New St. Louis Bus Station Will Open in February or March

Back in 1999, comedian John Larroquette, (you might remember him as the self centered, conceited lawyer on Night Court), starred in his own sitcom. He played John Hemingway, a recovering alcoholic who was the daytime manager of a run down St. Louis bus station. As John tries to cope with the problems at the frenzied inner-city station, a colorful cast of characters that included Mahalia Sanchez, as his streetwise no-nonsense assistant, surround him. Maria has seen six managers at the station come and go, one of them outlined in chalk. Another character in the show is Dexter. He works behind the snack counter and sees John as just another "cracker head" that is a part of the conspiracy to not promote him to manager.

I think that the creators of the show must have been stuck at the St. Louis bus station during a storm, because there definitely were some elements of truth to the story. For the longest time, the St. Louis bus station was a run down eyesore and a dangerous place to travel in that part of downtown St. Louis. Now, as part of the revitalization of the area, a new $27 million Amtrak and Greyhound bus station is being built.

The long building, complete with multi-colored windows and zinc exterior, is being built around piers and ramps for highway 40. (Interstate 64) It was funded by federal, state, and local sources and is expected to open in February or March of 2008. The new facility will replace the existing run-down station that sits a few blocks away on 13trh Street. It will have ten bays for Greyhound buses and Amtrak passengers can take a covered walkway from the waiting area to the train platform. This might come as a welcome relief, because since the 1970's, Amtrak passengers have been forced to use a "temporary" station that was made up of several trailers hooked together. It was affectionately known as "Amshack."