12 Bold Predictions for St. Louis in 2019

By Riverfront Times Staff on Fri, Jan 4, 2019 at 11:16 pm

Well, some things you just can't predict. St. Louis is always in flux, always throwing us curve balls. We could not have foreseen that our beloved City Museum would be sold to out-of-towners, for example. But we looked deep into our crystal ball so we could see our future and we wanted to report our findings. Here are some of the biggest things that could happen in St. Louis in 2019. Some are good. Some are bad. Some are shaped like a penis. Enjoy.

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A private operator bids to take over St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

You can't put a price on love, but there is a price for leasing St. Louis' airport. Since the summer, St. Louis' exploration into privatizing operations at Lambert hasn't produced much beyond acrimony, but all that will change when someone makes an actual bid. What price does Lambert deserve? We're going to find out.

Photo: Bernal Saborio / Flickr

A new aquarium gives Union Station the new life it always deserved.

Union Station is a gorgeous structure, but it's one that often feels too empty, especially since its recently lost the anchor of the Hard Rock Cafe'. You know what could change that this year? A massive, state-of-the-art aquarium, opening in Fall 2019.

Photo: Paul Sableman / Flickr

Race for President of Board of Aldermen Gets Weird(er)

The three-way field competing for the Aldermanic presidency features an eleven-year incumbent, a upstart alderwoman and a former state lawmaker, and the drama has already produced a fake newspaper and horse slaughter-related attack ads. That was just the beginning.

Photo: YouTube

The city/county merger talks get even more serious.

Will the "Better Together" plan actually manage to merge St. Louis City and St. Louis County? And does this mean that we have to start hanging out with people from Ladue?

Photo: Paul Sableman / Flickr

St. Louis nabs Major League Soccer's final expansion team slot.

The prospect of soccer returning to St. Louis got local sports fans pumped in 2018, and the top honchos at MLS reportedly believe our town is the front-runner for its 28th team. It's only a matter of time until the league issues its decision, and this time, there's no pesky public vote to get in the way of stadium plans.

Photo: Paul Sableman / Flickr

XFL crashes and burns.

But, like, maybe that's all part of the show? You never can tell with the XFL.

Photo: rachaelvoorhees / Flickr

A tech startup will challenge Lime and Bird for scooter supremacy in St. Louis

2018 was the year Lime and Bird scooters took over St. Louis streets. Although OFO quickly folded, our guts tells us that St. Louis isn't done playing host to scrappy transportation startups trying to break into the market. Our money is on app-enabled unicycles.

Photo: Daniel Hill

Some event will take place at Chesterfield Amphitheater and people will whine that it "should've been downtown."

Even though they weren't going to go, anyway, we never miss a chance to complain, especially about Chesterfield.

Photo: Caroline Yoo

Someone is going to try again for that bullet train to Kansas City.

Is this even St. Louis if the idea doesn't get brought up at least every three years?

Photo: Sal / Flickr

We'll get more questionable public art.

A beloved local figure will kick the bucket, making civic leaders commission a statue that doesn't look a thing like the guy. (And it's always a guy.)

Photo: Kelsey Whipple