View source for Gateway Arch

{{short description|U.S. National Historic Landmark in St. Louis, Missouri}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox building
| name                = Gateway Arch
| alternate_names     = {{ubl|Gateway to the West|St. Louis Arch}}
| image               = St Louis night expblend cropped.jpg
| caption             = 
| coordinates         = {{coord|38.6245|-90.1847|display=inline,title}}
| altitude            = 
| building_type       = 
| architectural_style = [[High-tech architecture|Structural expressionism]]<ref name="GreatBuildings">{{cite web |url=http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Gateway_Arch.html |title=Gateway Arch |work=GreatBuildings.com |access-date=January 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110406121630/http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Gateway_Arch.html |archive-date=April 6, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
| structural_system   = 
| cost                = $13&nbsp;million (c. ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|13000000|1965|r=-5}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}){{inflation-fn|US-GDP}}
| location            = 100 Washington Avenue<br />[[St. Louis, Missouri]], 63102, U.S.
| start_date          = {{start date and age|1963|02|12}}
| completion_date     = {{start date and age|1965|10|28}}
| inauguration_date   = {{start date and age|1967|06|10}}
| height              = {{convert|630|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}
| other_dimensions    = {{convert|630|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} width
| main_contractor     = MacDonald Construction Co.
| architect           = [[Eero Saarinen]]
| architecture_firm   = Eero Saarinen and Associates
| structural_engineer = [[Severud Associates]]
|website = {{URL|https://www.gatewayarch.com/}}
| embedded            = {{Infobox NRHP
| name                 = Gateway Arch
| embed                = yes
| nrhp_type            = nhl
| locmapin             = United States St. Louis#Missouri#USA
| added                = May 28, 1987<ref name="nris">{{cite web |url= http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natregsearchresult.do?fullresult=true&recordid=0 |title= National Register Information System |date= May 28, 1987 |work= National Register of Historic Places |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130220204509/http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natregsearchresult.do?fullresult=true&recordid=0 |archive-date= February 20, 2013 |url-status= dead |df= mdy-all }}</ref>
| designated_nrhp_type = May 28, 1987<ref name="nhlsum"/>
| refnum               = 87001423
}}
}}

The '''Gateway Arch''' is a {{convert|630|ft|m|adj=mid|sigfig=3|-tall}} [[monument]] in [[St. Louis, Missouri]], United States. Clad in [[stainless steel]] and built in the form of a [[weighted catenary]] [[Catenary arch|arch]],<ref name="modernsteel.com">{{cite journal |title= St. Louis Arch |url= http://msc.aisc.org/globalassets/modern-steel/archives/1961-1995/1963v04.pdf |journal= Modern Steel Construction |publisher= [[American Institute of Steel Construction]] |date=1963 |volume= 3 |issue= 4 |pages= 12–14 |access-date= January 16, 2015}}</ref> it is the world's tallest [[arch]]<ref name="nhlsum"/> and [[List of tallest buildings in Missouri|Missouri's tallest accessible structure]]. Some sources consider it the tallest human-made monument in the [[Western Hemisphere]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Lohraff |first= Kevin |year= 2009 |title= Hiking Missouri |edition= 2nd |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yO83BlN64sIC&pg=PA73 |location= Champaign, IL |publisher= Human Kinetics |isbn= 978-0-7360-7588-6 |page= 73}}</ref> Built as a monument to the [[westward expansion of the United States]]<ref name="modernsteel.com"/> and officially dedicated to "the American people", the Arch, commonly referred to as "The Gateway to the West", is a [[National Historic Landmark]] in [[Gateway Arch National Park]] and has become a popular tourist destination,<ref name="nhlsum"/> as well as an internationally recognized symbol of [[St. Louis]].

The Arch was designed by the [[Finnish-American]] architect [[Eero Saarinen]] in 1947, and construction began on February 12, 1963 and was completed on October 28, 1965,<ref name="facts">{{cite web|url=http://www.gatewayarch.com/Arch/info/arch.fact.aspx |title=Gateway Arch Facts |publisher=Gateway Arch Riverfront |access-date=December 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501044839/http://www.gatewayarch.com/Arch/info/arch.fact.aspx |archive-date=May 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref><ref name="Ledden">{{cite news |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2010/10/04/daily35.html |title=Gateway Arch to celebrate its 45th |last=Ledden |first=Nicholas |date=October 6, 2010 |newspaper=[[American City Business Journals|St. Louis Business Journal]] |access-date=January 7, 2011}}</ref> at an overall cost of $13&nbsp;million<ref name="faq">{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/arch-faq.htm |title=Arch Frequently Asked Questions |date=July 25, 2006 |access-date=December 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228150037/http://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/arch-faq.htm |archive-date=February 28, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|13000000|1965|r=-5}}}} in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}).{{inflation-fn|US-GDP}} The monument opened to the public on June 10, 1967.<ref name="Arch timeline">{{cite news |url=http://more.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/gatewayarch.nsf/0/4dbea0fa7346ba928625709e000b5027 |title=Arch Timeline |date=October 17, 2005 |newspaper=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |access-date=December 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200105204854/https://www.webcitation.org/5uynqxR27?url=http://more.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/gatewayarch.nsf/ByDocID/4DBEA0FA7346BA928625709E000B5027%3FOpenDocument |url-status=live |archive-date=January 5, 2020}}</ref> 
It is located at the 1764 site of the founding of St. Louis on the west bank of the [[Mississippi River]].<ref name="csmonitor"/><ref name="Soroka"/><ref name="Wick">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0kYmAAAAIBAJ&pg=7217,2539949 |title=Curving Gateway Arch: Memorial To Pioneers |last=Wick |first=Temple |date=April 25, 1965 |newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |page=9B |access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref>

