CARDINALS HALL OF FAME EXHIBIT TO SHOW AT MALL

A portion of Westfield Shoppingtown West Park Mall will look a little like Busch Stadium this weekend.

It is all part of the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Tour, which will appear in the Famous-Barr corridor of the shopping center.

The Hall of Fame display, more than two years in the making with 1,000 manhours, is making its first appearance outside the metropolitan St. Louis area Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

"The display will showcase items from the Cardinal Hall of Fame," said Jim Govro, mall manager. "It will include more than 250 pieces of Cardinal memorabilia."

The 25-by-25-foot, 11-foot-high exhibit includes a miniature replica of the Busch Stadium roof in downtown St. Louis.

Items in the cases may be viewed from inside the display or from the outside.

The list of items includes a replica of home run slugger Mark McGwire's locker, completed with his full uniform and jacket. McGwire made home run history during the 1998 season when he snapped Roger Maris' 61-home-run record, then established a new record of 70 for the year.

Also included in the six display cases will be Stan Musial memorabilia and items from the Cardinals famed Gas House Gang.

The display, said Govro, is equipped with a sound and video system with 10 speakers and two video monitors.

The state-of-the-art display is designed to reproduce the feeling of being in Busch Stadium.

Rounding out the experience will be six actual stadium seats, where people can relax and view the Cardinal highlights. The stadium seats came from Busch Stadium when the arena was undergoing renovations.

"This display is the only one of its kind in major league baseball," said Govro. "Every team has its own hall of fame or museum at stadiums, but this is the first time for a hall of fame tour."

This weekend's exhibit is only the fourth for the display, which was first displayed at Galleria Shopping Mall in St. Louis.

Fans attending the free exhibit may also register for free tickets to Cardinal games.

The exhibit opens Friday at 10 a.m. and will be open during mall hours Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Workmen will start setting up the display late today.