Forest Park - River des Peres, St. Louis, MO
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What’s Out There Weekend St. Louis and the Missouri River Valley Sept. 24-25 Features Free, Expert Led tours of Park, Gardens and Open Spaces

Media Contact: Nord Wennerstrom | T: 202.483.0553  | M: 202.255.7076 | E: nord@tclf.org

Part of a nationwide program that reveals the stories of places that are part of our daily lives

Washington, D.C. (August 23, 2022) – The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) announces What’s Out There St. Louis and the Missouri River Valley September 24-25, 2022, featuring more than two dozen free, expert-led tours of parks, gardens, campuses, and open spaces throughout the area.  These tours enable people to discover the design history of places they may pass every day but don’t necessarily know about. Expert guides provide rich stories, personal anecdotes, and keen observations about each site, landscape architecture, city shaping, and garden design (all tours are free, but attendance is limited and registration is required). This region’s landscape legacy includes myriad parks and plazas, cultural institutions, and historic sites and neighborhoods, including the Katy Trail, Forest Park, the Missouri Botanical Garden, Gateway Arch National Park, Dutchtown, and many others. TCLF will produce a printed guidebook for What’s Out There Weekend St. Louis that includes the tour sites (available for purchase and free as a downloadable PDF).  TCLF will also create an ever-growing digital St. Louis and the Missouri River Valley City Guide, which launches with at least 50 sites and 50 designer profiles. TCLF maintains the guide in perpetuity.

Research gathered for the tours will have a long-lasting legacy, becoming part of TCLF’s permanent What’s Out There database of more than 2,400 sites across North America. The GPS-enabled database is a go-to resource for everyone from schoolchildren to scholars seeking trustworthy online information. 

TOUR SCHEDULE – All tours are free, but attendance is limited and registration is required.

SATURDAY – September 24 

  • Forest Park: The Jewel Box | 9:00 – 10:00 AM | led by Ted Spaid (SWT Design) 
  • O’Fallon Park | 9:00 – 10:00 AM | led by Constance Siu (North Newstead Association) and Casey Ringenberg (North Newstead Association) 
  • Fort Bellefontaine | 10:00 – 11:00 AM | led by Tom Hoff (St. Louis County Parks) 
  • The Ville | 10:00 – 11:30 AM | led by Aaron Williams (4TheVille) 
  • Weldon Spring Site Interpretive Center | 10:00 – 11:30 AM | led by Lia Bartnicki (Weldon Spring Site Interpretive Center) 
  • Tower Grove Park: Nee Kee Nee | 10:00 – 11:30 AM | Chris Sanders (Lamar Johnson Collaborative)  
  • Pulitzer Arts Foundation “Park-Like” | 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM | Chris Carl (Studio Land Arts) 
  • Missouri Botanical Garden: Climatron | 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM | led by Missouri Botanical Garden Docents 
  • Bellefontaine Cemetery | 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM | led by Joe Shields (Bellefontaine Cemetery & Arboretum) 
  • Forest Park: Art Hill | 12:00 – 1:00 PM | led by Ted Spaid (SWT Design) 
  • Jefferson Barracks | 12:00 – 1:00 PM | led by Tom Hoff (St. Louis County Parks)   
  • Citygarden | 12:00 – 1:30 PM | led by Christian Kochuba (Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects) 
  • Greenwood Cemetery | 12:30 – 2:00 PM | led by Raphael Morris (Greenwood Cemetery Preservation Association) and Etta Daniels (Greenwood Cemetery Preservation Association) 
  • Missouri Botanical Garden: History of the Garden | 1:00 – 2:30 PM | led by Missouri Botanical Garden Docents 
  • Peers Country Store | 1:00 – 1:45 PM | led by Dan Burkhardt (Magnificent Missouri) and Connie Burkhardt (Magnificent Missouri) 
  • Dutchtown | 1:00 – 2:30 PM | led by NiNi Harris (Author/Historian) 
  • Treloar Country Store | 2:00 – 2:45 PM | led by Dan Burkhardt (Magnificent Missouri) and Connie Burkhardt (Magnificent Missouri) 
  • Gateway Mall | 2:00 – 3:00 PM | led by Michael Allen (National Building Arts Center) 
  • Fairground Park | 2:00 – 3:00 PM | led by Michael E. Willis, FAIA (MWA Architects, ret.) 
  • Laumeier Sculpture Park | 2:00 – 3:30PM | led by Laumeier Sculpture Park Docents 

