St. Louis’ 250th birthday celebration came to an end with the new year and some of the famous STL250 cakes were sold as part of the celebration.  Eighty four of the 256 cakes originally placed around the region for the celebration were sold at an online auction  raising over $50,000.

The cakes sold from $1,505 for the Anheuser-Busch cake to $350 for Ashley Street Power House / Riverfront Trail cake.  The auction for the cakes ended at midnight on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014.

“The fun thing about these birthday cakes is they all tell a story and people learn things about their neighborhood. It has taken people to neighborhoods they may not visit. It’s been fun and like a scavenger hunt across the city,”  Donna Andrews, former director of public relations for the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission, said

The cakes and their recent auction were sponsored by STL250, a  group of volunteers that led  the St. Louis region’s celebration of the founding of St. Louis on Feb. 14, 1764.  The group placed the 4-foot tall fiberglass cakes, decorated by local artists around the region beginning in 2013. The part art exhibit and part scavenger hunt was called  “Cakeway to the West” and ended with the auction.

According to STL250’s website the money raised by the auction will go to the “1764 Society.” The society wants to build a “Founders Plaza” around the statue of Pierre Laclede outside of St. Louis City Hall.

During the 1914 celebration of the city’s 150th anniversary, the St. Louis Centennial Association donated the bronze statue of Laclede. The statue, by noted sculptor George Julian Zolnay, is outside St. Louis City Hall on Market Street.

The City of Chesterfield has been host to five of the cakes throughout the year long celebration.  The area cakes were located at The Kemp Auto Museum, The Butterfly House in Faust Park, Old Bonhomme Church, The Spirit of St. Louis Airport; and Babler State Park.

“The cakes have been a great source of civic pride for the entire region,” Ward IV Chesterfield City Councilman Bruce DeGroot said. “It is great having these cakes here to add to the other great art in the city.  I hope their hosts continue to display them proudly.”

None of the Chesterfield cakes were sold as part of the auction, mainly because the locations decided not to put it up for auction. and all but the Babler State Park cake are still on display.  The same holds true for the majority of the remaining cakes in the region according to the new volunteer organization called the St. Louis 250 Cake Lovers that was organized after the exhibit ended to continue to track the cakes.

News about the cakes and their final disposition can be found at stl250cakelovers.org.  The link to the online auction for the cakes can be found at: https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/browse.action?auctionId=228222228