Plans to revitalize St. Louis Arch site move ahead

[October 22, 2008]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The National Park Service is considering a design competition to revitalize the grounds at this city's famed Gateway Arch.

Officials with the park, officially known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, said Tuesday that they favored a plan that would increase educational opportunities and possibly improve or add to visitor amenities, like a restaurant.

Assistant superintendent Frank Mares said a common view expressed a recent public hearings on improving the Arch grounds was that more must be done to better link it to downtown St. Louis, perhaps with improved pedestrian walkways and a more welcoming entrance.

Proposed changes would include barrier-free routes between the Arch grounds and the Mississippi riverfront.

Any changes to the grounds would have to conform to the property's status as a historical landmark.

Sponsoring a design competition would hinge on funding, Mares said. Such a contest would give designers parameters of what the Park Service was seeking, but would also allow them to use their own creativity.

Architect Eero Saarinen designed the 630-foot monument for a 1947 competition.

A group of St. Louis community leaders, including former Sen. John Danforth, R-Mo., has been seeking bold changes to the Arch grounds.

The Danforth Foundation, a private foundation that works to revitalize the St. Louis region, has sought to have a world-class attraction built near the Arch to draw more visitors to the riverfront. The attraction would likely be cultural center tied to a theme of western expansion.

Danforth said Tuesday that such an attraction might be impossible because the Park Service wants to preserve the character-defining features of the park.

The Park Service's draft plan for the 91-acre grounds is expected to be released next year.

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On the Net:

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial:
http://www.nps.gov/jeff/

[Associated Press; By BETSY TAYLOR]

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