On Saturday, November 21, Santa and Mrs. Claus are scheduled to arrive in downtown Kirkwood by train at 8:40 a.m. After that, Santa poses for photos inside the train station from 9 a.m. to noon. Santa has come in by train before. This year he steps into a different building, because it is the first Holiday Walk since the 1893 depot was rededicated on September 15 after a year of restoration.
By early afternoon, Santa has moved to a second building. From 1 to 2 p.m. he appears at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center, where the first-ever Kirkwood Festival of Trees opens the same day. The station hosts the season's opening morning, and KPAC hosts most of the weeks that follow.
The Station Santa Steps Into
According to First Alert 4, the overhaul took a year and cost $4.7 million. It added a restored 1940s-style platform, a new courtyard and a micro-museum of artifacts and murals about local rail history. The Webster-Kirkwood Times listed the physical work in more detail:
- a new slate roof with copper flashing
- a new storage building
- larger, accessible bathrooms
- a geothermal heating and cooling system
- the rail platform roof extended east from the main building, so the station looks the way it did in 1941
The Times described the funding differently from First Alert 4. It reported that the city received more than $4.2 million in grants and that local donations added another $1 million to the renovation budget, so grants and donations alone paid for the project. That works out to more than $5.2 million, higher than First Alert 4's $4.7 million cost. The station also runs without paid staff. The paper counted some 46 volunteers who keep it staffed whenever passenger trains pull in.
The station is not finished yet. When the Times covered the September ceremony, officials said at least a month of work remained to get the inside ready for passengers. Murals by Kirkwood native Bryan Haynes were among the finishing touches still to come. Amtrak's multi-million-dollar upgrade to the platforms and crossings is slated to begin in spring 2027. The city's train station rental page still says the station is not taking reservations and that booking will reopen once the station itself does.
The foundation behind the project wants the building used for more than catching trains. Art McDonnell, president of the Historic Kirkwood Train Station Foundation and a former mayor, told the Times that the station will be a community hub for private and civic events once all the work is done. In his words:
"The station is an icon of Kirkwood, a symbol of the economic vitality of Kirkwood and its citizens."
Until rentals reopen, the Holiday Walk morning is the clearest public test of that idea this year. The Lucille Rapp Tumblers and Dancers are scheduled to perform at Station Plaza at noon. The detailed timetable on the Downtown Kirkwood page is still labeled 2025. Last year it also had Mrs. Claus telling stories in Ken Connor Park and Caroling St. Louis singing around downtown from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The 2026 lineup beyond Santa's arrival and the noon dance performance has not been posted.
The Room That Stays Open After the Train Leaves
The Holiday Walk lasts one Saturday. The Festival of Trees runs for two weeks, and it takes place indoors. Kirkwood-area businesses, organizations and community partners decorate trees and wreaths for the lobby of the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center at 210 E. Monroe Avenue. Some trees will carry gift cards, products or themed surprises.
The festival keeps its own hours, set out on the Festival of Trees page:
When | Viewing hours |
|---|---|
Saturday, November 21 | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
Monday through Friday, Nov. 23 to Dec. 4 | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
Saturday, November 28 | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
KPAC performance nights | One hour before and during performances |
Raffle tickets cost $5 each and are sold online. Buyers pick the tree or wreath they want to enter for. The drawing is Friday, December 4 at 2 p.m., and each winner takes the tree home that day to display for the holidays. Proceeds go to the Kirkwood Arts Foundation and KirkCare. A panel of judges will also give awards for Best in Festival, with one tree and one wreath, plus Best Name/Theme, Best Cultural Tradition, Best Kirkwood Community Spirit, Most Unique/Creative and People's Choice. The display with the most raffle entries will be named Community Favorite.
This changes what a weekday downtown can include. Until December 4, anyone downtown between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on a weekday can walk into the KPAC lobby and see the displays without a ticket. The station's big day falls on a Saturday morning.
KPAC Was Already Doing This Before the Trees Arrived
The festival is the newest reason to go to KPAC, but this fall's downtown calendar sends people there several times. Two weeks before the trees go up, the Downtown Kirkwood Wine Walk on Saturday, November 7 uses KPAC as its check-in point. The walk runs from 1 to 5 p.m. with tastings at more than 20 businesses. That same weekend, Winter Opera St. Louis stages The Most Happy Fella in the Ross Family Theatre on Friday, November 6 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, November 8 at 2 p.m.
December brings more of the same. Here is KPAC's holiday lineup after the festival closes:
- Erin Bode: A Cold December Night, Friday, December 11, 7:30 p.m., in the Strauss Black Box Theatre
- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, presented by Gateway Center for the Performing Arts, December 11 to 13
- Let It Be Christmas: A Rock Opera from Rocky Marlowe Productions, December 17 and 18 at 7 p.m. and December 19 at 2 p.m., in the Ross Family Theatre
Over the season, KPAC hosts the Wine Walk check-in, an opera weekend, Santa's afternoon appearance, two weeks of trees and three December productions. The station hosts one important morning. The city's rental page says the station won't take event bookings until it reopens, and the Times reported the foundation's plan to use it for private and civic events once the work is complete.
The Weekends Around Them
The rest of the downtown calendar fills in between the two buildings:
- Sunday, October 25: A Halloween Costume Skate runs from 3:15 to 5:15 p.m. at the Kirkwood Ice Arena, 111 S. Geyer Road.
- Thursday, October 29: At the Downtown Kirkwood Halloween Walk, participating businesses hand out treats from 5 to 7 p.m.
- Through October 31: The Summit All Seasons Market keeps its pumpkin patch and kids' fall fun zone open.
- Saturday, November 7: The Wine Walk checks in at KPAC.
- Saturday, November 21: Santa arrives by train, the Holiday Walk begins, and the Festival of Trees opens. The Christmas Tree Lot and Gingerbread Shoppe also open that day and run through December 23, daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Saturday, November 28: Small Business Saturday, with extended Festival of Trees hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Friday, December 4: The Festival of Trees raffle is drawn at 2 p.m., and the winners take their trees home.
- Saturday, December 12: Holiday Cheer carolers sing downtown from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For a holiday spread that doesn't come out of your own kitchen, The Greek Kitchen Shop returned to Kirkwood on September 16. St. Louis Magazine reported that owners Lisa Nicholas and Joe Kandel are running a smaller takeout-and-catering operation inside the Schnucks food hall at 10233 Manchester.
Nika Leoni trained as a soprano, so a winter opera weekend at KPAC and a station rebuilt by its own community are close to her heart. If you're thinking about how Kirkwood's restored depot and busy arts calendar fit into your next chapter, Nika Leoni would be glad to talk it through over coffee downtown. Schedule a private consultation.
