More Than a Stadium

Energizer Park is more than just a stadium for Major League Soccer’s St. Louis CITY SC. It’s a source of civic pride and a beacon for downtown St. Louis.

The 22,500-seat stadium anchors a thriving new downtown district with a team headquarters, training facility and practice fields. The venue represents a new model for MLS, moving away from the standard inward-facing venues. It’s a new public amenity that invites all of St. Louis to share in the soccer experience.

The vision for the 25.5-acre development, located in St. Louis’ Downtown West District, was driven by team ownership. The majority women-owned team envisioned the stadium as a catalyst for broader district development to reenergize downtown and guide it into the future.

Since opening in 2022, the stadium development has become a hub of activity for downtown St. Louis, drawing people and investment to the area year-round. In the stadium’s inaugural year, it generated more than $168 million in economic impact, with more than 18% coming from outside the region. It serves as a destination for civic, community and private events, breathing new life into the district. In the 2023 season, the stadium hosted more than 200 private events.

Since MLS announced its expansion into St. Louis in 2019, Downtown West has seen a surge in investment. Nearly $820 million has been infused into the district, and more than 300 new occupancy permits granted, signifying the stadium’s broader economic, cultural and developmental impact.

CITY SC’s ownership group worked with the design team to develop five strategic pillars. These pillars guided the project from its earliest conception through construction:

1. Connection: The stadium and district should be artfully integrated and connected to the neighborhood’s fabric.
2. Mobility: The design should move people efficiently using creative infrastructure and technology.
3. Sport: The stadium should create a loud, proud home-field advantage
4. Training: Ownership wanted to bring the team headquarters, practice fields and a development academy to the city. This facilitates a soccer-centric culture.
5. Experience: The inspiring architecture and public spaces should bring 24/7/365 vitality to the neighborhood.

These strategic pillars provided a clear framework for the design team to create a stadium that would not only serve as a home for the team but also contribute to the revitalization of downtown St. Louis.

The team designed the seating bowl to provide fans with an intimate experience at every price point, from the fanatical supporters’ club to diverse premium amenities. No seat is more than 120 feet from the pitch.

Home-Field Advantage

An overhanging upper seating bowl brings fans closer to the field, while a steep seating rake heightens the atmosphere. The supporters’ section features an even steeper rake, creating an intimidating wall of fans behind the goal that adds to the home-field advantage. These decisions, while common in other leagues, mark a significant shift away from the relaxed, single-bowl designs common across MLS.

Enhancing Views and Visual Connectivity

The southern part of the stadium that sits closest to the Gateway Mall is slightly detached from the venue’s northern structure. This design choice enhances views from premium seats while providing greater visual connectivity to the Gateway Arch.

The upper concourse also features a drink rail facing the city, encouraging fans to look out toward game-day festivities.  Fans feel like they’re part of the larger cityscape.

HOK and Snow Kreilich Architects collaborated on the design to ensure the stadium would complement and celebrate St. Louis’ architectural character. The sleek, transparent design maximizes engagement with the city, allowing passersby to glimpse the action inside. A flat portico, open corners and slender columns frame the seating bowl, defining the stadium’s distinctive design.

A visually light and elegant 120-foot canopy mirrors the Gateway Arch’s reflective nature, sheltering fans from the weather, allowing daylight to seep in and amplifying fan noise.

This simple yet striking canopy creates a sense of enclosure that focuses attention on the field while keeping the stadium connected to the urban core, establishing a definitive sense of place.

The permeable design minimizes the stadium’s height so that it relates to surrounding buildings. Inside, open concourses allow for easy movement and social interaction.

Ground-level retail and flexible public gathering spaces enhance the stadium’s engagement with the urban fabric. Community plazas transform the area before and after games. They also are used for outside events, ensuring that Energizer Park remains a vibrant part of the city even when there are no matches being played.

While most stadiums use one or two sides of their venue for operations, the team designed Energizer Park without a “back door.” Due to the stadium’s prominent downtown site, all four corners needed to be active and accessible. The design includes an underground tunnel to accommodate back-of-house services. The tunnel is accessible near the club’s training facility across Market Street. This innovative solution ensures that the stadium maintains its permeability and connection to the surrounding area on all sides.

The owners were committed to creating a fan experience that was memorable, elevated and authentic to the city. Diverse seating products, unique gathering spaces, local food and beverage offerings and innovative technology engage fans in every part of their journey.

Staying Connected to the Action

Wide, open-air concourses help fans stay connected to the action on the field. Clear signage makes navigating the stadium an intuitive experience.

Diverse Seating Options

A variety of seating options, from general admission to club, drink rail, pitch boxes and suite spaces, give fans a multitude of experiences. The ULTRA Club sits on Market Street and serves a dual function, transforming into an indoor event space beyond game day with floor-to-ceiling windows offering expansive city views. The Moneta Pitch Club, Together Credit Union Club and open-air CITY View Terraces provide additional options.

Local Food and Beverage

Energizer Park’s food and beverage options showcase the best of St. Louis cuisine. The stadium partnered with St. Louis-based and James Beard award-winning chef Gerard Craft to curate the menu. Craft and other culinary partners were involved in the design process, which helped optimize layouts and workflows to increase efficiency and enhance the fan experience.

The stadium features a two-sided concession format, which allows fans to access their favorite items quickly. Hand-picked concessionaires and vendors celebrate many of St. Louis’ beloved restaurants, giving fans a true taste of the city. For those looking to grab a beer and socialize before or during the game, the “Hellcat” brew pub offers a variety of local craft beers.

Innovative Technology

Energizer Park incorporates cutting-edge technology to enhance the fan experience. The stadium features high-impact, thoughtfully integrated video boards, but the technological innovations extend far beyond that.

The cashless stadium facilitates a frictionless journey for fans. Mobile ticketing, in-game updates via the CITY app and advanced wayfinding systems streamline entry and exit processes. Fans can also take advantage of three grab-and-go markets and self-checkout units to bypass traditional lines.

The CITY app offers mobile ordering, making the stadium one of the first to adopt this convenient feature.

Behind the scenes, a fiber network connects the stadium, headquarters, training facility, team store and practice field. This interconnected systems ensures smooth operations and lays the foundation for future technological advancements.

Energizer Park was a fast-moving project with a large, diverse team. HOK and Snow Kreilich Architects collaborated on the design. KAI Enterprises and WA, Inc. provided architectural design support. MAK Joint Venture (Mortenson Construction, Alberici Construction, Keeley Construction) served as the construction manager. The owner’s representative was Kwame Building Group + Unlimited Partners. HOK also served as the landscape architect, structural engineer and sustainability consultant. ME Engineers provided MEP engineering services. Kiku Obata & Company designed the stadium’s signage and wayfinding system.

Energizer Park was previously known as CITYPARK.