The Mahler Ballroom in Saint Louis

       Theodore C. Link, FAIA, and architect of the Mahler Ballroom in St. Louis, was a German-born American architect. He was born on March 17, 1850 in Germany. He was trained in engineering at the University of Heidelberg and the École Centrale Paris. Link emigrated to the United States, arriving in St. Louis in 1873 to work for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad company. In 1875, St. Louis Surveyor Julius Pitzman recommended him to the job of superintendent of public parks for St. Louis, and after a four-year interim as a German-language newspaper publisher in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Link returned to St. Louis as one of the architects for the 1904 World's Fair. He also "designed most of the buildings for LSU when the campus was relocated in the 1920's." Link died in Baton Rouge while working on the new Louisiana State University campus, and was interred at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. In 1995 was awarded a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

       "From KETC, LIVING ST. LOUIS Producer Ruth Ezell discovers the Mahler Ballroom in the Central West End. Built in 1907, the ballroom was designed by Theodore Link, architect of Union Station, and recently purchased and renovated by Marsha Shepley."

• Biography of Theodore Link