==Historical background==
{{see also |Gateway Arch National Park#History |l1=History of the Gateway Arch National Park}}

===Inception and funding (1933–1935)===
Around late 1933, civic leader [[Luther Ely Smith]], returning to St. Louis from the [[George Rogers Clark National Historical Park]] in [[Vincennes, Indiana]], saw the St. Louis riverfront area and envisioned that building a memorial there would both revive the riverfront and stimulate the economy.<ref name="Brown1">{{harvp |ps=. |Brown |1984 |loc=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110629023124/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/jeff/adhi1-1.htm Chpt 1 (1933–1935: The Idea)]}} Archived from [http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/jeff/adhi1-1.htm the original] on February 14, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2011.</ref><ref name="Bahr25–27"/> He communicated his idea to mayor [[Bernard Dickmann]], who on December 15, 1933, raised it in a meeting with city leaders. They sanctioned the proposal, and the nonprofit Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Association (JNEMA—pronounced "Jenny May")<ref name="Corrigan">{{cite news |title=The Triumph of the Arch: 1965–1986 |last=Corrigan |first=Patricia |date=October 27, 1985 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |page=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112675273/ 1F], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112675227/ 12F], and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112675259/ 13F]}}</ref> was formed. Smith was appointed chairman and Dickmann vice chairman. The association's goal was to create:<ref name="Brown1"/>

{{blockquote|A suitable and permanent public memorial to the men who made possible the western territorial expansion of the United States, particularly President Jefferson, his aides Livingston and Monroe, the great explorers, Lewis and Clark, and the hardy hunters, trappers, frontiersmen and pioneers who contributed to the territorial expansion and development of these United States, and thereby to bring before the public of this and future generations the history of our development and induce familiarity with the patriotic accomplishments of these great builders of our country.}}

Many locals did not approve of depleting public funds for the cause. Smith's daughter SaLees related that when "people would tell him we needed more practical things", he would respond that "spiritual things" were equally important.<ref name="Corrigan"/>

The association expected that $30&nbsp;million would be needed to undertake the construction of such a monument (about ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|30000000|1933|r=-1}}}}{{Inflation-fn|US}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}} dollars). It called upon the federal government to foot three-quarters of the bill ($22.5&nbsp;million).<ref name="Corrigan"/>

[[File:St. Louis riverfront after demolition for Gateway Arch (1942).jpg|thumb|left |The St. Louis riverfront after demolition]]
The suggestion to renew the riverfront was not original, as previous projects were attempted but lacked popularity. The Jefferson memorial idea emerged amid the economic disarray of the [[Great Depression]] and promised new jobs.<ref name="Brown1"/> The project was expected to create 5,000 jobs for three to four years.<ref name="James">{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/djreprints/access/75864536.html?dids=75864536:75864536&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=Poky Pump Primer: St. Louis' Depression Project Nears End in a Boom |last=James |first=Richard D. |date=June 19, 1964 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |page=8 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hd5SSkR?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share4/pqimage/hnirs101v/201109141847/44152/32214/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> Committee members began to raise public awareness by organizing fundraisers and writing pamphlets. They also engaged Congress by planning budgets and preparing bills, in addition to researching ownership of the land they had chosen, "approximately one-half mile in length&nbsp; ... from Third Street east to the present elevated railroad." In January 1934, Senator [[Bennett Champ Clark]] and Representative [[John J. Cochran|John Cochran]] introduced to Congress an [[appropriation bill]] seeking $30&nbsp;million for the memorial, but the bill failed to garner support due to the large amount of money solicited. In March of the same year, [[joint resolution]]s proposed the establishment of a federal commission to develop the memorial. Although the proposal aimed for only authorization, the bill incurred opposition because people suspected that JNEMA would later seek appropriation. On March 28 the Senate bill was reported out, and on April 5 it was turned over to the House Library Committee, <!-- explanation of what this committee does: possibly https://books.google.com/books?id=T7Kag69deVwC&pg=PA257&dq="House+Library+Committee" --> which later reported favorably on the bills. On June 8, both the Senate and House bills were passed. On June 15, President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] signed the bill into law, instituting the United States Territorial Expansion Memorial Commission. The commission comprised 15 members, chosen by Roosevelt, the House, the Senate, and JNEMA. It first convened on December 19 in St. Louis, where members examined the project and its planned location.<ref name="Brown1"/>

