Busch Memorial Stadium
A multi-purpose stadium that served St. Louis for 40 years, home to baseball and football Cardinals and briefly the Rams.
Busch Memorial Stadium (Busch Stadium II) was a multi-purpose sports facility in St. Louis, Missouri, that operated for 40 years, from 1966 through 2005. Built as Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium, its official name was shortened to Busch Stadium in January 1982. The stadium served as the home of the St. Louis Cardinals National League baseball team for its entire operating existence, while also serving as home to the National Football League's Cardinals team for 22 seasons, from 1966 through 1987, as well as the St. Louis Rams during part of the 1995 season.
Lore & Background
The stadium was designed by Sverdrup & Parcel and built by Grün & Bilfinger. Edward Durell Stone designed the roof, a 96-arch 'Crown of Arches'. The Crown echoed the Gateway Arch, which had been completed only a year before Busch Stadium opened. Its final event was the sixth game of the 2005 National League Championship Series on October 19. The stadium was demolished by wrecking ball in late 2005 and part of its former footprint is occupied by its replacement—the new Busch Stadium (a.k.a. Busch Stadium III), located to its south.
Reader's Guide
The stadium opened on May 12, 1966. It hosted the All-Star Game just weeks after opening, followed by a performance by The Beatles. The stadium's grass was replaced with AstroTurf in 1970. Anheuser-Busch bought the stadium in 1981 for $53 million and removed 'Memorial' from the name. Following the Rams' last 1995 event—the October 22 game before the opening of the Dome at America's Center—the Cardinals retrofitted it into a baseball-only stadium. The Cardinals won two World Series championships in Busch Memorial Stadium: in 1967 and 1982.
More in Stadium & Culture
Elsewhere in Los Angeles Rams
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced