The updated plans for the Gateway Arch were revealed at a public meeting last night as well as the possible cost of the project.
The preliminary figure is $578.5 million.
Walter Metcalfe, Jr., who has headed up the CityArchRiver foundation that sponsored the design competition, says completing a vision is worth the price:
"We have in St. Louis Missouri something that ranks in the top ten any place in the world and how we can treat it, and say ah, there's a recession, ah, there's a this, or ah, there's a that, we can't approach it that way." - Walter Metcalfe, Jr.
The updated plan outlined by designer Michael Van Valkenburgh includes taking out Memorial Drive between the Old Courthouse and Arch grounds, and adding aerial gondolas over the river to connect the East and West:
“You can't argue with the efficiency of the gondola and the thrill." – Michael Van Valkenburgh.
The Malcolm Martin Memorial Park in East St. Louis will be expanded and a pavilion will be built to overlook the Gateway Geyser that already exists.
