World's Fair Pavilion

Though known as the World's Fair Pavilion, this popular gathering place was not built until 1909, five years after the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Designed by Henry Wright, it was presented to the citizens of St. Louis by the Fair Commission and gave St. Louisans a place to view their city, enjoy refreshments, and meet one another in the park where the world once met. After the Fair closed, city officials had requested a pavilion for the sale of refreshments, and the resulting World's Fair Pavilion and the Jefferson Memorial of the Missouri Historical Society were two projects sponsored by the Fair Commission. Landscaping at Forest Park and the pavilion grounds came with Dwight F. Davis, St. Louis Commissioner of Parks from 1911 to 1930, and after the 1930 installation of the electric fountain at the base of Government Hill, complete with rainbow-colored lights, the St. Louis Star Times reported "a new note in the evening symphony of beauty in Forest Park." The pavilion's exterior was restored in 1980, and a full restoration sponsored by Forest Park Forever was completed in September 1998. Sunday rock concerts filled the pavilion in 1970, and on July 12, 1970, the Youth International Party held the Festival of Life there even though requests for permits had been refused.

St. Louis, Missouri · United States