CityArchRiver 2015 Update

Last Wednesday night, I attended the City Arch River 2015 Report to the Community. The event was held at the Ferrara Theatre within America’s Center (Downtown St. Louis). After the presentation was finished, not only was in utter amazement of the designs plans showing the expected results, I felt pride in my City and hope that downtown will be back on the upswing.

For those unfamiliar with City Arch River 2015, it is a massive project that seeks to revitalize not only the Arch grounds and riverfront, but better incorporate the Arch grounds and riverfront into downtown area. If you have ever been down to the Arch or the riverfront, I am sure you are already familiar with with the lack of flow that currently exists between the Arch grounds and downtown. One of the main problems is I-70 which separates downtown from the park. While this highway system is vital to connecting the north and south of the city, it makes anyone who wants to cross it feel like they are stuck in a real life version of Frogger. The solution to this problem was presented to the community as an extension of the park OVER a portion of the highway system, thereby alleviating any safety concerns for park visitors coming from downtown.

While this is not necessarily a new update to the original design, I have to include an artist’s rendering of the grand entrance to the new Arch Museum. If you have been a visitor of the museum in the last few years, you may have been less than impressed not only with it’s low key entrance (basically a mall escalator) but also with its lack of historical content on the history of St. Louis and the importance of the riverfront in the creation of our “city by the river”. Not only will the entrance be relocated to the entrance of teh Arch grounds, the museum will also be completely redone.

Another update to the original design involves the riverfront. If you have been a resident of St. Louis for more than a few years, you are probably already familiar with the tendency of the riverfront to flood from time to time. These floods have not only closed of the riverfront from the public but but also force the closures of many businesses located there. The updated design for the project includes lifting the roadway by 2.5 feet. According to studies performed by the Army Core of Engineers, this move will alleviate 70% of the flooding than happens along Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard.

There were also some updates on the total cost. Walter Metcalfe, Member of the Board of Directors of the CityArchRiver 2015 Foundation, the estimated cost of the project has actually gone down in the year since the winning design was selected, from $578 million to $553 million.

Dan Brassil
St. Louis Real Estate Agent