city of eureka: proud past, promising future

City Profile
CITY OF EUREKA:
PROUD PAST, PROMISING FUTURE
N
by Julie Wood
estled among the
rolling hills and rivers
of southwest St. Louis
County is beautiful
Eureka, Mo. Eureka is unique compared
to other municipalities in St. Louis
County for its retention of a small town
atmosphere while still providing access to
St. Louis. Beautiful local and state parks
and surrounding terrain, quality schools,
affordable housing and low crime are just
a few of the amenities that make Eureka a
great place to live, work and visit.
by fine fruit and agricultural land. The
country roads to Crescent, Big River,
Antire, Bald Hill, Glencoe, Allenton and
History
The Eureka area’s first known inhab- Clifty Creek all centered here. Eureka had
itants were Shawnee Indians on the banks at that time a Catholic Chapel, a Methodist
of the Meramec. Today, artifacts can be Church, a post office, a Freemasons’ Hall,
found as evidence of their past occupancy three stores, a district school, two blacksmiths, a wagon maker, a saloon and a
of the area.
fresh air camp for poor and orphaned city
The Missouri Pacific Railroad
children. In 1900, the Children’s Industrial
opened to Franklin (now Pacific) on July
Farm began operating and later became
19, 1853. It is said that as the builders of
Camp Wyman. Camp Wyman, now
the railroad track came around the bend
known as Wyman Center, is still operaton the east side of the present site of Euing camp programs for underprivileged
reka and looked westward at the level
children.
land with no rocks and very little dirt to
Eureka’s first high school class was
move they cried out, “Eureka!," which
held
in
1909. Eureka’s schools over the
translated from Greek means “I’ve found
years
have
provided education to children
it!” This is how Eureka received its name.
from many areas including Fenton, Creve
Eureka was laid out as a village in
Coeur, Manchester, House Springs, Cedar
1858 by Strodt and Shands of St. Louis. Hill, Allenton, Eureka, Glencoe and othBy 1890, Eureka was a prosperous village
ers. Today, the city of Eureka is served
of approximately 100 homes surrounded
by the award-winning Rockwood School
District.
A number
of disasters have
hit Eureka including floods, tornadoes and major
fires. Such disasters led to the
formation of the
Eureka Volunteer
Fire Department
in 1945, when
they constructed
a firehouse and
acquired equipment. In 1970, the
Eureka Fire ProEureka was laid out as a village in 1858 by Strodt and Shands of St.
tection District
Louis. By 1890, Eureka was a prosperous village of approximately
was formed and
100 homes surrounded by fine fruit and agricultural land.
6 / January 2013
The Missouri Municipal Review
now serves a 79-square-mile area. In 1972,
the first ambulance was acquired by the
District to serve the area made possible
by citizen and community organizational
efforts.
In 1954, the city of Eureka was incorporated as a 4th Class city with land
covering approximately 2.7 square miles. Over the years, the City has had a number
of successful annexations and today is approximately 9.35 square miles. The city of
Eureka’s annual budget has grown from
approximately $3,400 in 1954 to more than
$4 million today.
Recreation
Six Flags St. Louis
Eureka is best known for being the
home of Six Flags-St. Louis; 2 to 3 million
persons visit annually. Six Flags, which
opened June 5, 1971, was the third park to
open in the chain. Fifteen other sites were
considered before the organization settled
on Eureka. When the park opened, it had
eight rides including a Mule Go’Round.
Today, the park features 36 rides in the
theme park, nine of which are roller coasters, and nine rides and attractions in the
water park (added in 1999). The park employs more than 3,000 persons each year.
Six Flags-St. Louis is currently home
to more roller coasters than any other
theme park in Missouri. In 2013, the park
will add a new coaster, the Boomerang.
The new coaster brings a completely
new intense and ferocious experience to
the park; standing at 125-feet tall, this
gravity defying, nerve racking, stomach
crunching steel roller coaster will rocket
you through a combination of thrill sensations unlike any other coaster experience
at the park.
