Historical June 1985 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
As the scaffolding comes off the exterior of the Old Courthouse, compliments arrive about its appearance in the context of all that is new downtown. Unknown to many are the facts that the building was abandoned by the city in 1930 and nearly burned down as the result of an electrical fire in 1936. Yet, within six years after abandoning its oldest major piece of governmental architecture, the City managed to help create that Memorial which is now preserving it; the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial—the oldest national historic site in the National Park Service—is fifty years old this year. Belatedly, the courthouse was made a part of the Memorial in 1940.
One hundred twenty-five years ago the construction of the new dome of the courthouse was just underway; and one hundred fifty years ago, the Old Cathedral was celebrating its first birthday! Today, they are both part of the grounds of the national park area celebrating its golden anniversary.
The Gateway Arch, the most obvious piece of public sculpture in St. Louis, is twenty years old this year; it is the most successful feature of the Memorial which commemorates the country’s westward expansion brought about through President Thomas Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana Territories. (The Old Courthouse, in fact, is the second and “new” courthouse on the same block as the actual “old” courthouse which was torn down in 1851.
The Old Cathedral is the third such structure on its block, so it is really quite new by comparison to what it replaced.) Fifty years ago, when the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial was first created by executive order of Franklin D. Roosevelt, there were a series of court cases testing the open site concept as proposed by the Memorial.
A major part of the arguments, which were to last five years, centered around the amount of taxproducing property which would be destroyed to build the historic site (the grounds presently surrounding the Arch were then covered with buildings similar to what remains today in Laclede’s Landing).
As it has turned out, the not-forprofit corporation, which supports the work of the National Park Service, pays more earnings taxes than were ever collected in property taxes during the years of the court cases.
In addition, the Memorial provided the necessary spark needed to stimulate the investment in and development of the office buildings and hotels which now surround the area. Today, that same concept is transplanting itself to East St. Louis, as Congress seeks to extend the Memorial to the east bank in Illinois.
As the commission which will design the master plan for that expansion begins to meet, the leader of that effort has been added to the board of the not-forprofit organization supporting the Memorial, cementing a relationship going forward with the dreams begun fifty years ago.
There was a time when dozens of boats were tied up to the levee below where the Arch stands now. Today, only the “Delta Queen” and the “Mississippi Queen” tie up a few times each summer and the boats of Streckfus Steamers take visitors along the river.
And even though the riverfront has yet to be discovered by many St. Louisans, it is more active today for “regular” people than it ever was. Mules and railroad tracks have been replaced with active and passive attractions amenable to families as well as elderly and those just out for a good time.
The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial has been the centerpiece of that retransformation of the riverfront.
The renovation of Laclede’s Landing is well appreciated and plans for the Jacques Cousteau museum are just beginning and are probably now known to many. Other projects include the completion of a replica of Ead’s largest river ironclads from the Civil War, the reopening of the Admiral this fall as well as the S. S. President bringing day cruises in a grand style back to the riverfront in July.
But the most exciting aspect of all this increased development is the ambience of the promenade nearing completion.
The Arch focuses attention again on the Mississippi, and the promenade makes day and evening strolls along the river’s shore a delight. Plans are underway for a marina between Laclede’s Landing and the Ashley Street Power Plant to the north.
The promenade begins in that very area.
From there it follows the shore above the cobblestone south to the Popular Street Bridge and potentially beyond it.
It makes walking along the river at St. Louis enjoyable and relaxing.
And none of this would have been possible without the vision needed to create the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.
With its Arch and Old Courthouse, the Memorial remains the focus which attracts visitors from across the globe— over eight percent of the people coming to the Arch do not speak English as a native tongue. More people visit the museum under the Arch than go to all the baseball and football games at Busch stadium combined.
Yet the point is not one of comparison, but one of various attractions doing their part to build an economy. St. Louis has had six major economic upturns in its long history.
The most recent one is underway right now, and it is more massive than any of the others.
At this time, nearly $750 million worth of construction is underway in downtown alone. Virtually all of it is directly related to the successful completion of the Arch which is in turn the product of the dream of Luther Ely Smith who founded the group which brought the Memorial into existence fifty years ago this year.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, June 1985.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1985_06.pdf, printed page(s) 7; PDF page(s) 7.
