Int'l Design Competition for Gateway Arch Grounds

The design competition invites teams to create a new design for the Gateway Arch grounds and surrounding areas.

''Meet me in St. Louis, Louis,
Meet me at the Fair

The biggest event in St. Louis history was the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, also known as the St. Louis World's Fair.

The biggest thing, or at least the most prominent marker on the St. Louis landscape is Eero Saarinen's 630-foot Gateway Arch. The arch was the winning design of an open architectural competition in 1947, but not completed until 1965.

The Gateway Arch is part of the National Park Service's Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, honoring Thomas Jefferson's role in opening the West. The site includes the Museum of Westward Expansion and the Old Courthouse, site of the first two trials of the Dred Scott case. In 1847, Dred Scott sued to be free of his slavery. The case ended up in the Supreme Court, which ruled that as slaves were property, they had no right to sue.

Today, a group called the CityArchRiver2015 Foundation
seeks to attract more people to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, and get pedestrians across Memorial Drive between downtown and the Arch grounds. The group hoped the NPS might be convinced to give up some of the land to the city. The Park Service held public hearings that led to a new plan for the Arch grounds. The plan suggested a design competition and outlined what the Park Service might agree to or reject in the way of site design. For instance, the Park Service is adamant that the lawn beneath the Arch not be touched.

On Dec. 7, 2009, the foundation, in conjunction with the NPS, announced a design competition and plans to select the winning design in October 2010. The foundation hopes to raise $1.6 million to pay for the competition. The Park Service will have the final say on the design, and Congress would have to appropriate the money, an estimated need of $305 million. The goal is to complete construction for the riverfront park by Oct. 28, 2015, the 50th anniversary of the day the Arch was completed.

Architect Donald Stastny of Portland, Ore. will manage the competition. Stastny led design competitions for the Flight 93 National Memorial at Stonycreek Township, Pa., and the Oklahoma City National Memorial. Stastny will work with a jury of eight set for selection in early Jan. 2010. Stastny said designers or groups that want to participate should submit resumes and general ideas by Jan. 22, 2010.