ST. LOUIS (KSDK) - One hour 20 minutes. That's how long it takes for one revolution of the Top of the Riverfront Restaurant. Since 1969, the Top of the Riverfront Restaurant has been St. Louis' only rotating restaurant with breathtaking views of downtown St. Louis. With the imminent closing of the Millennium Hotel in a couple of weeks, St. Louisans are growing nostalgic about the iconic spinning restaurant.
"Saying it's going to be missed is an understatement," said George Cotton, a frequent visitor to the Top of the Riverfront.
Whether you knew the hotel as Stouffer Riverfront, the Clarion, the Regal or the Millennium, the rooftop restaurant was made for special occasions. After four decades of prom dates, proposals, anniversaries and birthdays, the sun is about to set on the rotating restaurant full of memories.
"The setting is absolutely perfect," Cotton said. "I think St. Louis is just going to be losing a jewel."
Cotton estimates seven or eight visits with his wife, including a recent wedding anniversary dinner.
"It's breathtaking, the ambience, the view, not to mention the food and the setting," Cotton said. "It's just perfect."
For Keysha Hendrix, a terminal breast cancer patient, the Top of the Riverfront was the perfect place for a girls night out last April. St. Louisan Nicole Hercules and several friends flew Hendrix to town from Phoenix to celebrate. And to say goodbye.
"We went to a Cardinals baseball game, we toured The Hill, and one of the biggest things we did was we went to the Top of the Riverfront," Hercules said. "We could all just have fun and not worry about what was basically killing her."
Mike and Lynn Scott of Belleville, Illinois, married 40 years ago, but not until Mike's wedding proposal high above the St. Louis skyline at the Top of the Riverfront.
"He was pretty smooth," Lynn said. "He actually got down on his knee. I'm not sure how many drinks he had before that happened."
What goes around comes around for a St. Louis icon known for 360 degrees of St. Louis.
"Losing the restaurant is almost going to be like losing an old friend," Cotton said.
