Convention center guide

Exhibiting in St. Louis: America's Center Guide

America's Center, The Dome and the rest of my hometown: what to know about exhibiting in St. Louis.

By Michael Flavin Last updated October 12, 2026

Please note: Venue rules, rates, labor requirements, and deadlines change often and vary by show. Always confirm details in your show's exhibitor manual and with the show's general contractor before you plan or budget.

St. Louis is my home base, so this is the convention center I know best. America's Center sits right downtown, and it's close to hotels, restaurants and public transportation. It's a very manageable city for exhibitors, and the building spells out its labor rules in plain English, which I appreciate. Here's what I'd tell a friend who was bringing a booth to town.

America's Center Convention Complex

America's Center is run by Explore St. Louis. It's at Washington Avenue and Eighth Street, and you'll recognize it by the copper-domed rotunda. Here's what's inside, per the America's Center brochure:

Six contiguous exhibit halls with 412,000 square feet of exhibit space
The 67,224-seat Dome at America's Center, which can combine with the Annex for another 162,000 square feet of exhibit space
87 flexible rooms, including 49 meeting rooms
A 28,000 sq ft ballroom that splits into 10 more meeting rooms
The 1,411-seat Ferrara Theatre

The newest piece is Hall 4X, a 72,000 sq ft hall added in the AC Next Gen expansion. If your show is in 4X, note that service access comes through Hall 4.

Other St. Louis venues I'd keep on your radar

St. Charles Convention Center. West of the city in St. Charles. It's a good fit for smaller regional shows, with a 27,600 sq ft exhibit hall (35,700 sq ft with the Junior Ballroom) and a 16,200 sq ft Grand Ballroom (St. Charles Convention Center).
Executive Conference Center at America's Center. Part of the same complex. If you need a separate room for customer meetings during a show, ask about it (Explore St. Louis).

Local labor rules and EACs

Who does what. Missouri is not a right-to-work state, and America's Center is a union building. According to the America's Center Event Guide, most of the skilled work is done by local union trades: Carpenters, Decorators, IBEW Electricians, Projectionists and Stagehands. The show's general contractor hires the local union labor for material handling, which means moving freight from the dock to your booth and back. Some services are exclusive to the building: Edlen does electrical, Smart City Networks does telephone and data, and Levy does catering. Explore St. Louis even has a skilled labor page with a labor relations manager you can call.

What you can do yourself. This is the part I love about St. Louis. The Event Guide spells out exhibitor rights in plain English. Your company's own employees can:

Unload and load booth materials from a privately owned vehicle (no bigger than a transport van) at a designated overhead door, with two employees moving things by hand or on two-wheeled hand carts
Set up and take down booths up to 300 square feet without power tools
Lay their own carpet and hang signs or graphics in booths up to 300 square feet, as long as nothing is attached to the building
Unpack, set and arrange products, and skirt their own tables
Plug in their own 110-volt equipment (once outlets are ordered) and run UL-approved extension cords on top of the carpet
Hang company-owned monitors, and hang display lights in booths up to 300 square feet
Vacuum and clean their own booth with their own supplies

Anything beyond that, like building a bigger booth or overhead rigging, goes to the general contractor or your own exhibit house using union labor.

Using your own exhibit house (EAC). If show management allows it, you can hire your own exhibit display contractor to set up your booth, and that contractor has to hire the appropriate local union labor. Every service contractor working in the building has to be an America's Center approved service contractor and provide a certificate of insurance naming Explore St. Louis as additional insured. For your show, file the EAC form with the general contractor by the deadline in your exhibitor manual. 30 days before move-in is common.

Exhibitor need-to-knows

My exhibitor logistics 101 guide covers the basics that work the same in most buildings, like the advance warehouse, material handling, targeted move-in, hotel blocks and hiring local staff. Here's what's specific to St. Louis.

These are the practical things I'd want to know before exhibiting in St. Louis. Where I could check a venue- or city-specific detail against an official source, I've linked it. The rest is general advice that works in any convention city.

