill Creek was also home to Josephine Baker, Scott Joplin and General William Tecumseh Sherman. Even poet Walt Whitman was known to visit the thriving Black community. But in the summer of 1959, the residents of Mill Creek Valley were displaced and the neighborhood demolished in the name of urban renewal.

Now the embryonic MLS club St Louis City SC and Great Rivers Greenway are using the stadium as a platform to tell the story of Mill Creek Valley.

It was really setting a precedent of starting as a community-led brand and community-led club that was actually entrenched in the community in more ways than just the sport, says Khalia Collier, vice-president of community relations for St Louis City SC.

Mill Creek Valley, as it once was, spanned the downtown west district of St Louis. Today, the one-mile stretch of the Brickline Greenway linking Centene Stadium to Harris-Stowe State University, the citys HBCU, will be a standing tribute to the community that was lost. Artist and native St Louisan Damon Davis says Mill Creek Valley is a virtually unknown part of Black history he was previously not aware of.

I learned about it during the research phase of preparing the application, Davis says. I was kind of embarrassed. Growing up we learned about Black history and I knew about all these people around the world, but I didnt know this place existed.

Davis won the bid to design the artwork for the Counterpublic Civic Art Exhibition in 2023 and, after learning about the neighborhood, he wanted to know more. As a result, Davis was moved to create a monument that he says will never be forgotten. The public art installation runs along Market Street on the southwest side of the stadium and consists of eight pillars or hourglasses that represent time, or a collective history Davis says has been glossed over. Within each hourglass is a pyramid symbolic the earth or sand at a standstill.

If the sand is not falling that means time is not moving, so the idea of the pyramid being in the top chamber, is the idea we have stopped for a second to commemorate and to have reverence for these histories that were purposely covered up, Davis says. There was an intention behind removing these people from the narrative of St Louis and now there must the same intention behind bringing their stories back to life.

In between the pillars in front of Centene Stadium and Harris-Stowe University will be signage and individual pillars connecting the few remaining buildings from Mill Creek Valley along the greenway. The segment of the Brickline Greenway will include Harris-Stowe State Universitys renovated Stars Park, former home to the St Louis Stars of the Negro Baseball League, and Vashon Community Center, one of the only remaining structures from Mill Creek Valley, that will be converted into the Don and Heide Wolff Jazz Institute and National Black Radio Hall of Fame.

From the 1950s to the mid 80s, St Louis was considered the soccer capital of the US thanks to a large immigrant population from Germany, Italy and Ireland that produced more homegrown soccer players than any other state. Currently St. Louis has acres of soccer fields spanning out into the suburbs of the St Louis region, but when you cross the Daniel Boone Bridge you wouldnt know the sport exists in the same way, Collier says.

St Louis City FCs headquarters, training facility and stadium are strategically located within the downtown west district. The location makes it easy to prioritize resources and give sustainable infrastructure where it did not exist, Collier says. Right now, the expansion club is working through an infrastructure plan to make the game more accessible. The areas of impact are youth development which prioritizes Black and Brown children having access to soccer community investment, social justice, and health and wellness.

You can say bridging the gap in the game of soccer is really lofty, but how were going about doing it is incredibly intentional and were calling community members in, so they see these opportunities of us integrating technology and sport innovation in a way thats simply hasnt been done, Collier says.

The St Louis City SC app features stories about Mill Creek Valley, where fans can learn how the current landscape represents the row houses that made up the vibrant community. The stadium also incorporates plaques into the landscape as hedgerows representing homes and within the landscape is the address of each home. Because St Louis is a predominantly Black city, Collier says its important to share the history of the neighborhood and also include the community in what St Louis City SC is up to off the pitch.

The nascent club is eager to engage the next generation about career opportunities within the sport. The MLS is the youngest and most diverse sports league in the country and St Louis City want to reflect that on every level. Before the stadium opened, the club had the most participation of African Americans on any major project in the city of St Louis. The club also sourced staff from the local workforce to boost economic development in Black and Brown communities. Collier says thats just the beginning as they continue to hire ahead of the official start of play in March 2023.

In addition to the greenways, the Brickline connecting St Louis will be used as a catalyst for growth and partnership. Great Rivers Greenway is focused on community engagement based on equity and economic development, says Susan Trautman, CEO of Great Rivers Greenway. The vision for the Brickline Greenway is 20 miles of pathways that connects 17 neighborhoods including Forest Park, Gateway Arch National Park, Fairground Park and Tower Grove Park. While the area along Mill Creek is largely developed, GRG is partnering with several organizations in an equity economic development working group with goals centered around people, power, places and systems. Trautman says it was essential that the working group receive input from the community about how to revitalize the areas of disinvestment in North St Louis.

Its about using the community voice to make decisions about how land and real estate is developed, Trautman says. And working in tandem with our nonprofit partners we will have an equity economic director who encourage and support development that is driven by community need adjacent to the greenway.

GRG recently released an RFQ for design to build the Brickline North section. The organization then held a mixer to allow small businesses owned by people of color to become part of the major design team effort. GRG is focused on design and construction in the North St Louis area where there is not as much opportunity. and real estate development is focused on the 500ft to quarter-mile perimeter of the Brickline, where economic development is more likely to occur.

The biggest part of making sure people in the community are engaged is educating them on how they can be engaged and introducing them to opportunities where maybe they are a sub consultant to start so maybe they can grow their business, Trautman says.

From Davis artwork to economic initiatives, St Louis City SC is striving to be a new spirit in St Louis through the power of sport. And for the club, acknowledging the past is part of building for a better future. Collier says the monument dedicated to the story of Mill Creek Valley goes beyond the fan experience, but it pushed St Louis in the middle of a national conversation.

Not only do we get to educate St Louisans, we get to educate the world, Collier says. But this is going to be a national monument in St Louis and theres nothing like this in sports.

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St Louis City SC looks to MLS future by remembering hard truths of the past - The Guardian