Winding Brook Estate
Eureka is home to Winding Brook
Estate, Missouri’s only commercial lavender farm featuring 5,000 organically
grown lavender plants and a pastoral
setting that is an oasis for the soul. In
high season, mid-June through July, the
lavender puts on its biggest show, soothing visitors’ senses with the stirring sight
of endless purple blossoms, the drone of
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bees and a fresh, woodsy fragrance. The
blooming period slows for a while, and
then, weather permitting, the plants give
a repeat performance, stopping only after
a hard freeze.
Six times each spring and fall, Winding Brook Estate offers tea luncheons in
the barn. The luncheons feature lavender
in a variety of forms, with dishes such as
baked apples with cinnamon and lavender
caramel sauce, lavender poached pears
and gorgonzola and strawberries dipped
in lavender-flavored chocolate.
To find out more about the lavender
farm or to plan a visit, go to: http://lavender.windingbrookestate.com/.
Eureka also is home to many other
attractive recreation destinations: Hart
Horse Farm and Jellystone Park Resort
and Twin Rivers Canoe Rental, Brookdale
Farm, Camp Wyman and Hidden Valley
Ski Resort. Hidden Valley is wrapping up
a $2 million expansion, making it the largest investment in its nearly 30-year history.
After the expansion, the skiing terrain will
increase by 30 percent, including the addition of a nearly 2,000-foot ski run.
City Parks
Eureka is an outdoor lover’s dream.
The parks and recreation department has
grown rapidly over the past few years, accomplishing many things with many more
projects ahead. The department oversees
and maintains more than 164 acres of park
and public land that includes nine parks
that feature trails, playgrounds, tennis,
basketball, sand volleyball and handball
courts, baseball, football and soccer fields,
a stocked lake, disc golf course and a community center. An extremely unique feature at
Kircher Park, located on the eastern edge
of the City, is the presence of St. Louis
Live Steamers (SLLS); an organization
interested in the construction of model
railroads. The City negotiated with SLLS
to erect a track that runs small scale steam
trains. The first phase of construction, in
what is eventually to be a more elaborate
layout, consists of a 1,000-foot main line,
a reverse loop, passing sidings, a service
area for locomotives and two storage/
workshop structures. Volunteers host
public-run days in May through October
where the community can enjoy free train
rides and learn about steam railroad history and technology.
The City has just commenced construction on a state-of-the-art recreation
center. The 29,000-square-foot facility will
consist of fitness and aerobics facilities,
multi-level outdoor pool, several meet-
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ing room spaces,
full kitchen and
concession stand,
gymnasium, babysitting rooms and
house the Eureka
Parks and Recreation Department. The new recreation
center is certain to
be a large draw
for the community
– completion is anticipated by late
2013.
R o u t e 6 6 The new recreation center for Eureka is anticipated to be complete
State Park, Rock- by late 2013.
wood Reservation and St. Louis
Elementary and Secondary Education,
County’s Greensfelder Park are located and a “Gold Medal” rating from Expanjust outside of Eureka and provide many sion Management magazine. The District
acres of trails and park land for the com- is comprised of 19 elementary schools,
munity and visitors to enjoy.
six middle schools, and four high schools
The parks and recreation depart- (one in Eureka; Eureka High School). The
ment also provides various recreational District has separate campuses for gifted,
and cultural programming throughout early childhood and alternative high
the year. Some of the more popular events school education. Rockwood employs
and programs are Summer Concerts and more than 3,379 staff and has a graduation
Movies, the annual Eureka Days Festival, rate of close to 95 percent, with a drop-out
Mardi Growl Dog Parade, summer camps, rate just above 1 percent. Geggie Elemenmonthly senior luncheons and children’s tary and Blevins Elementary, both in
Eureka, have been recognized as Missouri
playgroups.
Schools of Character with Geggie also
receiving the honor as National School
Award-Winning School District
The city of Eureka is home to the of Character. In addition, the district has
award-winning Rockwood School District. received a perfect score on the state’s “AnThe Rockwood School District has been nual Performance” report.
Rockwood School District is St.
awarded the “Distinction in Performance”
award by the Missouri Department of Louis County’s largest public school sys-
The Missouri Municipal Review
January 2013 / 7
tem, serving more than 22,000 students.
