“Meet me in St. Louis,” was the refrain at the close of 2004's RCMA conference, and for good reason: In 2005, RCMA's World Conference and Exposition will return to St. Louis for the first time since 1979.

St. Louis is a prime destination for religious meetings of all faith backgrounds, and RCMA attendees will be able to see firsthand all that the city offers: an excellent location in the heart of America; superb transportation; a sparkling downtown; a wide range of unique venues; and memorable, affordable attractions for people of all ages.

If you visit with a St. Louis resident, they surely will advise you to visit the world-famous Gateway Arch. And you will certainly hear about other world-famous attractions such as the Missouri Botanical Gardens or the St. Louis Zoo. Some residents will tell you about all the free things to see and do, especially the no-cost attractions in Forest Park. Others will tell you to explore the historic neighborhoods and music clubs to get a real feel for St. Louis.

That's the beauty of St. Louis. Your experience on one visit can be totally different from your next.

No Cost to You

Free attractions are a St. Louis tradition, and visitors find more no-cost fun here than almost any place else on Earth. In beautiful Forest Park, you can visit the Art Museum, the Science Center and its renewed Planetarium, the expanded Missouri History Museum, and the acclaimed St. Louis Zoo and its new attractions without ever opening your wallet.

Cahokia Mounds, the site of North America's largest ancient American Indian civilization, is also free of charge. And you can explore the Museum of Westward Expansion underneath the Gateway Arch and wander through the history galleries at the Old Courthouse for free. A stop to marvel at the world's largest collection of mosaic art at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis is free, too.

The restaurants of St. Louis offer visitors a taste of the world. Sidewalk cafés are tucked in beside graceful homes, boutiques, and galleries in the city's many friendly neighborhoods, which are the real heart of St. Louis. Big, bold steakhouses, ethnic bistros, and famous Italian restaurants lure you in off the streets with scents designed by innovative chefs to pique your taste buds and excite your senses.

If your tastebuds are satisfied but you still crave something more, you can hear authentic American roots music in St. Louis' famous blues clubs or listen to one of the nation's oldest and most acclaimed symphony orchestras.

Easy Transportation

St. Louis is at the geographic hub of the United States, which makes it possible for attendees to fly to St. Louis from most major U.S. cities in just two to three hours.

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is in the midst of a $2.6 billion runway expansion that is scheduled for completion in spring 2006. A $97.5 million East Terminal expansion was completed in 1998, adding 12 gates and allowing Southwest Airlines to operate up to 120 additional flight departures per day.

Fourteen airlines, along with their affiliates and charter companies, offer service to and from St. Louis. St. Louis is a hub for American Airlines, which, along with its regional American Connection affiliates, operates more than 200 daily departures to more than 60 cities from St. Louis. St. Louis is also a hub for Southwest Airlines.

Once your attendees arrive in St. Louis, transportation from the airport to downtown is easy and fast.

St. Louis' light rail system, MetroLink, has been called one of the best mass transit systems in the country. The clean, efficient trains are a big hit with visitors and locals alike who want to see many of St. Louis' attractions without a car. The system, which begins at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and covers 34 miles, ends in suburban Belleville, Ill., and stops at 27 Missouri and Illinois stations in between.

Downtown Convenience

St. Louis' convention center, America Center, offers 2.7 million square feet of space covering 32 acres in the heart of downtown. America Center features 502,000 square feet of prime exhibit space, 83 meeting rooms, and a 28,000-square foot ballroom, the largest in Missouri and the largest between Chicago and Dallas.

America Center is conveniently located adjacent to the Edward Jones Dome, which offers seating for more than 64,000 people and 1.7 million square feet of event space.

Unique Venues

If you need a special venue for your event, St. Louis offers plenty of choices. Options include: the Science Center; Laclede's Landing on the banks of the Mississippi River; Forest Park, the majestic home of the 1904 World's Fair and inspiration for the musical Meet Me in St. Louis; the extraordinary St. Louis Zoo; and the 1929-vintage Fabulous Fox Theatre.

Just in time for the centennial of the 1904 World's Fair, St. Louis' 1,370-acre Forest Park was restored to its former glory. The park, which opened in 1876, hosted the fabled fair from April through December 1904, leaving St. Louis with a lasting legacy and a love of the massive, natural area in the center of the city. (Trivia buffs will be interested to know that Forest Park is more than 500 acres larger than New York's Central Park.)

Also in 2004, the St. Louis region is celebrating the bicentennial of the start of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Corps of Discovery began its long journey to the ocean in greater St. Louis, and the region offers a wide range of historic sites related to the expedition.

New Nest

The St. Louis Cardinals baseball team is working to build a new, privately financed ballpark in downtown St. Louis that will open for the 2006 season.

In addition to providing a new home for the team, the $380 million project will redevelop a five-block area on the south end of downtown St. Louis into a mixed-use area called Ballpark Village.

DOWNTOWN HOTEL BOOM

Rooms added at rapid pace

St. Louis is experiencing an unprecedented hotel building, branding, and renovation boom. In response to the expanded convention center, the Renaissance Grand Hotel St. Louis and its sister property, the Renaissance St. Louis Suites, opened next to America's Center to become St. Louis' newest convention headquarters hotel complex. Also new on the downtown lodging scene are a full-service Sheraton property, a luxurious Westin Hotel, the Hampton Inn St. Louis Downtown — At The Gateway Arch and the Drury Plaza. In spring 2004, the 195-room Hilton opened in the 112-year-old Merchants-Laclede bank building. All of these new downtown properties are renovations of and expansions to historic buildings.

The $265 million convention headquarters hotel project, which includes the 918-room Renaissance Grand Hotel St. Louis and a 165-room Renaissance St. Louis Suites, rejuvenates and expands the historic Statler (1917) and Lennox hotels. The grand hotel opened in February 2003 after the Suites' 2002 debut.

The Sheraton features 288 rooms and suites, 30,000 square feet of meeting space; a health club with Olympic-length pool; a 10,000-square-foot themed sports restaurant, an entertainment area, and upscale dining options. The hotel's beautifully appointed 5,400-square-foot City-View Ballroom provides a superb vantage point of downtown St. Louis.

The Westin offers 257 rooms including 15 suites, 14,000 square feet of meeting space, and a health club.

The Drury Plaza Hotel is Drury Development's third renovation to a historic building in downtown St. Louis. The $20 million project, located near St. Louis' Old Courthouse and the famous Gateway Arch, overhauled the classic 1919 International Fur Exchange building and two adjacent properties into one 370-room hotel.

33 Years of RCMA Conferences

1973 Louisville, Ky.
1974 Philadelphia
1975 Chicago
1976 Kansas City, Mo.
1977 Baltimore
1978 Cincinnati
1979 St. Louis
1980 Anaheim, Calif.
1981 New Orleans
1982 Nashville, Tenn.
1983 Indianapolis
1984 Detroit
1985 Atlanta
1986 Fort Worth, Texas
1987 Long Beach, Calif.
1988 Rochester, N.Y.
1989 Milwaukee
1990 Tampa, Fla.
1991 Corpus Christi, Texas
1992 Phoenix
1993 Chicago
1994 Birmingham, Ala.
1995 San Antonio
1996 Charlotte, N.C.
1997 Tulsa, Okla.
1998 Indianapolis
1999 Columbus, Ohio
2000 Dallas
2001 Milwaukee
2002 Tampa, Fla.
2003 Charlotte, N.C.
2004 Pittsburgh
2005 St. Louis