Meanwhile, in December, the JNEMA discussed organizing an architectural competition to determine the design of the monument. Local architect [[Louis LaBeaume]] had drawn up competition guidelines by January 1935.<ref name="Brown1"/> On April 13, 1935, the commission certified JNEMA's project proposals, including memorial perimeters, the "historical significance" of the memorial, the competition, and the $30&nbsp;million budget.<ref name="Brown1"/> Between February and April, the [[Missouri General Assembly|Missouri State Legislature]] passed an act allowing the use of [[bond (finance)|bond]]s to facilitate the project. On April 15, then [[List of Governors of Missouri|Governor]] [[Guy Brasfield Park|Guy B. Park]] signed it into law. Dickmann and Smith applied for funding from two [[New Deal agency|New Deal agencies]]—the [[Public Works Administration]] (headed by [[Harold L. Ickes|Harold Ickes]]) and the [[Works Progress Administration]] (headed by [[Harry Hopkins]]). On August 7, both Ickes and Hopkins assented to the funding requests, each promising $10 million, and said that the [[National Park Service]] (NPS) would manage the memorial.<ref name="AECOM26–27">{{harvp |ps=. |AECOM |2010 |pp=26–27}}</ref> A local bond issue election granting $7.5&nbsp;million (about ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|7500000|1933|r=-1}}}}{{Inflation-fn|US}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}} dollars)  for the memorial's development was held on September 10 and passed.<ref name="Brown1"/><ref name="James"/>

On December 21, President Roosevelt signed [[Executive order (United States)|Executive Order]] 7253<ref name="Bahr25–27">{{harvp |ps=. |Bahr Vermeer Haecker Architects |Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates |Alvine and Associates |2010 |pp=25–27}}</ref> to approve the memorial,<ref name="Luther Smith">{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/jeff/historyculture/upload/luther_ely_smith.pdf |title=Luther Ely Smith: Founder of a Memorial |work=Experience Your America |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |date=March 2001 |access-date=January 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111029171015/http://www.nps.gov/jeff/historyculture/upload/luther_ely_smith.pdf |archive-date=October 29, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> allocating the 82-acre area as the first [[National Historic Sites (United States)|National Historic Site]].<ref name="Bahr25–27"/><ref name="Corrigan"/><ref name="AECOM26–27"/> The order also appropriated $3.3&nbsp;million through the WPA and $3.45&nbsp;million through the PWA<ref>{{cite book |last= Tranel |first= Mark |title= St. Louis Plans: The Ideal and the Real St. Louis |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vvrdp7Kn3kgC&pg=PA9 |year= 2007 |publisher= [[Missouri Historical Society|Missouri Historical Society Press]] |location= St. Louis |isbn= 978-1-883982-61-4 |page= [https://archive.org/details/stlouisplansidea00unse/page/9 9] |chapter= Introduction |url= https://archive.org/details/stlouisplansidea00unse/page/9 }}</ref> ($6.75 million in total).<ref name="James"/> The motivation of the project was two-fold—commemorating westward expansion and [[Job creation program|creating jobs]].<ref name="Brown1"/> Some taxpayers began to file suits to block the construction of the monument, which they called a "[[boondoggle (project)|boondoggle]]".<ref name="Corrigan"/>

===Initial planning (1936–1939)===
Using the 1935 grant of $6.75&nbsp;million and $2.25&nbsp;million in city bonds,<ref name="James"/> the NPS acquired the historic buildings within the historic site—through [[Eminent domain#Condemnation|condemnation]] rather than purchase—and demolished them. By September 1938, condemnation was complete. The condemnation was subject to many legal disputes which culminated on January 27, 1939, when the [[United States courts of appeals|United States Circuit Court of Appeals]] ruled that condemnation was valid. A total of $6.2&nbsp;million was distributed to land owners on June 14.<ref name="Bahr25–27"/><ref>{{cite court|litigants=Barnidge v. United States|court=8th Cir.|date=1939|vol=101|reporter=F.2d|opinion=295|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9922834053880419877}}</ref> Demolition commenced on October 9, 1939, when Dickmann extracted three bricks from a vacant warehouse.<ref name="Brown2"/>

Led by Paul Peters, adversaries of the memorial delivered to Congress a leaflet titled "Public Necessity or Just Plain Pork". The JNEMA's lawyer, Bon Geaslin, believed that the flyers did not taint the project, but motivated members of Congress to find out more about the same. Although Representative John Cochran wanted to ask Congress to approve more funds, Geaslin believed the association should "keep a low profile, maintaining its current position during this session of Congress". He advised the association to "get a good strong editorial in one of the papers to the effect that a small group of tenants ... is soliciting funds [to fight] the proposed improvement, and stating that these efforts do not represent the consensus of opinion in St. Louis ... , and pointing out that such obstructions should be condemned".<ref name="Brown2"/>