 

SUNDAY – September 25 

  • Tower Grove Park: Trivers Tour of Pavilions | 10:00 – 11:30 AM | Led by Amy Gilbertson (Trivers) and Hallie Nolan (Trivers) 
  • Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site | 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM | led by Nick Sacco (National Park Service) 
  • Washington University in St. Louis: East End Transformation / Tisch Park | 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM | led by Jeff Morrisey (Washington University in St. Louis) and Anu Samarajiva (Arbolope Studio) 
  • Downtown Hermann | 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM | led by Visit Hermann Docents (City of Hermann) 
  • Forest Park: History of the World’s Fair | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Led by Amanda Clark (Missouri Historical Society)  
  • Missouri Botanical Garden: Japanese Garden | 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM | led by Missouri Botanical Garden Docents 
  • Gateway National Arch | 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM | led by Luke Ness (Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates) and Pamela K. Sanfilippo (Gateway Arch National Park) 
  • Laclede’s Landing | 12:00 – 1:30 PM | led by Lonny Boring (Great Rivers Greenway) and Josiah Gundersen (Missouri Historical Society) 
  • Missouri Botanical Garden: Historical Architecture of the Garden | 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM | led by Missouri Botanical Garden Docents 
  • Tower Grove Park: Tree Restoration Walk | 1:00 – 2:30 PM | Paul Toenjes (SWT Design) 
  • Deutschheim State Historic Site | 1:30 – 3:00 PM| led by Missouri State Parks Docents 
  • Lafayette Park | 2:00 – 3:00 PM | led by John Hoal (H3 Studio) 
  • Soldiers Memorial Military Museum | 2:00 – 3:00 PM | led by Mark Sundlov (Soldiers Memorial) and Michelle Ohle (DTLS) 

What’s Out There Weekend St. Louis and the Missouri River Valley dovetails with TCLF’s web-based What’s Out There, the nation’s most comprehensive searchable database of historic designed landscapes. The database currently features more than 2,400 sites, 12,000 images, and 1,200 designer profiles. What’s Out There is optimized for iPhones and similar handheld devices, and includes What’s Nearby, a GPS-enabled feature that locates all landscapes within a given distance, customizable by mileage or walking time. 

“There is an abundance of unique and memorable cultural landscapes throughout St. Louis and the Missouri River Valley,” said TCLF president and CEO Charles A. Birnbaum.  “We’re pleased to collaborate with so many local and regional partners in organizing the What’s Out There Weekend St. Louis and the Missouri River Valley and in the creation of new print and online guides.”

“The Katy Trail offers visitors from around the world an unrivaled view of the Missouri River valley and the landscape it traverses west of St. Louis,” said Dan Burkhart, founder of Magnificent Missouri.  “The Trail’s inclusion in What’s Out There Weekend will acquaint more people with the beauty of the area and the history that was made there.” 

What’s Out There Weekend St. Louis and the Missouri River Valley is made possible by: Lead Sponsors Magnificent Missouri, Mrs. Joseph F. Gleason, William T. Kemper Foundation, and Christy Love; Event Sponsors Explore St. Louis, Missouri Humanities, Tower Grove Park; Partner in Education the St. Louis chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects; Presenting Sponsors ANOVA, Bartlett Tree Experts, Dierberg Family Foundation, Ferring Family Foundation, Landscapeforms, Love Family Charitable Trust, Mary Morgan, Ulrike and Tom Schlafly, Steve and Lisa Trulaske, Victor Stanley, and Anabeth Cadwell Weil; Supporting Sponsors John and Crystal Beuerlain, The Garden Club of St. Louis, Hermann Family Foundation, Lamar Johnson Collaborative, and Carrie and Bill Polk; and numerous Friends level sponsors.

About The Cultural Landscape Foundation

The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1998 with a mission of “connecting people to places.” TCLF educates and engages the public to make our shared landscape heritage more visible, identify its value, and empower its stewards. Through its website, publishing, lectures and other events, TCLF broadens support and understanding for cultural landscapes. TCLF is also home to the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize.

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