ST. LOUIS • Former Board of Aldermen Jim Shrewsbury saw an abrupt end to his long City Hall career when he lost his seat in a stunning upset in the primary four years ago.

But Shrewsbury now has the opportunity for a prominent second act: Helping the Rams stay in St. Louis.

On Wednesday, the governor appointed Shrewsbury, a fellow Democrat, to the board that oversees the operation of the Edward Jones Dome.

While the Rams woeful season fizzled to its merciful end on Sunday, arguably one of the biggest days in franchise history is on the horizon.

A plan to make the stadium among the "top tier" of playing venues in the NFL must be presented to the Rams by Feb. 1.

If the team and the Convention & Visitors Commission, a separate agency, strike a deal, then the Dome authority would make the agreed-upon improvements, which would likely include a massive makeover of the stadium.

If the improvements are not made by 2015, the Rams are free to explore a move to another market, like, say, Los Angeles, which has been pining for a pro football team ever since the Rams left them for St. Louis.

Shrewsbury, who began his political career as a teenage going door to door for Dick Gephardt, was on the Board of Aldermen from 1983 to 2007, a tenure that saw the city lose the football Cardinals to Arizona, and then lure the Rams away from California by building the Dome with taxpayer money.

Will it cost taxpayers another stadium to keep them from going back?