This year’s postseason memories will be Busch’s last

? Three giant cranes loom over the distinctive arched roof of Busch Stadium. Artwork, jerseys and other items are scattered throughout the home clubhouse, waiting to be autographed. A couple of old green seats, once located behind home plate, have been left near Reggie Sanders’ locker.

An attached note says, “Please sign the back of the seats (in silver). Thanks, Reg.”

All signs that the end is near for the St. Louis Cardinals’ home of the last 40 years.

Located just a few blocks from the Mississippi River, Busch Stadium was an architectural marvel when it opened in May 1966, replacing rickety Sportsman’s Park and part of the wave of “cookie-cutter” stadiums that revolutionized baseball architecture.

Four decades later, Busch has entered its final days. The stadium will come down just weeks after the Cardinals play their final postseason game, replaced in 2006 by a new park going up right next door.

St. Louis played host to the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the NL championship series Wednesday night, eight wins away from giving Busch a proper send-off with its first World Series championship since 1982 – and its last.

“It’s a great ballpark,” Cardinals catcher Mike Mahoney said. “The fans are unbelievable. There’s so much history. There are times when I’m talking to the guys and we all say, ‘I can’t believe they’re going to knock this place down.'”

Most of those circular monstrosities from the 1960s quickly faded from memory after they came tumbling down, the requiems of a now-despised era when every stadium looked the same.

Busch Stadium figures to be remembered differently. Despite all the similarities with stadiums such as Cincinnati’s Riverfront, Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers and Philadelphia’s Veterans, Busch had a few touches that distinguished it from the others.

Start with the roof, which doesn’t resemble the sloped structures covering just about every other stadium from the ’60s. Instead, Busch had a unique design with openings that mimicked the distinguished curves of nearby Gateway Arch.

The seating design stood apart, too. While the circular upper deck could have been swapped with Riverfront or Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, the middle level stops not long after curving into fair territory on both left and right field sides, leaving a view of the outside streets and a conduit for fresh air to flow through the stadium during the brutal St. Louis summers.

Busch also was distinguished by its location – just a few blocks from the mighty Mississippi River, not far from the city’s most prominent man-made feature, the Gateway Arch. Before long, the new stadium was a landmark, representing one of America’s greatest baseball cities.