The national park under St. Louis' famed Gateway Arch has seen better days, and has always been a point of contention. Today, some residents want to build a cultural attraction in the park. The park service is resisting.
"Long maligned as an obstacle that severs the city from its riverfront, the grounds around the arch are at the center of a dispute between a group of prominent residents who want to develop parts of the park, including construction of a cultural attraction, most likely a museum, and the National Park Service, which administers the site and is cool to some of the group's proposals.
'We've got two great assets, the Mississippi River and the arch, and we're not really utilizing either of them,' said former U.S. Sen. John Danforth, who leads the group in calling for an international design competition to reinvigorate the park and better integrate it into the environment. 'What we have proposed is a world-class cultural attraction that is on the arch grounds.'
Danforth has pledged $50 million for the project through his family's charity, the Danforth Foundation, which at the request of the city's mayor, Francis Slay, spent two years and $2 million studying the park's problems. He has also promised to help raise $100 million more.
Danforth's attitude rankles officials of the National Park Service, who maintain that any development must respect the memorial's National Historic Landmark status.
Read the full story: St. Louis arch: Preservation vs. revitalization
St. Louis has a Secret Stormwater Weapon Saving 100 Million Gallons from the Mississippi
The city reimburses residents who install gardens, rain barrels, and other methods that retain stormwater and decrease the risk of flooding.
St. Louis Nonprofit Builds Housing for Struggling Artists
The St. Louis Art Place Initiative purchases city-owned vacant properties and rehabilitates them, offering homeownership opportunities to local artists.
St. Louis Zeroing in on Safe Streets
The city is creating its first Department of Transportation and using hundreds of millions in federal funding to launch road safety projects.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority