Citygarden an immediate hit with visitors
Citygarden, the new sculpture park in downtown St. Louis, was a big attraction during its “soft opening” yesterday.
Adults wandered about until after dusk as kids dashed through illuminated jets of water spouting from a small plaza. Citygarden occupies two blocks bounded by Eighth and 10th streets and Market and Chestnut streets. It’s free and open daily. Like other city parks, Citygarden’s hours are 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The Gateway Foundation is paying for Citygarden’s $25 million to $30 million construction cost. The foundation also purchased and owns all the works of art, estimated to cost at least $12 million. The city owns the land and is responsible for the cost of the park’s water and electricity.
Key to Citygarden’s continued attractiveness will be maintenance. So far, the grass is neatly trimmed and the planting beds are immaculate. But one of the 102 water jets making up the plaza fountain was on the fritz last night.
(3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)
Loading ...
AMAZING!!! Beautiful project and one of the best things to happen in this part of downtown in years! It’s totally “hands-on” instead of “don’t touch” art–which is FABULOUS! There were lots of people and children of all ages enjoying it today! The timing couldn’t be better with the July 4th activities and All-Star game coming. BRAVO to all who inspired, supported and created this wonderful venue in our great city!!
And to the naysayers: This will bring people into downtown, generating tax revenues to support the homeless and other great needs in our city. You can’t build support for the needs without spending some $. It’s the old feed the family for a day or teach them to fish argument.
“But one of the 102 water jets making up the plaza fountain was on the fritz last night.”
That’s a better percentage than my yard.