Travel: St. Louis Information
Note: The SIGCSE luncheon has been rescheduled to Saturday, Feb. 26th from 1-3:30. Please make reservations with this in mind.
Hotel Reservations
The conference hotel is the Renaissance Grand Hotel at 800 Washington Ave., St. Louis (downtown). We have made arrangements to allow SIGCSE 2005 attendees to call either 1-800-397-1282 or the hotel directly at 314-621-9600 and ask for the ACM SIGCSE block. Alternatively, attendees can make a reservation online by going to the Renaissance Grand Hotel website, selecting the appropriate dates, and entering SIGSIGA in the Group code box. The conference rate is $115/night for either single or double room occupancy.
View photos of Hotel Site
Travel To/From St. Louis
Traveling to and from St. Louis is reasonably easy with Lambert Field
providing international commercial air service as well as Amtrak rail
service. Check the links below for further information on each.
- Air travel via Lambert
Field - Composed of two terminal buildings, the Main Terminal (MT)
and the East Terminal (ET), Lambert is served by several major airlines.
Of the major airlines, all use the Main Terminal except Southwest Airlines, which dominates the East Terminal and
concourse E.
- Amtrak Rail travel to St. Louis via Union
Station. Daily service to St. Louis can be obtained from Chicago connections.
From/To Airport and Union Station
Three major forms of Ground Transportation can be used to travel from the airport or from Union Station to the conference hotel in the downtown St. Louis area. MetroLink is the most inexpensive and convenient. MetroLink is recommened for groups or daytime travel. (Folks travelling alone after dark will likely feel safer using an airport shuttle or taxi.)
- light rail MetroLink - This light rail 'system' has one line that begins at the airport terminal. Find the Metro stop through
doorway MT1 (main terminal) or doorway ET12 (east terminal). (This is not obvious to find -- ask at the Information Booth if you don't immediately see where the Metro Link terminal is located.) The Metro operates from 5am to midnight. There are automated ticket machines. The fare is $3 leaving the airport, but only $1.50 to return. You purchase a ticket and then validate it.
Ride the MetroLink to 6th & Washington St. station, where you should disembark. The conference hotel is at 9th & Washington, about 2 1/2 short city blocks from the conference hotel -- a quick and easy walk.
- airport shuttles
- shared van service is available to
Downtown hotels. Tickets are $13.00 one way, $21.00 round trip (as of July 2004). Find them through doorway MT12 (Main terminal) or doorway ET12 (East
terminal).
At and around the Symposium
- The conference hotel: The Marriot
Renaissance
Grand Hotel is located at 800 Washington Avenue, St. Louis,
MO 63101. Telephone for Reservations: 1 314-621-9600 . Be sure to mention that you are an ACM SIGCSE2005 conference attendee to obtain the conference rate.
- Normal weather for February in
St. Louis: cold, possible snow or other frozen stuff (average
daytime temperature about 30F / 0C). Fortunately, the conference hotel
is connected via underground tunnel to the confernence site. However, you may want to get out of doors to find a
place to eat, drink, and be merry.
- MetroLink (see information above) is complimentary during the lunch hour, from 11:30 AM thru 1:30
PM within the downtown area.
- Nearby eataries: Italian in Drury, Kitchen K, mall food court, ...
(more info to come)
- Downtown Childcare Center ???
Meet Me In St. Louie (a little history and adventure)
St. Louis was founded in 1764 as a fur trading outpost. Since that time
the region and the city have endured ...
- 1803
Louisiana Purchase ...
- <>1804 to 1806 Louis
and Clark Expedition began and ended in St. Louis (sort of).
- The Old Courthouse in St. Louis, built in 1828, is where the
slave Dred Scott first argued for his freedom and Virgian Minor
demanded the right to vote in the 1870s.
- St. Louis Union
Station opened in 1894 an became one the of the busiest passneger
rail terminals in the world. Today, Union Station is a hotel and retail
shopping destination. The lobby of the rail station is now the lobby of
a Hyatt Regency Hotel, but is still worthy of the architecture
enthusiast's time.
- The 1904 World's Fair was quite a historic event.
The Fair covered 1,240 acres of Forest Park, lasted 184 days, took $15
Million to build, and hosted over an estimated 20 million visitors. It
opened a year
late due to the volume of construction. The Fair is the place where the
ice cream cone and the Ferris Wheel were invented. A Fact
Sheet presents more about the Fair. The Missouri History currently
hosts the exhibit 1904
World's Fair Looking Back Looking Forward about the fair. The only
remaining
structure from the 1904 Fair, The St.
Louis Art Museum, is "dedicated to art and free for all". The 1904
Fair
inspired the 1944
MGM movie "Meet Me in St. Louis". The title song, made
popular by the movie, was actually written for the opening of the 1904
Fair.
- 1965 The Gateway Arch,
run by the National Park Service,
was completed after 2.5 years of construction. Tickets for a 'trip to
the top' can be purchased
online or in person.
St. Louis Links
- Explore
St. Louis a visitor's guide.
- links to restaurant guides
- links to family attractions including AB-tour, Science Center,
City Museum, Arch
