The stadium was designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone and built by Gr�n & Bilfinger to replace the increasingly inadequate Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) with a modern facility in a better location. The result was a new multi-purpose, $25 million concrete stadium, also named for Busch's father - Busch Memorial Stadium. The It was one of the first multipurpose facilities built in the United States in the 1960s through the early 1980s, along with those in Washington, New York, Houston, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and some others. Having hosted its last game, it leaves Washington's RFK Stadium and Toronto's Rogers Center as baseball's last "cookie cutter" multipurpose facilities.

Busch Stadium hosted World Series games in six different seasons: 1967, 1968, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 2004. The stadium was also the site of Mark McGwire's historic 62nd home run of the 1998 season that broke Roger Maris single-season record, and also of McGwire's 70th of that season, for a record which lasted until Barry Bonds surpassed it in 2001.

Busch Memorial achieved a measure of popularity among St. Louis fans in a way that its cousins in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati did not, perhaps due in part to the success of the teams which played there, and perhaps also due to the distinctive roof's 96-arch design added by architect Edward Durrell Stone (called "The Crown of Arches") echoed the city's new iconic monument Gateway Arch, which was completed only a year before Busch Stadium officially opened.

The original design of the stadium had called for a baseball-only format, but the design was altered to accommodate football, a fact which arguably shortened its existence. The stadium was destroyed by wrecking ball in late 2005, to make way for a new retro-style baseball only park, also bearing the Busch name. Part of its former footprint is used by its replacement stadium of the same name.

Demolition of the stadium began at 3:07 Central Standard Time on November 7, 2005, as the current location for Busch Stadium will become part of the outfield and ballpark village area for the new Busch Stadium. Unlike recent stadium demolitions, which have been triggered implosions; the ballpark is being torn down with a wrecking ball piece-by-piece over a period of a few months, with the last parts of the north portion of the stadium remaining until December 2005.

Football

Busch Stadium was also the home of the St. Louis football Cardinals beginning with that team's 1966 season. They remained there through the 1987 season, and then relocated to Tempe, Arizona after owner Bill Bidwell failed to convince the city to pay for a new football-only stadium.

Busch Stadium was also briefly the home of St. Louis Rams, who relocated from Los Angeles to move into the new and nearby Trans World Dome (currently Edward Jones Dome after TWA filed for bankruptcy). Since construction on their new home was delayed, the Rams played their first two 1995 games at Busch Stadium.

More about the Stadium

When it opened it was know as Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium. The stadium's name comes from the Busch family of Anheuser-Busch, who owned the baseball team until March 1996 and championed the stadium's construction.

The grounds are home to bronze statues of Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, Red Schoendienst, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson and most recently, Jack Buck. The stadium's playing surface, originally natural grass, was re-covered in Astroturf in 1970; grass returned in 1996.

The dimensions in center and the power alleys have been altered from time to time over the years. Initially the park was very conducive to the Bob Gibson and Lou Brock style of play, lots of room for pitchers to make mistakes, and for extra-base hits and not so many home runs. Later changes attempted to make the outfield better balanced between pitching and power hitting.

By the early 1990s, the stadium appeared to be falling into disrepair. However, remodeling in 1995 improved the park's sense of intimacy and converted the multi-purpose facility into a baseball-only park.

New Busch Stadium

Busch Stadium (also referred to informally as "New Busch Stadium" or "Busch Stadium III") is the home of the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League of Major League Baseball. It replaced Busch Memorial Stadium and occupies a portion of that stadium's former footprint. Busch Stadium has been chosen by MLB to host the 2009 All-Star Game.

The ballpark opened on April 4, 2006 with an exhibition between the minor league Memphis Redbirds and Springfield Cardinals, both affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals, which Springfield won 5-3. The first official major league game occurred on April 10, 2006 as the Cardinals defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 6-4. A commercial area, dubbed Ballpark Village, is being developed adjacent to the stadium over the remainder of the former stadium's footprint.