Congress's reduction in spending made it impossible for the allocated funds to be obtained. NPS responded that the city would reduce its contribution if the federal government did. It also asserted that the funds were sanctioned by an executive order, but superintendent John Nagle pointed out that what "one Executive Order does, another can undo". In March 1936, Representative Cochran commented during a House meeting that he "would not vote for any measure providing for building the memorial or allotting funds to it". Geaslin found Cochran's statements to be a greater hindrance to the project than Paul Peters' opposition, for Congress might have Cochran's opinions as representative of public opinion.<ref name="Brown2"/>

Peters and other opponents asked Roosevelt to rescind Executive Order 7253 and to redirect the money to the [[American Red Cross]]. Smith impugned their motives, accusing them of being "opposed to anything that is ever advanced in behalf of the city."<ref name="Brown2"/> In February 1936, an editorial written by Paul W. Ward in ''[[The Nation]]'' denounced the project.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ward |first=Paul W. |date=February 23, 1936 |title=Washington Weekly |journal=[[The Nation]] |volume=142 |issue=3687 |pages=267–268 |url=http://www.thenation.com/ |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61pEyZjFD?url=http://content.ebscohost.com/pdf17_20/pdf/1936/NAT/04Mar36/14254537.pdf?T=P&P=AN&K=14254537&S=R&D=nih&EbscoContent=dGJyMMvl7ESep7c40dvuOLCmr0mep7ZSs6i4SbWWxWXS |archive-date=September 19, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Smith was infuriated, fearing the impact of attacks from a prestigious magazine, and wanted "to jump on it strong with hammer and tongs". [[William Allen White]], a renowned newspaper editor, advised Smith not to fret.<ref name="Brown2"/>

Because the Mississippi River played an essential role in establishing St. Louis's identity as the gateway to the west, it was felt that a memorial commemorating it should be near the river. Railroad tracks that had been constructed in the 1930s on the [[levee]] obstructed views of the riverfront from the memorial site.<ref name="Bahr25–27"/> When Ickes declared that the railway must be removed before he would allocate funds for the memorial,<ref name="Brown2">{{harvp |ps=. |Brown |1984 |loc=[https://web.archive.org/web/20091101114612/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/jeff/adhi1-2.htm Chpt 2 (1936–1939)]}} Archived from [http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/jeff/adhi1-2.htm the original] on February 25, 2011. Retrieved February 25, 2011.</ref> President of the St. Louis Board of Public Service Baxter Brown suggested that "a new tunnel ... conceal the relocated tracks and re-grading of the site to elevate it over the tunnel. These modifications would eliminate the elevated and surface tracks and open up the views to the river."<ref name="Bahr25–27"/> Although rejected by NPS architect [[Charles E. Peterson|Charles Peterson]], Brown's proposal formed the basis for the ultimate settlement.<ref name="Brown2"/>

By May 1942, demolition was complete.<ref name="Luther Smith"/> The [[Basilica of St. Louis, King of France|Old Cathedral]] and the Old Rock House, because of their historical significance, were the only buildings retained within the historic site.<ref name="Bahr19">{{harvp |ps=. |Bahr Vermeer Haecker Architects |Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates |Alvine and Associates |2010 |pp=19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/jeff/adhi1-3.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091101115343/http://www.nps.gov:80/history/history/online_books/jeff/adhi1-3.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 1, 2009 |title=Jefferson National Expansion Memorial: Administrative History (Chapter 3)|access-date=September 29, 2015}}</ref> The Old Rock House was later dismantled in 1959 with the intention of reassembling it at a new location, but pieces of the building went missing. Part of the house has been reconstructed in the basement of the Old Courthouse.<ref>Hoppe, Nancy Marie. [https://www.nps.gov/jeff/learn/historyculture/upload/old_rock_house.pdf "Whatever Happened to The Old Rock House?"], The Museum Gazette, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, National Park Service.</ref>

===Design competition (1945–1948)===
{{quote box |width=26em |salign=right |quote= ... [T]he steel monument one sees today—carbon steel on the interior, stainless steel on the exterior, and concrete in-filling, with an equilateral-triangle-shaped section that tapers from 54 to 17 feet at the top, and the concept of a skin that is also structure—is in essence [Saarinen's] competition design.<ref name="SaarinenPelkonenAlbrecht">{{cite book |last1=Saarinen |first1=Eero |author-link1=Eero Saarinen |last2=Pelkonen |first2=Eeva-Liisa |last3=Albrecht |first3=Donald |title=Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future |url=https://archive.org/details/eerosaarinenshap0000saar |url-access=registration |pages=222–229 |year=2006 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-9724881-2-9}}</ref> |source= —''Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future'', 2006}}