Advance warehouse or direct to show?

America's Center doesn't have a receiving department and can't accept freight for events. All freight has to be received by your general contractor after the license term begins, addressed to the contractor with your show name and booth number (America's Center Event Guide). So it's the advance warehouse or direct to the contractor.

Material handling (drayage) and how to cut it

The Event Guide's exhibitor rights, which I covered in the labor section above, are the best drayage savers in St. Louis. Your own employees can unload a privately owned vehicle at a designated door and move things by hand or on two-wheeled hand carts. Local deliveries and hand-carry drop-offs have to use the docks or the Plaza Entrance, never the Washington Entrance, and you can't leave the vehicle unattended at the Plaza Entrance.

Move-in and move-out

America's Center doesn't own or manage a marshaling yard. There are privately managed lots nearby, and your general contractor arranges marshaling through its own agreements with them (America's Center Event Guide). Vehicles can come into the building during move-in and move-out to load and unload, but they can't be parked or stored there.

Peak seasons and big annual shows

America's Center is hosting the VEX Robotics World Championship in 2026 and 2027. Explore St. Louis expects tens of thousands of visitors and more than 50,000 hotel room nights each year (Explore St. Louis). If your show is anywhere near those dates, book downtown hotels early.

Hotel strategy

Downtown hotels near Washington Avenue are an easy walk to America's Center, and MetroLink makes the rest of downtown and the airport easy (see Getting there below). If you're in my town for a big show, staying downtown is worth it.

Neighborhoods for client dinners

Here's where I'd take customers in my town: The Hill, the Central West End, Soulard and Washington Avenue downtown. Explore St. Louis has ideas for all of them.

Last-minute printing and supplies

I couldn't find an on-site business center in the America's Center Event Guide. Computers, printers and copiers can be rented through Edlen Exhibitor Services. The closest print shop I could find is the FedEx Office in the Marriott St. Louis Grand at 800 Washington Ave., which does signs, banners, printing and shipping for exhibitors. Expect a hotel handling fee for packages (FedEx Office).

Wi-Fi and internet

Smart City Networks is the exclusive provider of all internet, wired and wireless, at America's Center (Explore St. Louis). Wi-Fi is free in the lobbies and meeting rooms, and available to buy in Exhibit Halls 1 through 6. Smart City's America's Center exhibitor ordering guide (effective October 1, 2025 through December 31, 2026) lists basic Light Wired Internet at $895 by the advance deadline, $1,140 after that and $1,368 on site. Its dedicated services allow your own router. Smart City's guide says a personal hotspot will work, but it runs on a shared cellular network, so it can slow down or drop when the hall is busy.

Food sampling and outside food

Levy is the exclusive caterer at America's Center. No food or beverage items can be brought onto the premises, and Levy handles requests for food and beverage sampling (America's Center Event Guide). Talk to Levy early if you want to sample.

Weather and time of year

St. Louis summers are hot and humid, and spring brings severe thunderstorms. Winters bring some snow and ice. Spring and fall are the nicest times to be here.

Sales tax on show services

The base sales tax rate in the City of St. Louis is 9.679%, and some special taxing districts add more on top of that (Missouri Department of Revenue). America's Center's Event Guide says shows, exhibitors and contractors have to collect and remit sales tax on goods sold at the Center.

Getting there

The Convention Center stop on the MetroLink light rail is less than two blocks away at 6th and Washington (Explore St. Louis), and MetroLink connects the airport, downtown and the big venues. If you're driving in from St. Louis Lambert International Airport, take I-70 east to the Broadway/Convention exit (#249C), go three blocks on Broadway and turn right on Washington Avenue (directions and parking). There are garages and surface lots all over downtown.

If you're exhibiting in my town, let me know. I'm happy to share what I know. For hotels and the rest of the city, Explore St. Louis is the place to start.

Sources

All convention center guides

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