The projects are too close for anything that would draw people.

How about a wall similar to the Vietnam War Memorial, that memorializes all of the victims of black on white violence and homicide. How about the truth about St. Louis for once instead of the First Stage Denial common with St. Louisan’s.

Have NPS give up whatever land is necessary to get the lid over 70. Then yuo’d have access from downtown to the Arch grounds, put a musem of some sort (industry, medical science, Mississippi river) in the bldg where the bike trail starts. Put another major attraction at the south end of Leonora K. Sullivan, and put small shops/vendors in between and charge one admission for all major attractions so people will be out and walking around the grounds and visiting “the landing”. Have some nice botanical gardens on the arch grounds. Another thing I think would be important is to have a lot of free (or VERY inexpensive) parking, because we want St. Louisans to be able to use the area and people may not come downtown if they have to worry about parking tickets or paying for parking, when they have other options. I agree with Charlie Brennan also on his beer garden, somehwere you could sit and drink/dine and enjoy the surroundings.

I just don’t understand. Everyone keeps saying we need a lid over I-70. We already do, it’s called Memorial Drive. Its hard to get to the arch? There are at least four stoplights at major intersections that you can cross memorial drive on to get to the arch, Walnut, Market, Chestnut, and Pine, not to mention Washington. Although I do like the elevated walkways over Memorial and I-70, it’s simply because they were in the original arch plans. As far as visitation goes, the Arch still draws approximately 3 plus million people a year. The reason none of you know about it is the majority of visitors are tourists and the city has absolutely nothing else to offer downtown so people come to the arch and then leave the city. People keep saying we need this or that, we need food, or hoaky t-shirt stands. Come down to the Arch at noon on a Friday and sit on the Grand Staircase overlooking the river. You’ll see what the arch is all about, people out walking on their lunchbreaks, school groups, retiree groups, visitors coming and exploring this precious open space. The reason why Danforth is even interested in the Arch is because it’s the only thing that makes money downtown, other than the stadiums obviously, and he wants a cut of the dough. To take land away from the National Park Service is the exact antithesis of why the National Park Service was created. As far as live on the levee, fair st. louis, celebrate st. louis, V.P. fair, or whatever they’re calling it this week, it’s a joke. People come to watch the free concert and leave without spending any money. I can imagine how much money Missy Slay and company lose annually on that pile of garbage. Once we elect a new mayor i’m hoping that goes by the wayside as well.
Other than the grounds work, i.e. filling in minor sink areas and so forth and possibly some gardening, the major reform of the arch has to be the Security Checkpoint at the entrance. It takes forever to get through and is just brutal. The NPS needs to rethink it’s entrances maybe developing and usuing more security checkpoints during peak hours and seasons. Just a few thoughts, thanks for reading

My family has had connections to St. Louis for four generations. In 1965 as a student at Washington University I witnessed the placing of the last section of the Arch from a far distance. What a sight that was! It is a day I will never forget. Now living in California our family continues to return to St. Louis and on one such visit in the Summer of 2006 we visited the Arch and the museum as well as a tour of the grounds the Arch occupies. What struck me was here in the middle of a beautiful and cool day there were very few people enjoying the park under the arch. I walked up to the court house where the Dread Scott case was heard in the 1850’s and was again struck by the lack of visitors to the court house and the surrounding downtown area. For a city with such rich history and presence I believe the it is time the people of St. Louis fulfill the hopes and dreams of the great people who preserved this space and built this icon of America. Yes the area under the Arch needs to be tied to the downtown instead of being this island unto itself. The local community is capable of making this a destination place instead of a short stop on a tourist itinerary. There should be places besides the Arch that attract the entire family and community groups to spend the day and evening at this unique site next to one of the mightiest rivers in the world. This is an opportunity to make a difference for the generations that will follow. The people of St. Louis can be that difference.

I like the formality and tranquility of the Arch grounds the way they are: tree-lined sidewalk-boulevards, large expanses of grass, and views of the river and the decorative lakes. It makes for a great walk at lunch time when working downtown; tourists and locals share that pedestrian space. To commercialize the grounds would be to cheapen it.

Not to say the area can’t be improved. The lid is the best idea. I-70 is a huge barrier between downtown and the Arch. Probably some reworking of Memorial drive is also needed. If possible, the buildings there could be changed to be more pedestrian-friendly. Awnings, windows and street-level entrances would make a big improvement over the backside, alley-way feeling of those buildings. The cafes, hot dog stands, and terraces would best be located facing the park from west of Memorial.

Perhaps a “rendezvous” type event reenacting 1760s era St. Louis would work. It would be fairly non-obtrusive with a certainly well-behaved,sedate crowd of a moderate size would be a good event. The “vendors” would be part of the attraction, selling period artifacts, foods of the period, etc. and would be a celebration of the city’s early beginnings.

I work downtown and hardly ever go to the Arch, except maybe when visitors are in town. Architecturally the Arch itself is amazing, other than that the Arch grounds are pretty BORING and difficult to access. The Arch Grounds could be planned/designed way better and still fit in with Saarinen’s concept. St. Louis does need to keep its own identity, but look at what Millennium Park did to Chicago!

First we need the connector, then it would be nice to have a boardwalk and some nice indoor/outdoor cafes overlooking the river with great views. We need boat rides, helicopter rides, shuttles to and from sites. More outdoor free concerts would bring visitors.

I work downtown and never visit the Arch unless I have company in from out of town. Possible a small train/tram could take people on a guided tour of the Arch grounds and give the history of grounds while taking people from Memorial Drive to the enterance to the Arch. We need to lid 70 for the safety of the Arch visitors and then use that space for resteraunts, shops, and maybe some sort of musuem(s) with traveling exhibits, and some sort of public artwork that changes annually (similar to the Botanical Gardens.) Once that is done a free shuttle that runs from there down Washington Ave to Union Station and back would be nice…