This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: July 4, 2008 - That is our Arch.
So, it's not surprising that area residents are paying a good deal of attention these days to proposals and discussions about what to do with the 91-acre national park the Arch soars above – a site that attracts more than 3 million visitors a year.
With all due respect to Luther Ely Smith who got the idea back in the 1930s to build a memorial to America's pioneer spirit on the city's decaying riverfront, and to the genius of architect Eero Saarinen who designed the still wow-some memorial – and even to the National Park Service that maintains it -- the Arch is ours. An iconic symbol of St. Louis.
Ironically, Mississippi River flooding forced organizers to move the annual Fair St. Louis from the Arch grounds this Fourth of July weekend, just as St. Louisans are getting revved-up about development plans for the national memorial.
Regardless, this would be a good time to check out two Websites about the development discussions that grew out of a push to reinvigorate the Arch grounds by local groups, including the Danforth Foundation:
- www.nps.gov/jeff - the National Park Service homepage; click on the General Management Plan link.
- www.groundsforchangestl.org - a Web site by the newly formed Groundswell for Change advocacy group.
The National Park Service is seeking public input for a future management plan for the memorial. The Park Service has held two public meetings and is accepting comments until July 14 on what it calls "preliminary alternatives" to update a plan that has been in place since the Arch was topped out in 1965.
On July 3, Groundswell for Change, which is pushing for improvements to the St. Louis riverfront and to the Arch grounds, launched the www.groundsforchangestl.org Web site to "educate St. Louisans about a once-in-a-half-century opportunity" to enliven the Arch grounds and connect them better to downtown St. Louis.
The broad-based bi-state group has formed a steering committee of government leaders, citizens, civic, business, labor and disability rights groups to urge the Park Service to make what it calls two key improvements to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, which also includes the Old Courthouse:
- A major, above-ground destination attraction, such as a museum, on the Arch grounds.
- Improved pedestrian connectors between the Arch grounds and the riverfront and between downtown and the Old Courthouse.
"By making some key enhancements leading to and on the Arch grounds, we can connect those grounds and the riverfront to downtown and realize Eero Saarinen's original dream of having a magnificent monument complemented by museums, restaurants and other attractions. We would make the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial a more complete experience for visitors, and we would make the whole St. Louis region a more compelling destination,'' said Kitty Ratcliffe, a steering committee member, in a news release. Ratcliffe is also president of the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission.
The Web site includes research and videos, a list of members and also encourages area residents to join the group and to lobby the National Park Service.