BJC partners to build new Cortex MetroLink station

by Kathryn Holleman • [email protected]

BJC | The new Cortex MetroLink stop opened July 31 to speeches, music and food trucks — 25 years to the day after the first MetroLink trains took to the rails in St. Louis.

The new stop is between Boyle and Sarah avenues, just north of BJC @ The Commons and the BJC Clayton Avenue Building (CAB). It’s expected to serve thousands of workers in the tech hub Cortex district, such as those working in the BJC buildings. This is the first MetroLink stop to be financed by both public and private partners, including BJC HealthCare and Washington University.

“As a not-for-profit health care provider, BJC knows the benefits of public-private partnerships in moving our region forward,” said Bob Cannon, BJC group president and Barnes-Jewish Hospital president, during the dedication ceremony. “We are happy to have been a part of this partnership and look forward to participating in other endeavors that will better position our region for future success.”

Several of the speakers talked about the station’s importance as a way to make the services, technology and jobs of the Cortex district accessible to all area residents.

“Some of us ride transit in St. Louis,” said June McAllister Fowler, BJC senior vice president of communications, marketing and public affairs and chairperson of the advocacy group Citizens for Modern Transit. “All of us need transit in St. Louis.”

Missouri State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed called the new station “a game changer,” while other dignitaries called it a key to attracting more high-tech businesses to the area.

For several BJC employees, it’s simply a great way to get to work.

Jim Lott, managed care billing analyst, rides a bus and MetroLink to get to the CAB each day. He expects the new station to cut about 15-20 minutes from his commute.

“I was hoping this would happen,” he says.

Lott says he’s also excited about other changes in the area, including the opening of the first section of the Choteau Greenway, which will provide a walking/biking trail to the Gateway Arch, the environmentally friendly rain gardens in the area and the new BJC fitness center set to open in the Cortex district.

Cheryl Poitra, finance systems analyst, was eager to check out the new fitness center, too, but noted that the accelerating changes to the area promised an exciting future for BJC and the neighborhood.

“I’ve worked for BJC for 37 years,” she says. “The new station, the new buildings are just extraordinary. I’m so excited to see this happening.”

Stephanie Frey, St. Louis Children’s Hospital Child Health Advocacy and Outreach (CHAO) administrative coordinator, rode MetroLink frequently to classes at Belleville’s Southwestern Illinois College. Though she’s completed those, the new stop will make it easy to go to Cardinals games or other events after work, she says.

CHAO assistant nurse manager Crystal Nelson, while checking out the dedication festivities, pondered using the new station even sooner.

“The National Black Nurses Association conference starts tonight at Union Station,” she said. “I’m pretty sure taking MetroLink would be cheaper than parking downtown.”