In November 1944, Smith discussed with [[Newton B. Drury|Newton Drury]], the [[National Park Service#Directors|National Park Service Director]], the design of the memorial, asserting that the memorial should be "transcending in spiritual and aesthetic values", best represented by "one central feature: a single shaft, a building, an arch, or something else that would symbolize American culture and civilization."<ref name="Brown4"/>

The idea of an architectural competition to determine the design of the memorial was favored at the JNEMA's inaugural meeting. They planned to award cash for the best design.<ref name="Corrigan"/> In January 1945, the JNEMA officially announced a two-stage design competition that would cost $225,000 to organize. Smith and the JNEMA struggled to raise the funds, garnering only a third of the required total by June 1945.{{#tag:ref |Once he revisited a generous sponsor, requesting more money: "Now you have to protect your investment".<ref name="Taylor"/> |group=lower-alpha}} Then mayor [[Aloys P. Kaufmann|Aloys Kaufmann]] feared that the lack of public support would lead officials to abandon hope in the project. The passage of a year brought little success, and Smith frantically [[Underwriting|underwrote]] the remaining $40,000 in May 1946. By June, Smith found others to assume portions of his underwriting, with $17,000 remaining under his sponsorship. In February 1947, the underwriters were compensated, and the fund stood at over $231,199.<ref name="Brown4">{{harvp |ps=. |Brown |1984 |loc=[https://web.archive.org/web/20091101114617/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/jeff/adhi1-4.htm Chpt 4 (1945–1948)]}} Archived from [http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/jeff/adhi1-4.htm the original] on February 14, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2011.</ref>

Local architect [[Louis LaBeaume]] prepared a set of specifications for the design, and architect [[George Howe (architect)|George Howe]] was chosen to coordinate the competition. On May 30, 1947, the contest officially opened. The seven-member jury that would judge the designs comprised [[Charles Nagel (architect)|Charles Nagel Jr.]], [[Richard Neutra]], [[Roland Wank]], [[William Wurster]], LaBeaume, [[Fiske Kimball]], and S. Herbert Hare.<ref name="Bahr29–31">{{harvp |ps=. |Bahr Vermeer Haecker Architects |Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates |Alvine and Associates |2010 |pp=29–31}}</ref> The competition comprised two stages—the first to narrow down the designers to five and the second to single out one architect and his design.<ref name="Brown4"/> The design intended to include:<ref name="AECOM32">{{harvp |ps=. |AECOM |2010 |pp=32}}</ref>

{{blockquote|(a) an architectural memorial or memorials to Jefferson; dealing (b) with preservation of the site of Old St. Louis—landscaping, provision of an open-air campfire theater, reerection or reproduction of a few typical old buildings, provision of a Museum interpreting the Westward movement; (c) a living memorial to Jefferson's 'vision of greater opportunities for men of all races and creeds;' (d) recreational facilities, both sides of the river; and (e) parking facilities, access, relocation of railroads, placement of an interstate highway.}}

[[File:Eero Saarinen with Gateway Arch Model.jpg|thumb|left |Saarinen working with a model of the arch in 1957]]

Saarinen's team included himself as designer, J. Henderson Barr as associate designer, and [[Dan Kiley]] as landscape architect, as well as [[Lilian Swann Saarinen|Lily Swann Saarinen]] as sculptor and [[Alexander Girard]] as painter. In the first stage of the competition, [[Carl Milles]] advised Saarinen to change the bases of each leg to triangles instead of squares. Saarinen said that he "worked at first with mathematical shapes, but finally adjusted it according to the eye." At submission, Saarinen's plans laid out the arch at {{convert|569|ft|m}} tall and {{convert|592|ft|m}} wide from center to center of the triangle bases.<ref name="SaarinenPelkonenAlbrecht"/>

