Here's what's replacing Hard Rock St. Louis in Union Station
Employees of the Hard Rock Cafe in St. Louis are still answering the phone with "How can I rock your world?" But the 20-year-old restaurant is closing in August.
"We have appreciated serving St. Louis locals and visitors for more than a decade," according to an emailed statement from the Florida-based corporation. "We are exploring other opportunities in St. Louis and hope to reenter the market when we can identify the right new location."
The company that owns St. Louis Union Station, where the Hard Rock Cafe is located, confirmed Monday that it will develop a candy emporium in its place.
Lodging Hospitality Management President Stephen O'Loughlin said the company would spend $5 to $8 million on the emporium, which will be similar to Dylan's Candy Bar in Chicago.
"It just complements everything else that is going on there," he said.
O'Loughlin was referring to the company's $160 million renovation of Union Station, which is being converted into an entertainment complex with a 125,000-square-foot aquarium and 200-foot-tall Ferris wheel.
The Hard Rock Cafe opened in 1998. It will close Aug. 16, according to the corporation's statement on Monday and Facebook post on Friday that later was removed. A manager on duty in St. Louis referred calls to public-relations representative Amanda Early, who declined comment.
"I wasn't directly involved in the landlord-tenant (negotiations), but they're moving in August," O'Loughlin said, noting that the Hard Rock Cafe's decision last week prompted his company to come up with the candy-emporium concept.
Built in 1894, Union Station is a National Historic Landmark. It was used as a train station until the 1970s then renovated into a hotel and shopping mall in the 1980s. Lodging Hospitality Management took over in 2012. Renovations started five years later. The hotel will continue to operate.
The aquarium is expected to open in the former mall space in October 2019, along with a mirror maze, rope course and food court. Outside, there will be a "train park" with concessions in old rail-shipping containers and 3D-animated light and fire shows over a lake, in addition to the Ferris wheel.
Landry's Seafood House, the other restaurant at Union Station, will stay put, according to general manager Kevin Myers. He noted that its parent company has more than 600 restaurants, including some that are aquarium-themed.
Myers is looking forward to renovations being completed at Union Station.
"It's going back to the Union Station of old," he said. "It's going to be busy. We're excited."
The aquarium will be a $45 million facility accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Plans call for 1.3 million gallons of water and thousands of aquatic species from rivers and oceans all over the world.
O'Loughlin expects the Ferris wheel and train park to open in August 2019. A new Train Shed restaurant and bar will offer 30 beers on draft and serve burgers, wings, chicken strips and pizza in the former Houlihan's space.
"It will be a place St. Louis Blues fans can come before games," O'Loughlin said. "But it will be approachable for families that are going to the aquarium."
This story was originally published June 18, 2018 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Here's what's replacing Hard Rock St. Louis in Union Station."