A $33-million riverfront redevelopment project at the St. Louis Arch is complete – ahead of time and below budget.
Governor Jay Nixon delivers remarks at the ribbon cutting on a portion of work on the Gateway Arch Grounds. (photo; Jessica Machetta)
Redeveloping the Arch grounds is part of a bigger project spanning more than ten miles – a $380-million plan that seeks to better connect the Arch to Downtown St. Louis.
The 1.5-mile stretch was raised to prevent flooding from the Mississippi River.
Congressman William “Lacy” Clay, who was instrumental in getting federal funding for the project, looked back at the changing landscape of the Riverfront.
“This one-and-a-half mile stretch of the riverfront has been elevated an average of two feet. I remember coming down here, and I told the governor, as a child, and there were all cobblestones and you had to walk over the cobblestones to get to the Admiral Riverboat. That’s how far I go back,” said Clay.
“It’s so exciting for all of us … the congressman and I were talking about out days here when we were kids,” Governor Jay Nixon said, “to see this finally coming to life.”
The park and trail completes a one and a half mile stretch from Chouteau to Biddle Street.
Crews next expect to complete work in the fall, on the north and south ends of the Arch Grounds. Other work, including on the Arch Museum, is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2017.