On September 1, 1947, submissions for the first stage were received by the jury. The submissions were labeled by numbers only, and the names of the designers were kept anonymous. Upon four days of deliberation, the jury narrowed down the 172 submissions, which included Saarinen's father [[Eliel Saarinen|Eliel]],<ref name="Taylor">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-10-28-stlouis-arch_x.htm |title=St. Louis' Arch to Ring in 40th Year |last=Taylor |first=Betsy |date=October 20, 2005 |work=[[USA Today]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |access-date=September 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070521041827/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-10-28-stlouis-arch_x.htm |archive-date=May 21, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> to five finalists, and announced the corresponding numbers to the media on September 27. Eero Saarinen's design (#144) was among the finalists, and comments written on it included "relevant, beautiful, perhaps inspired would be the right word" (Roland Wank) and "an abstract form peculiarly happy in its symbolism" (Charles Nagel). Hare questioned the feasibility of the design but appreciated the thoughtfulness behind it.<ref name="Brown4"/> Local St. Louis architect [[Harris Armstrong]] was also one of the finalists.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Raimist |first=Andrew |date=April 2006 |title=Ten Things You Should Know About Harris Armstrong |journal=[[Dwell (magazine)|Dwell]] |volume=6 |issue=4 |page=3 |issn=1530-5309 |quote=In 1947, Armstrong was among five finalists in the design competition for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial on the St. Louis riverfront ... Armstrong was the only St. Louis architect to be selected as a finalist. |url=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/39/107044798_8abd47c867_o.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424202333/http://farm1.static.flickr.com/39/107044798_8abd47c867_o.jpg |archive-date=April 24, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The secretary who sent out the telegrams informing finalists of their advancement mistakenly sent one to Eliel rather than Eero. The family celebrated with champagne, and two hours later, a competition representative called to correct the mistake. Eliel "'broke out a second bottle of champagne' to toast his son."<ref name="Taylor"/> They proceeded to the second stage, and each was given a $10,069 prize (about ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|10069|1947|r=-1}}}}{{Inflation-fn|US}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}} dollars). Saarinen changed the height of the arch from 580 feet to {{convert|630|ft|m}}<ref group=lower-alpha>He would also change the width of the arch to match its height.</ref> and wrote that the arch symbolized "the gateway to the West, the national expansion, and whatnot."<ref name="SaarinenPelkonenAlbrecht"/> He wanted the landscape surrounding the arch to "be so densely covered with trees that it will be a forest-like park, a green retreat from the tension of the downtown city," according to ''[[The New York Times]]'' architectural critic Aline Bernstein Louchheim.{{#tag:ref |In 1954, Louchheim married Saarinen.<!-- additional info: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/11/05/the-purpose-driven-wife.html --><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=K6BOAAAAIBAJ&pg=1967,4840007 |title=Eero Saarinen: Widely Known Detroit Architect |date=September 2, 1961 |work=[[The Blade (Toledo)|Toledo Blade]] |agency=Associated Press |page=1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/09/03/archives/eero-saarinen.html |title=Eero Saarinen |date=September 3, 1961 |work=[[The New York Times]] |quote=The associate art editor of this newspaper wrote of him in 1953 that his contribution was 'in giving form or visual order ... ' The words were written a year before the writer, Aline Bernstein Louchheim, became the architect's wife.}}</ref> |group=lower-alpha}} The deadline for the second stage arrived on February 10, 1948, and on February 18, the jury chose Saarinen's design unanimously,<ref name="Brown4"/> praising its "profoundly evocative and truly monumental expression."<ref name="Mehrhoff">{{cite book |last=Mehrhoff |first=W. Arthur |title=The Gateway Arch: Fact and Symbol |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6T0-KMqbIagC |pages=17–18 |year=1992 |publisher=[[Bowling Green State University|Bowling Green University Popular Press]] |location=Bowling Green, OH |isbn=978-0-87972-568-6}}</ref> The following day,<ref name="Bahr29–31"/> during a formal dinner at [[Hotel Statler (St. Louis, Missouri)|Statler Hotel]] that the finalists and the media attended, Wurster pronounced Saarinen the winner of the competition and awarded the checks—$40,000 to his team<ref name="SaarinenPelkonenAlbrecht"/> and $50,000 to Saarinen.<ref name="Duffy"/> The competition was the first major architectural design that Saarinen developed unaided by his father.<ref name="Brown4"/>

On May 25, the United States Territorial Expansion Memorial Commission endorsed the design.<ref name="Bahr29–31"/> Later, in June, the NPS approved the proposal.<ref name="SaarinenPelkonenAlbrecht"/> Representative [[H. R. Gross]], however, opposed the allocation of federal funds for the arch's development.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZwYrAAAAIBAJ&pg=6360,7161845 |title=Monument Completed: 'Gateway to West' Portrays St. Louis' Role in History |date=October 29, 1965 |newspaper=[[Reading Eagle]] |page=3 |access-date=December 16, 2010 }}</ref>

The design drew varied responses. In a February 29, 1948, ''The New York Times'' article, Louchheim praised the arch's design as "a modern monument, fitting, beautiful and impressive."<ref name="Louchheim1">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/ |title=For a Modern Monument: An Audacious Design |last=Louchheim |first=Aline B. |date=February 29, 1948 |work=The New York Times |page=X8 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61qMXs7wB?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share4/pqimage/hnirs102v/201109201235/05606/8482/out.pdf |archive-date=September 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> Some local residents likened it to a "stupendous hairpin and a stainless steel hitching post." The most aggressive criticism emerged from [[Gilmore David Clarke|Gilmore D. Clarke]],<ref name="AECOM39–40">{{harvp |ps=. |AECOM |2010 |pp=39–40}}</ref> whose February 26, 1948,<ref name="Corrigan"/> letter compared Saarinen's arch to an arch imagined by fascist [[Benito Mussolini]], rendering the arch a fascist symbol. This allegation of plagiarism ignited fierce debates among architects about its validity. [[Douglas Haskell]] from New York wrote that "The use of a common form is not plagiarism ... [T]his particular accusation amounts to the filthiest smear that has been attempted by a man highly placed in the architectural profession in our generation."<ref name="Corrigan"/> Wurster and the jury refuted the charges, arguing that "the arch form was not inherently fascist but was indeed part of the entire history of architecture."<ref name="Mehrhoff"/> Saarinen considered the opposition absurd, asserting, "It's just preposterous to think that a basic form, based on a completely natural figure, should have any ideological connection."<ref name="AECOM39–40"/>