In 2012, the District celebrated the
100th anniversary of the first graduating
class of Eureka High School. During the
inaugural Alumni Hall of Fame Gala, the
District honored the tradition of excellence
that began with Eureka High School a century ago. Today, five elementary schools
and two middle schools feed into Eureka
High School, bringing its enrollment to
more than 1,900 students. To learn more
about the Rockwood School District, visit
www.rockwood.k12.mo.us.
Economic Development
The city of Eureka has made a
considerable investment in economic
development. The City has hired a fulltime economic development director and
partnered with the Eureka Chamber of
Commerce to run one of four Missouri
Welcome Center Affiliates in the state.
The goal is to not only be a resource to
travelers, but to recommend local attractions, restaurants, stores and convenience
stations for them to visit before they continue on their journey.
The City also has worked to update
its image, adopting a new logo in 2010 and
launching a more user-friendly website in
2011. The new website caters to residents
and visitors alike. One unique feature is
a search engine for find local businesses.
This allows residents to search for goods
and services easily, providing the resources to shop local at their fingertips.
Eureka is making a considerable effort to maintain its lines of communication
with the community. The mayor hosts
multiple Town Hall meetings annually
and issues a quarterly, full-color newsletter mailed to the entire Eureka zip code,
highlighting community projects, public
interest stories and various business updates/stories around Eureka. In addition
to the quarterly newsletter, the City produces a monthly newsletter mailed with
residents’ utility bills to inform citizens of
board of aldermen actions, news around
the City and community events. The City
recently partnered with the Chamber of
Commerce and fire department to put
together an events line where people can
call in and hear a list of events by month
via telephone. Eureka also has a Twitter
and Facebook page used to update followers on business specials, festivals and
events around town: www.twitter.com/
EnjoyEureka and www.facebook.com/
EnjoyEureka.
The City works hard to attract new
businesses, adding 25 new businesses,
including small business start-ups and
national chains since January. Old Town
8 / January 2013
Eureka that was once home to many antique stores and specialty shops has seen a
resurgence. O’Dell’s Irish Pub has opened
a new business; Red Door Liquor is being
erected at the location of an older building that was torn down, a new art gallery
and boutique is undergoing renovation,
and the Eureka Wine House is expanding.
Eureka’s largest employers are
Rockwood School District, Six Flags and
Rotometrics. In 2010, Cenveo, a commercial printing enterprise, consolidated
three facilities into one and opened a new
facility in Eureka’s Industrial Park. They
are enjoying their new space and expect
to expand in the near future.
City Projects
Water Softening
The city of Eureka manages its own
water and sewer services for residents.
The board of aldermen and mayor are pursuing a citywide water-softening project.
This project has been a huge undertaking
involving considerable engineering and a
lengthy regulatory agency approval process. Eureka has five different well sites,
and water-softening equipment must be
installed at each site.
By managing its own water and sewage operations, Eureka has been able to
maintain very low and competitive rates.
As a result of its softening efforts, costs
will rise slightly, but remain well below
those of neighboring cities. Growing On Purpose
While many cities in St. Louis
County are shrinking, Eureka has grown
from 7,676 residents to 10,189 since the
2000 census. As we slowly emerge from
the national economic situation, we expect
steady growth to continue, particularly in
the area of multi-family; primarily condos,
town homes and senior living. The City
has a condo project nearing completion
and senior independent living development (repurposing a closed hotel) under
construction. The goal will always be to
ensure that new projects are beneficial
to Eureka’s community with the least
amount of impact to neighbors, while still
maintaining reasonable growth objectives
and sound property uses.
The city of Eureka is committed to
continuing to improve the quality of life
for its residents. Investments in trails,
a new recreation center and a citywide
water-softening program are evidence in
making Eureka the best “small town” in
St. Louis County.
Julie Wood is a graduate of Lindenwood University, where she earned a BA in Corporate
Communication. She worked for the YMCA of
Greater St. Louis in membership development
for 10 years before taking on the role of director
of economic development for the city of Eureka
in 2010. Julie and her husband, Dr. Tracy Wood,
live in Eureka with their five children. If you would
like more information about the city of Eureka,
please contact Julie at [email protected].
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