Busch Memorial Stadium was the circular, arch-crowned ballpark that defined downtown St. Louis sports for 40 years, hosting Cardinals World Series champions, NFL football, and one of baseball’s most famous home runs before it came down in 2005.
This guide covers everything people search for about the stadium: how it was built and paid for, how its capacity and playing surface changed over the decades, how it converted between baseball and football, its biggest moments, why it was torn down, and exactly what occupies the site today.
Quick Answer
Busch Memorial Stadium opened May 12, 1966, at 250 Stadium Plaza in downtown St. Louis and closed October 19, 2005. It was home to the MLB Cardinals for 40 seasons and the NFL Cardinals from 1966-1987, cost about $24 million to build, and was demolished by wrecking ball (not implosion) between November and December 2005 to make way for the current Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village.
How the Stadium Was Built and Financed
Groundbreaking took place on May 25, 1964, on a roughly 30-acre downtown site, with Anheuser-Busch and owner August Busch Jr. contributing millions toward the project after buying the Cardinals in 1953. The final cost came in at about $24 million in 1966 dollars — equivalent to well over $200 million today — making it one of the more expensive stadium projects of its era.
The design came from the St. Louis engineering firm Sverdrup & Parcel, with the stadium’s signature roofline — 96 open concrete arches ringing the upper deck — credited to architect Edward Durell Stone. The arches were a deliberate visual echo of Eero Saarinen’s Gateway Arch, which was completed the same year the stadium opened, and they remain the detail most people remember about the building decades after its demolition.
How Baseball-to-Football Conversion Worked
Busch Memorial Stadium belonged to the family of round, dual-purpose ‘cookie-cutter’ stadiums built in the 1960s and ’70s alongside Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, and Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium — all designed as open-air relatives of the Houston Astrodome.
What set it apart mechanically was a movable lower seating system: two sections holding roughly 8,000 seats each could be pushed on tracks to reconfigure the bowl from a baseball diamond to a football gridiron and back. Artificial turf, installed in 1970 partly because it held up better through St. Louis’s brutal summer heat, made those quick conversions practical. After the NFL Cardinals left for Arizona in 1988 and the Rams’ brief 1995 stay ended, the movable stands were locked permanently into baseball position and the AstroTurf was replaced with natural grass in 1996, ending the stadium’s football-ready era for good.
Capacity, Seating and the Playing Surface Over Time
The stadium opened in 1966 seating 49,275 for baseball. As the seating bowl was reconfigured over the years, baseball capacity climbed to a peak of 57,673 by 1996, before the upper-deck outfield sections were closed ahead of the 1997 season to tighten sightlines — dropping capacity to about 49,676 through 2000 and then 50,345 for the final two seasons in 2004-2005. Football capacity, used for both the NFL Cardinals and the 1995 Rams, reached about 60,000.
The playing surface itself tells its own story of the stadium’s evolution: natural grass from 1966-1969, AstroTurf from 1970-1995 to support football conversions and beat the summer heat, and grass again from 1996-2005 once the stadium settled into baseball-only use.
Memorable Moments and Milestones
The Cardinals reached the World Series six times while playing at Busch Memorial Stadium, winning it all in 1967 and 1982 and also appearing in 1968, 1985, 1987, and 2004. The building’s single most famous moment came on September 8, 1998, when Mark McGwire hit his 62nd home run of the season to break Roger Maris’s single-season record in front of a roaring home crowd; McGwire would go on to hit his 70th there later that season.
The stadium’s cultural reach went beyond baseball. It hosted the 1966 MLB All-Star Game just weeks after opening — a game remembered for brutal 105-degree heat — and The Beatles played a concert there on August 21, 1966. Ozzie Smith’s iconic go-ahead home run in Game 5 of the 1985 NLCS is still one of the most replayed clips in franchise history.
Demolition and Why the Stadium Was Torn Down
Busch Memorial Stadium hosted its final game on October 19, 2005, during that year’s National League Championship Series, closing out 40 seasons as the Cardinals’ home. It was replaced because the aging multi-purpose bowl couldn’t match the sightlines, amenities, and baseball-specific design that a modern, single-sport ballpark could offer.
Demolition ran from November 7 through December 8, 2005. Crews originally considered an implosion but switched to a phased wrecking-ball demolition instead, largely to protect the adjacent Stadium MetroLink light-rail station from blast damage. The new, baseball-only Busch Stadium had already opened partway on the site in April 2006, built to overlap part of the old stadium’s footprint so the Cardinals never had to play a season away from downtown.
What Stands on the Site Today
Part of the old stadium’s footprint now sits under the outfield of the current Busch Stadium, while the rest became Ballpark Village, a dining, entertainment, and residential development immediately south of the new ballpark. Ballpark Village’s Together Credit Union Plaza was built directly over the old infield, and the former locations of home plate and the bases are marked with plaques so visitors can stand roughly where Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith, and Mark McGwire once did.
For current hours, events, and directions to the site, see the official Ballpark Village St. Louis website, which sits on the former stadium grounds at 601 Clark Avenue.
Busch Memorial Stadium FAQs
When did Busch Memorial Stadium open and close?
It opened on May 12, 1966, and hosted its final game on October 19, 2005, during the National League Championship Series. Demolition ran from November 7 through December 8, 2005.
Why was Busch Memorial Stadium demolished?
It was replaced by a new, baseball-only Busch Stadium that opened in April 2006. The modern facility offered better sightlines and amenities tailored exclusively to baseball, which the aging multi-purpose ‘cookie-cutter’ design could no longer provide.
How was Busch Memorial Stadium demolished — implosion or wrecking ball?
Crews used a phased wrecking-ball demolition rather than an implosion, largely to avoid damaging the adjacent Stadium MetroLink light-rail station next door.
What was the seating capacity of Busch Memorial Stadium?
For baseball, it opened with 49,275 seats in 1966 and grew to a peak of 57,673 by 1996. After the upper-deck outfield section was closed, capacity fell to 49,676 for 1997-2000, then settled at 50,345 for 2004-2005. Its football configuration held up to about 60,000 spectators.
How did Busch Memorial Stadium convert between baseball and football?
Two movable lower-bowl seating sections, each holding roughly 8,000 seats, slid on tracks to reconfigure the field between a baseball diamond and a football gridiron. AstroTurf, installed in 1970, made these frequent conversions practical until the stands were locked into baseball position after the Rams left in 1995.
What stands on the site of Busch Memorial Stadium today?
Part of the old footprint is now under the outfield of the current Busch Stadium; the remainder became Ballpark Village, where plaques in the Together Credit Union Plaza mark the former locations of home plate and the bases.
Which teams played at Busch Memorial Stadium?
The MLB St. Louis Cardinals played there for 40 seasons (1966-2005), the NFL’s St. Louis (football) Cardinals called it home from 1966-1987, and the St. Louis Rams briefly played there in 1995 before moving to their own domed stadium.
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