By January 1951, Saarinen created 21 "drawings, including profiles of the Arch, scale drawings of the museums and restaurants, various parking proposals, the effect of the levee-tunnel railroad plan on the Arch footings, the Arch foundations, the Third Street Expressway, and the internal and external structure of the Arch." [[Fred Severud]] made calculations for the arch's structure.<ref name="Brown5"/>

===Railroad agreement (1949–1958)===

Several proposals were offered for moving the railroad tracks, including:
* Bates-Ross. Tracks would cross the memorial site diagonally in a tunnel.
* Bowen. Similar to Bates-Ross proposal.{{how|date=August 2022}}
* Hill-Tunnel. Supported by Saarinen and NPS engineer Julian Spotts, it would route the tracks in a tunnel below Second and First Streets. Saarinen further said that if the tracks passed between the memorial and the river, he would withdraw his participation.
* LaBeaume-Terminal. Opposed by Saarinen and the NPS, it would lay "three tracks on a contained fill along the lines of the elevated tracks."
* Levee-Tunnel. Proposed by Frank J. McDevitt, president of the St. Louis Board of Public Service, it would lower the tracks into a tunnel concealed by walls and landscaping.

On July 7, 1949, in Mayor [[Joseph Darst]]'s office, city officials chose the Levee-Tunnel plan, rousing JNEMA members who held that the decision had been pressed through when Smith was away on vacation. Darst notified Secretary of the Interior [[Julius Krug]] of the city's selection. Krug planned to meet with Smith and JNEMA but canceled the meeting and resigned on November 11. His successor, [[Oscar L. Chapman]], rescheduled the meeting for December 5 in Washington with delegates from the city government, JNEMA, railroad officials, and Federal government. A day after the conference, they ratified a [[memorandum of understanding]] about the plan: "The five tracks on the levee would be replaced by three tracks, one owned by the [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]] (MPR) and two by the [[Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis]] (TRRA) proceeding through a tunnel not longer than 3,000 feet. The tunnel would be approximately fifty feet west of the current elevated line." It would also have an overhead clearance of {{convert|18|ft|m|adj=off}}, lower than the regular requirement of {{convert|22|ft|m}}. Chapman approved the document on December 22, 1949, and JNEMA garnered the approval of the [[Missouri Public Service Commission]] on August 7, 1952.<ref name="Brown5">{{harvp |ps=. |Brown |1984 |loc=[https://web.archive.org/web/20091101114622/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/jeff/adhi1-5.htm Chpt 5 (1949–1952)]}} Archived from [http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/jeff/adhi1-5.htm the original] on March 30, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2011.</ref>

Efforts to appropriate congressional funds began in January 1950 but were delayed until 1953 by the [[Korean War]]'s depletion of federal funds.<ref name="Brown5"/>

In August 1953, Secretary of the Interior [[Fred Andrew Seaton|Fred A. Seaton]] declared that the Department of the Interior and the railroads should finalize the agreement on the new route. In October, NPS and the TRRA decided that the TRRA would employ a surveyor endorsed by Spotts "to survey, design, estimate, and report on" the expenses of shifting the tracks. They chose Alfred Benesch and Associates, which released its final report on May 3, 1957. The firm estimated that the two proposals would cost more than expected: more than $11&nbsp;million and $14&nbsp;million, respectively. NPS director [[Conrad L. Wirth|Conrad Wirth]] enjoined Saarinen to make small modifications to the design. In October, Saarinen redrafted the plans, suggesting:<ref name="Brown6">{{harvp |ps=. |Brown |1984 |loc=[https://web.archive.org/web/20091101115349/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/jeff/adhi1-6.htm Chpt 6 (1953–1958)]}} Archived from [http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/jeff/adhi1-6.htm the original] on April 4, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2011.</ref>

{{blockquote|[the placement of] the five sets of railroad tracks into a shortened tunnel 100 feet west of the trestle, with the tracks being lowered sixteen feet. This did not mean that the memorial would be cut off from the river, however, for Saarinen provided a {{convert|960|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} tunnel to be placed over the railroad where a "grand staircase" rose from the levee to the Arch. At the north and south ends of the park, 150-foot tunnels spanned the tracks, and led to the overlook museum, restaurant, and stairways down to the levee. Saarinen designed a subterranean visitor center the length of the distance between the legs, to include two theaters and an entrance by inward-sloping ramps.}}

