Vintage KSDK
Vintage KSDK: The day The Dome at America's Center opened in STL
It was 26 years ago this week when The Dome at America's Center, then known as the TWA Dome, opened for its first pro football game.
Author: Kay Quinn
Published: 2:02 PM CST November 11, 2021
Updated: 8:20 PM CST November 11, 2021
ST. LOUIS — This week's Vintage KSDK digs back into the archives for a sports milestone to remember.
It was 26 years ago this week when The Dome at America's Center, then known as the TWA Dome, opened to the public for its first professional football game.
Hopes were high that the building would transform the City of St. Louis into a world-class city.
Here's what then-St. Louis mayor Vincent Schoemehl said at the groundbreaking ceremony three years earlier, in July 1992.
"This is going to be an economic engine for the St. Louis region second to none," said Schoemehl. "But it was all made possible by a collective vision of people wanting to put St. Louis, and this region, back into the national ranks of sports."
Former St. Louis mayor Vincent Schoemehl speaks at the groundbreaking for The Dome at America's Center in July, 1992.
The total cost back then to build the stadium was $280 million.
Adjust that for inflation today and it would cost around $476 million to build.
It was initially known as the TWA Dome until Edward Jones bought the naming rights in 2002. Those naming rights expired in 2016.
The St. Louis Rams called The Dome "home" for 20 years, until their infamous departure in 2015.
But on Nov. 12, 1995, St. Louis football fans rejoiced when their St. Louis Rams played their first football game in their home stadium.
A cherished memory that ended with a 28 to 17 win for the Rams against the Carolina Panthers.
More from the #VintageKSDK vault:
Vintage KSDK: The day the Poplar Street Bridge opened to traffic
Vintage KSDK: Alligators and orangutans in the news in 1964
Vintage KSDK: 56 years ago, the final piece of the Gateway Arch was dropped into place
Vincent Van Gogh's works were a hit in St. Louis back in 1970, too