Vision is laid out for Gateway Arch grounds (St. Louis: live, costs)

[BoomBoxing]

Great read. I agree that architecturally speaking, St. Louis ranks as a top dog and that connecting the highlights should be a major goal.

I've been spending a lot of time looking at pictures on Skyscraperpage.com, particularly on the photography forums. The St. Louis picture threads garner almost universal praise from the crowd over there who often rave that they had no idea how urban and unique St. Louis actually is. Then I will check out a picture thread on a city such as Miami and the replies are usually "That's nice but...meh". It's a great urban fabric we have here, we just need to fill in the gaps!

[1greatcity]

Ever slowly, the gaps are being filled. Today, there exists residential in places where nothing useful stood before (King Louie Square, Boulevard Hts., etc.) There are vibrant commercial districts with a new life, long occupied by boarded-up buildings and empty lots (The Grove, East Loop, Midtown Alley, etc.)
Overall, I think the article is pretty accurate.

[aragx6]

Very nice article -- nice to hear some St. Louis love!

And could there be a better solution to the final graf's caveat than City to River?

A sunken stretch of interstate highway, for example, presents an intimidating barrier for pedestrians on their way to the Gateway Arch from downtown. Bridging such barriers may be as important to St. Louis’ future as keeping its population on an upward tick.

[aragx6]

The final submissions for the CityArchRiver2015 design competition are out today!

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts.

[1greatcity]

The proposal with the gondolas....I thought it was over-the-top. So it automatically became my first pick!!! Let me say this: we've got this one opportunity to shine, so let's make it spectacular. Let's give St Louis something that will turn heads across the world.

[imperialmog]

Originally Posted by DeBaliviere

Just remove the highway altogether.

I have stated elsewhere that such a plan is really not possible without building a new highway elsewhere due to regional and national traffic needs. I would preferr just having a tunnel built by capping the current depressed section (with parkland on top) and turning the raised section next to Laclece's Landing into a tunnel with new buildings developed on top. (make it archetecturally continuous with the Landing making it an extenstion)

In terms of someone mentioning the Rams looking into a new stadium, I think they would never consider Illinois for one reason. When the Cardinals toyed with the idea they found out a majority of people polled said they would never go to a game if they moved the stadium there. I do wonder if they are looking at a new stadium and a place in the city is possible. Although one idea I keep thinking is the Chrysler Plant site in Fenton as a possible site for an outdoor stadium. (combine it with a grand plan of a new edge city).

[1greatcity]

Don't even get me started on the "new stadium" discussion. For Pete's sake, the Edward Jones dome is only 15 years old, and it just had a $30 million renovation in 2009! Professional sports teams are so utterly spoiled these days. Old Busch Stadium was good enough for the Cards for 39 years. But the Jones Dome is considered "insufficient" in just 15 years? Baloney! The Rams need another new stadium about as much as the Walton family needs more billion$.
Anyway, I could list many many more important things in the St Louis area for which big money could and SHOULD be spent, and new stadiums isn't one of them.

Back to the Arch Grounds design competition topic:
The Benisch Proposal is the one featuring gondolas; it also proposes that Eads Bridge be converted to a "pedestrian-oriented span". I wonder if this means that that vehicular traffic would be restricted to one lane in each direction, or removed completely?
A couple of other proposals suggest installing skylights in the ceiling of the museum beneath the arch. I like that idea. The skylights would provide unusual and dramatic views of the stainless steel monument, while allowing natural light to fill the museum.

[imperialmog]

Originally Posted by 1greatcity

Don't even get me started on the "new stadium" discussion. For Pete's sake, the Edward Jones dome is only 15 years old, and it just had a $30 million renovation in 2009! Professional sports teams are so utterly spoiled these days. Old Busch Stadium was good enough for the Cards for 39 years. But the Jones Dome is considered "insufficient" in just 15 years? Baloney! The Rams need another new stadium about as much as the Walton family needs more billion$.
Anyway, I could list many many more important things in the St Louis area for which big money could and SHOULD be spent, and new stadiums isn't one of them.

Back to the Arch Grounds design competition topic:
The Benisch Proposal is the one featuring gondolas; it also proposes that Eads Bridge be converted to a "pedestrian-oriented span". I wonder if this means that that vehicular traffic would be restricted to one lane in each direction, or removed completely?
A couple of other proposals suggest installing skylights in the ceiling of the museum beneath the arch. I like that idea. The skylights would provide unusual and dramatic views of the stainless steel monument, while allowing natural light to fill the museum.

I remember reading that the Eads Bridge is likely to have vehicular traffic removed upon completion of the new bridge. Adding skylights in the ceiling would help brighten the museum area.

One idea I have thought of is have a section showcasing plants native to the American West since most can grow in St. Louis with little difficulty. (actually it would shock people to hear what can grow here with little maintence, especially as winters have warmed to the point that below zero temperatures have become very rare at least in the urban areas)

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Interesting article
Vanishing STL: I-70 will be GONE from Downtown St. Louis in 2014

[imperialmog]

Originally Posted by STLCardsBlues1989

Interesting article
Vanishing STL: I-70 will be GONE from Downtown St. Louis in 2014

I'm not sure if the removal of the highway will happen. The big reason is dealing with truck traffic that goes from 44/55 to 70 say from South City to the airport area. Putting that on surface streets will be a safety and congestion issue.

Though they are right on the routing of 70 will be removed from downtown either way. The idea I have seen is with keeping the highway it will resigned as 44.