Mr. Bob Cassilly This is Me

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1. 1. www.stltoday.com

   www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ente - [Cached]

   Published on: 7/7/2008   Last Visited: 7/7/2008

   The Ferris wheel is part of the City Museum's so-called rooftop attraction, the latest creation from City Museum founder/artist/madman Bob Cassilly.Poised to open this month, the roof will feature fountains, ramps and bridges, a cafe, a circus big top and three slides, including a 10-story ride to the bottom of the museum. >
   
   Cassilly has big dreams for the space - acrobats swinging from a trapeze underneath the one-time dome of the St. Louis Planetarium, families lounging under the shade of B-52 parachutes, kids splashing in the fountain fashioned from a carved elephant's trunk.
   
   "We're not calling it a wading pool," he said of the fountain, "but if you fall in, you fall in."
   
   The little details, however, are in the air.Cassilly has yet to set a name, opening date or ticket price.He may just charge an elevator fee; those who scale the spiral stairway to the top would be rewarded with free admission.And who knows exactly when workers will hoist the 1940s Ferris wheel piece by piece onto the roof.
   
   "Everything takes twice as long and costs twice as much as it should," Cassilly said.
   ...
   Meanwhile Cassilly is moving forward with plans to develop
   
   Cementland, his 54-acre amusement park near the Mississippi River.Actually, Cassilly hates the term "amusement park," but his description, "morality play between good and evil," won't fit on a conditional use permit.
   
   Located at an old cement plant, the attraction will feature man-made mountains, beaches, pools and a river with tunnels for rowboats and inner tubes.The site's industrial ruins will offer a striking contrast to the park's wild beauty.Silos will support skywalks; 50-ton machines will stand guard at the entrance.
   
   "All of these powerful machines will be taken over by nature," Cassilly said.
   
   Cementland - the name may change - is scheduled to open in 2010.
   
   Cassilly has floated vague ideas for the site for years, but was forced to reveal his plans a month ago after St. Louis and the village of Riverview ordered Cassilly to stop work on the property.The site straddles both cities, but to no one's surprise, Cassilly never obtained permits from either.Meanwhile, his crew built a large castle on the property where Cassilly's children would play during visits.
   ...
   "It's more fun than building condominiums," Cassilly said, referring to the loft homes his crew has built above the City Museum.
   
   St. Louis' most imaginative recycler, Cassilly built the rooftop attraction with slate from a St. Louis roofing company, bricks picked from the rubble of Cementland, mirrored blocks from Barnes-Jewish Hospital, steel panels from Boeing, benches from St. Louis Community College at Forest Park and old Cypress tanning barrels.
   
   The roof and the 10-story slide will be surrounded by railings and safety nets.
   
   "I'm absolutely not worried about someone falling off the slide," Cassilly said."I'm more concerned about people dropping something."
   
   Cassilly has applied for, but has yet to receive, building permits for the roof, St. Louis building officials confirm.Inspectors must sign off on the roof before Cassilly can open it to the public.
   
   St. Louis officials declined to comment on Cassilly's unorthodox approach, but clearly they would prefer Cassilly ask for permission first, not forgiveness later.
   
   Cassilly claims he knows no other way to build.
   
   "This is the truth - I walk around and get my ideas and I say, 'Ah,'" Cassilly said.

2. 2. www.exploresaintlouis.com

   www.exploresaintlouis.com/medi - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/24/2008   Last Visited: 5/26/2008

   What happens when you mix two Saber 40 aircraft fuselages, a fire engine, a castle turret, a 25' tall cupola and several 4' wide wrought-iron slinkies, and the creativity of City Museum Creative Director Bob Cassilly and his crew?
   ...
   Bob Cassilly, City Museum creative director, said its mission is to "awaken the childlike imagination, joy and sense of wonder in all ages and transform the way people look at the world."
   
   City Museum is a work-in-progress with additions being made on a regular basis.Those additions are often spontaneous, depending on what "junk" Museum officials receive.For example, when Bob Cassilly discovered that concrete trucks regularly dump their leftover mixes each day, he asked to have the trucks deliver their leftovers to the Museum.

3. 3. ww.explorestlouis.com

   ww.explorestlouis.com/media/fa - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/24/2008   Last Visited: 6/19/2008

   On the south side of Forest Park at Oakland and Tamm avenues, Turtle Playground delights adults and children alike with three giant and four smaller turtles designed and sculpted by St. Louis artist Robert Cassily, owner of the City Museum.