VISIONARY AWARD
Carolyn Kindle
During a visit to St. Louis in March 2019, Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber tried to see the future. But he really had to squint. Garber was in town on a fact-finding mission, meeting with local luminaries to determine whether the region had the appropriate corporate backing to support a team in his expanding league. Finances weren't his only concern. Garber wanted to see the site where a potential expansion team might build its home. For that, the leaders of MLS4theLou, the ownership group determined to lure a franchise to town, brought Garber to Downtown West.
Carolyn Kindle, a leader in MLS4theLou's push to bring North America's top-flight soccer league to town, showed him the pocked grass and ghostly quiet highway ramp that cut through the undulating hilly patch of land between Market and Olive where they intended to build the stadium. As he surveyed the scene, Garber turned to Kindle for reassurance.
