City Museum, St Louis opened its doors in 1997. Since then it has grown into a wonderland including museum displays, caves, tunnels, playgrounds, sculpture park, aquarium, and the world's largest pencil! The museum was started by artist, Bob Cassilly and is housed inside a 600,000 square foot former International Shoe Company warehouse. Each attraction is made from unique, found objects.
 
Cassilly and his longtime crew of twenty artisans have constructed the museum from the very stuff of the city and, as a result, it has urban roots deeper than any other institutions. Reaching no further than municipal borders for its reclaimed building materials, City Museum boasts features such as old chimneys, salvaged bridges, construction cranes, miles of tile, and even two abandoned planes.
 
"City Museum makes you want to know," says Cassilly. "The point is not to learn every fact, but to say, 'Wow, that's wonderful.' And if it's wonderful, it's worth preserving."
 
Regeneration of Architecture Hall
 
Architecture Hall curator Bruce Gerrie has added to his collection of relics a new permanent exhibit entitled 'Elmslie and Sullivan'. It showcases original architectural pieces from the buildings of Louis Sullivan (considered the father of Modern Architecture) and his chief draftsman, George Grant Elmslie.
 
Also included in Gerrie's collection is a cross that once adorned the Alexian Brothers Hospital (the original location of The Exorcist) and a less-haunted collection of brass doorknobs, numerous gargoyles, ornamental terracotta from Chicago, and an impressive array of medallions.