ST. LOUIS — The streets of downtown St. Louis will be packed with people and police this weekend for another professional sports home opener and the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Police said they have a plan to keep people safe.
The XFL Battlehawks play the Arlington Renegades at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon at The Dome at America’s Center. But before that is Saturday's 54th Annual Metropolitan St. Louis St. Patrick's Day Parade and Michelob Ultra Run. The run starts at 9 a.m. The parade gets underway at noon.
Organizers said the parade is one of the top St. Patrick's Day events in the country. This year's parade will feature more than 120 units, including marching bands, floats, huge cartoon-character balloons and 5,000 marchers. Even the Budweiser Clydesdales will join the lineup this year.
Police and parade officials discussed their plans for safety and security.
“There will be more patrols in those areas and especially around the venues" St. Louis Metropolitan Police Capt. Joe Morici said. "Then, once everyone is in the venue, we spread those officers out so that they’re further out of the footprint where cars are getting broken into and people possibly could be robbed."
Paul Crowe is St. Patrick's Day Parade chair.
“We work closely with St. Louis Police and fire officials, as well as the mayor's office," he said. "As we continue to hear, big crowds mean safety in numbers.”
Last weekend was also busy for downtown St. Louis, with Arch Madness taking place at the Enterprise Center, the inaugural home match for St. Louis CITY SC at CityPark and the Builders Home & Garden Show at the Dome.
“We had no major events happen during the soccer game last weekend, and we'll probably roll that plan over into this weekend and increase more of our patrols in those areas," Morici said.
Crowe said safety and security is not only left up to police.
“We also have sponsorship through special services in St. Louis who handle elite secondary security, and they're members of our committee as well as advisors on all our security needs,” Crowe said.
Organizers said as many as 300,000 spectators attend the St. Patrick's Day Parade in St. Louis each year.
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