Good ideas emanated from design Arch design competition

As anticipation grows on how our riverfront will evolve, there should be concern that it could become too busy, too removed from the vision that inspired it.

St. Louis is a city where the continent's great rivers meet. This site represents a role that was central in the epic American adventure into our western frontier. This was a community of life on the river, at the river's edge. It was trading, keel boats and stern wheelers, the great American horse culture and wagon trails west into the plains. This was the city of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the Third World Olympiad, the railroad and Lindbergh and flight.

There are appealing aspects from the concept groups, and some that don't fit the vision.

Some ideas from the designs: A wide, walkover plaza that rejoins the riverfront grounds with the city and the Gateway Mall westward is central. A dramatic new west entrance would highlight an expanded underground Westward Museum. Space can be made for the Lewis and Clark Memorial Statue (salvaged from the waters under the Eads Bridge), a farmers market, arts and crafts fair venues, a companion underground parking garage, a "river species" aquarium, restaurant and beer garden overlook. Hiking-biking trails and elevated walking paths could connect west- and east-bank visions. Around the existing fountain on the east side, meandering waterways, a restored wetlands bird habitat and a Great Rivers Resource Center-Museum would present a fitting stage for the vision west. Include across and around the site native woodland tree groupings, plants and wetland pockets at the ponds to restore a natural beauty to the entire area.

Wise decisions should prevail to carry forward and secure the past into the future vision of St. Louis in this world-class memorial to the dream.

Ron Pohle • Mehlville

Fix Arch first

We've been reading all week about plans to make "needed improvements" to the Arch grounds and connections to downtown and the east side. Now in "Gateway Arch shows its age" (Aug. 22) we learn that rust and corrosion are eating away at the magnificent structure itself, calling for potentially millions of dollars of studies and tens of millions of dollars for repairs. Let's put the dream schemes on hold until the real problems with the infrastructure are dealt with, lest we run out of money before we can prevent a fallen Arch.

To improve access to the Arch grounds, we can learn from Chicago, where I recently wished to get a close-up look at "The Bean" in Millennium Park. All I had to do was wait for the light to change, then stroll across a very busy Michigan Avenue, something that could be achieved in St. Louis simply by increasing the "walk" time on already-existing crosswalk signals along Memorial Drive.

These design plans can be dusted off in a few (or in many) years after the more pressing problems with the Arch have been dealt with. Of course, by then a whole new round of plan competition may be called for. Again.

Ron Zager • Webster Groves

Monkey wrenches

Regarding Bill McClellan's "Small business owner stands up to charges" (Aug. 18): Wow, I am shocked. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is trying to run a small businessman out of business. The next thing you'll tell me is that there are strip clubs on the east side and gambling at Rick's cafe. What is this world coming to?

I thought the government was there to help us and produce tax revenue. OSHA must have stock in some tool company because it throws a lot of monkey wrenches in the day-to-day operations of America's small-business operators. Now I know why I hear people say, "I love my country, but I hate the government."

Jim Kohnen • Mehlville

Leading the way

"Public money, private profit" (Aug. 19) by Tammy Shea was a refreshing commentary on public subsidies. As a former chief financial officer of a major real estate development firm and former chairman of the TIF Commission in Maryland Heights, I can vouch for the need and the good side of publicly subsidized projects, but I also can see the bad side and the rapid deterioration of tax increment financing and other public subsidy avenues as fueled by corporate greed.

I commend Ms. Shea and Wildwood for recognizing that Wildwood's beautiful countryside and the enviable landscape of their growing city is far from blighted. I certainly hope the city sticks to this aggressive, often unpopular position on providing public funds to future projects that will be tempting. I have a feeling that if Ms. Shea remains a councilwoman, the city will stay strong.

And for small businesses everywhere wondering whether any public official anywhere is listening to their calls, they know Ms. Shea and Wildwood are leading the way.

Ron Unterreiner • Chesterfield

More to the story

AmerenUE's Aug. 19 response to the editorial "Playing for time" (Aug. 16) was wrong in several respects.

On Jan. 26, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notified Ameren that four of the company's Missouri coal plants, including Labadie, were in violation of the Clean Air Act. Those violations remain outstanding.

If Ameren gets its coal ash waste landfill permit before U.S. EPA regulations are finalized, it will be under existing state solid waste laws, not under the new federal regulations. Why not wait a few months to ensure compliance with the new regulations?

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Society of Civil Engineers warn that berms eventually will be compromised. Liners may leak. Monitoring systems can fail. All of these systems failed at Taum Sauk. Will Ameren guarantee that private well owners will not be in danger? What about our neighboring counties that rely on the Missouri River for drinking water?

Ameren claims that EPA regulation of coal ash under the nation's protective hazardous waste regulations will discourage beneficial reuse. The opposite is true. Hazardous waste regulation has increased beneficial use of waste from other industries.

Ameren's Labadie plant does not store combustion waste safely now. The unlined storage pond has been leaking 43,000 gallons a day of contaminated water into groundwater since at least 1992, and the ash waste storage ponds discharge millions of gallons into the Missouri River every day.

Steve Gambaro • Franklin County

On the front page

With the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq on Aug. 19, I was sure that historic news would be on the front page Aug. 19 or 20. Instead, the Aug. 20 headline was "Rebuilding the Bud bandwagon." That article belonged in the Business section. And news about Anheuser-Busch's drop in sales was in the paper earlier in the week. Does St. Louis need that information again?

Then I thought the combat troop withdrawal would be on the front page of the Aug. 21 or Aug. 22 edition because it is very important. No. The Aug. 21 headlines were "Biden takes aim at pessimism" and "Charlack catching speeders and flak." The Aug. 22 headline was "Gateway Arch shows its age."

On page A19 of the Aug. 20 publication there was a short article about the combat troop withdrawal. Why isn't the article on the front page, along with pictures of our troops? The Post-Dispatch seems to put news about the wars on the pages where it is hard to find. Americans need to know about the wars, even though the wars are unpopular; the front page is the best placement for such news.

Withdrawal of combat troops is good news for the United States and for our troops. It belongs on the front page.

Ann Ludlow • Sunset Hills