Tower Grove Park’s Impact doesn’t show signs of stopping after 150 years
Tower Grove Park in St. Louis, Missouri, celebrated its 150th anniversary this past October. The year has been filled with festivities celebrating the sesquicentennial anniversary, and there are no plans to stop these celebrations as the holiday season begins. December is filled with a variety of events to bring the St. Louis community together in the holiday spirit.
Each year the park chooses a number of events to host, bringing hundreds of people from the St. Louis area together. These events range from holiday themed fun-runs to “flower power” benefits. Regardless of the type of event, the park has one goal: bringing people together as they have done for the past 150 years. So much so, they brought on a full-time Community Engagement Coordinator.
“I think we are a neighborhood park,” Tara Morton said. Morton was brought on full-time seven months ago in an effort to continue to engage the growing number of attendees the park saw during the COVID-19 shutdown. The park offers a massive urban green space for people to gather, as well as historic pavilions that are able to be reserved for attendees to host their own events.
The Lily Pond Shelter is marked as “reserved for today.” People can reserve pavilions online at https://www.towergrovepark.org/pavilionspicnic1 These spaces offer park attendees an opportunity to use Tower Grove Park to fulfill their individual needs. Photo by Mary Grace Greene.
This pavilion is just one of many within Tower Grove Park. People have to opportunity to reserve these pavilions throughout the year. Photo by Mary Grace Greene.
Morton focuses on constantly engaging with community members that go to the park in order to create an environment that people will continue to return to. She creates a space for people to be able to fully utilize the park to fulfill their own needs and to fulfill the needs of the community on a larger scale.
“I think my role is really… a lot of it is just being present and listening to the community and what’s missing and what’s needed,” Morton said. “If we’re not offering events that people want to attend or if we’re not offering services that people feel that they need, then we’re not really doing our job as a public service.”
These community-sourced events range the gamut of genres. In the summer of 2022, Morton helped organize and host an astronomy festival that was the first of its kind in the St. Louis area.
“That idea was a brand-new event that I brought to the park. A community [member] brought the idea to us and was like, ‘Hey this is great, this is missing from the community,’” Morton said.
This holiday season, Morton and Tower Grove Park are continuing the tradition of listening to its community members and hosting events that they want to attend. One of these events is called, “Frosted: A Holiday Cocktail Experience.” This event began in 2019 and continues to return due to annual positive feedback.
Tower Grove Park’s schedule of events for the month of December. Image from https://www.towergrovepark.org/calendar?view=calendar&month=12-2022
Tower Grove Park turns “its distinctive Piper Palm House into a winter wonderland,” according to the Tower Grove Park website. “Frosted” features a number of local businesses and welcomes all people in an effort to give back to the park.
The Piper Palm House before its annual transition into a winter wonderland. The historic space is an open-air plaza that overlooks historic lily ponds. The space is open to events all year round. Photo by Mary Grace Greene.
The Piper Palm House after its transition into a winter wonderland for “Frosted.” The event features a number of local businesses and part of the proceeds for the night go back to sponsoring the park. Photo by Samantha Stevenson for STL Magazine.
“We wanted to create a fun environment to enjoy, be festive, and give back to the park,” said STL Barkeep’s Matthew John in an article for STL Magazine.
Attendees must be aged 21 and up to attend “Frosted” Thursday, December 15 to Friday, December 23 from 4 to 11 p.m. However all ages are welcome during Saturday and Sunday’s family-friendly 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours. There is no reservation required.
“Frosted” is just one example of how Tower Grove Park constantly looks to not only embrace the people that attend the park, but to support the community surrounding it. Amber West, a small-business owner who was born and raised in St. Louis, especially appreciates Tower Grove Park’s attempt to lift the voices of entrepreneurs.
“Since the pandemic, I have noticed a lot more support coming from the community. There has been a huge surge in vendor markets, community support, and attendance in farmers markets,” said West. “It helps to boost the local economy when these markets that have been around forever continue to welcome and support new businesses that are trying to make a name for themselves.”
The Tower Grove Farmers Market was founded in 2006. Chris Geden, a program manager for the City of St. Louis recalls having around 500 people attend the first market, but now sees about 5,000 people every Saturday, according to theSTL
“Part of why I do this job is I want to see St. Louis grow in the economy. Every single artisan and farmer here, you’re feeding their family. You’re pouring money right back into St. Louis, and I love that,” said Katherine Smith, the Tower Grove Farmers Market General Manager, in the same article for theSTL.
In addition to its benefit to the local economy, Alex Afolabi enjoys the Tower Grove Farmers Market for numerous other reasons. Afolabi is a St. Louis native and studies psychology at St. Louis University.
“I utilize the farmers market a lot in the warmer months, from spring to fall,” said Afolabi. As an avid frequenter of the park, she uses many other resources the park offers.
“I use Tower Grove in a few different ways, so it means a few different things to me. It’s a beautiful park with lots of room to roam around, so when I want alone time, I can go and take a walk or people watch. I am also a nanny, so I take my kids there to the playground and to the kid friendly events,” said Afolabi.
The park is known for its grassy meadows and nearly seven thousand trees that deem it a level-II aboretum by ArbNet, the international accrediting agency. In addition to its natural beauty, it strives to create a space where the diverse beauty of humanity can thrive, too.
Tower Grove Park features thousands of trees that give the park official accreditation as a level-II arboretum. The park is based right next to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. This property is what originally inspired Henry Shaw to found the park.
According to the park’s website, it strives to serve thousands of children and adults of diverse of all backgrounds, including race, ethnicity and socio-economic status.
As a member of the Queer community, Afolabi also appreciates Tower Grove Park for its goal of striving to maintain a welcoming and inclusive nature.
Afolabi at Tower Grove Park’s Pride Fest. “No one really goes to Tower Grove without knowing there’s a possibility you might be talking to a [new person]. It’s a cool and open place for people to gather,” said Afolabi. Photo from Alex Afolabi.
“That’s always cool to see [the LGBTQ+] community come together in that beautiful place.”
Morton also pointed out that the park gives people an opportunity to connect with others and find moments to be together safely. On the park’s website, being welcoming is one of the core values featured.
“We provide a safe, inclusive and pleasant environment through excellent service for all park visitors and team members,” according to the park’s website.
“I think that it is just a cool and open place for people to gather, especially around the holiday season. There are so many small organizations and small communities that come together into that bigger community to spread joy and congregate,” said Afolabi. “It’s really cool to see people of all different sorts of walks of life kind of come together in an outdoor space.”