On November 29, involved interests signed another memorandum of understanding approving Saarinen's rework; implementing it would cost about $5.053&nbsp;million. On March 10, 1959, mayor [[Raymond Tucker]] proposed that they drop "the tunnel idea in favor of open cuts roofed with concrete slabs," which would cost $2.684&nbsp;million, $1.5&nbsp;million less than the cost of the approved plan. On May 12, 1958, Tucker, TRRA president Armstrong Chinn, and Missouri Pacific Railroad president Russell Dearmont entered a written agreement: "The TRRA would place $500,000 in escrow for the project, and the city [would] sell $980,000 of the 1935 bonds to match the Federal contribution." Director Wirth and Secretary Seaton approved the plan on June 2.<ref name="Brown6"/>

In July 1953, Representative [[Leonor Sullivan]] introduced H.R. 6549, a bill authorizing the allocation of no more than $5&nbsp;million to build the arch. After much negotiation, both houses of Congress approved the bill in May 1954, and on May 18, 1954, President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] signed the bill into law as Public Law 361. Congress could not afford to appropriate the funds in 1955, so association president William Crowdus resorted to asking the [[Rockefeller Foundation|Rockefeller]] and [[Ford Foundation]]s for $10&nbsp;million. The foundations denied the request because their function as [[private foundation (United States)|private foundation]]s did not include funding national memorials. In 1956, Congress appropriated $2.64&nbsp;million to be used to move the railroad tracks. The remainder of the authorized appropriation was requested via six congressional bills, introduced on July 1, 1958, that revised Public Law 361 to encompass the cost of the entire memorial, increasing federal funds by $12.25&nbsp;million. A month later the Department of the Interior and the [[Office of Management and Budget|Bureau of the Budget]] endorsed the bill, and both houses of Congress unanimously passed the bill. Eisenhower signed it into law on September 7. The NPS held off on appropriating the additional funds, as it planned to use the already-appropriated funds to initiate the railroad work.<ref name="Brown6"/>

===Final preparations (1959–1968)===
[[File:Gateway Arch.stl|thumb|3-D model of the Arch]]
Saarinen and city functionaries collaborated to [[zoning|zone]] buildings near the arch. In April 1959, real estate developer Lewis Kitchen decided to construct two 40-level edifices across from the arch. In July, after the plan was condemned for its potential obstruction of the arch, Kitchen discussed the issue with officials. A decision was delayed for several months because Saarinen had yet to designate the arch's height, projected between {{convert|590|and|630|ft|m}}. By October, Mayor Tucker and Director Wirth resolved to restrict the height of buildings opposite the arch to {{convert|275|ft|m}} (about 27 levels), and the city stated that plans for buildings opposite the arch would require its endorsement. Kitchen then decreased the height of his buildings, while Saarinen increased that of the arch.<ref name="Brown7">{{harvp |ps=. |Brown |1984 |loc=<!-- NEED WEBCITE LINK -->[http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/jeff/adhi1-7.htm Chpt 7 (1959–1968)]}} Archived from [http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/jeff/adhi1-7.htm the original] on May 15, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2011.</ref>

Moving the railroad tracks was the first stage of the project. On May 6, 1959, after an official conference, the Public Service Commission called for ventilation to accompany the tunnel's construction, which entailed "placing 3,000 feet of dual tracks into a tunnel 105 feet west of the elevated railroad, along with filling, grading, and trestle work." Eight bids for the work were reviewed on June 8 in the Old Courthouse, and the MacDonald Construction Co. of St. Louis<ref name="modernsteel.com"/> won with a bid of $2,426,115, less than NPS's estimate of the cost. At 10:30&nbsp;a.m. on June 23, 1959, the [[groundbreaking]] ceremony occurred; Tucker spaded the first portion of earth. Wirth and Dickmann delivered speeches.<ref name="Brown7"/>

The NPS acquired the $500,000 in escrow and transferred it to MacDonald to begin building the new tracks. In August, demolition of the Old Rock House{{#tag:ref |Built in 1818 by [[Manuel Lisa]], it was St. Louis' oldest standing building when Roosevelt approved the memorial in 1935.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/jeff/lewisclark2/circa1804/stlouis/BlockInfo/Block8BOldRockHouse.htm |title=Old Rock House |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=May 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070827024310/http://www.nps.gov/archive/jeff/LewisClark2/Circa1804/StLouis/BlockInfo/Block8BOldRockHouse.htm |archive-date=August 27, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> |group=lower-alpha}} was complete, with workers beginning to excavate the tunnel. In November, they began shaping the tunnel's walls with concrete. Twenty-nine percent of the construction was completed by March and 95% by November. On November 17, trains began to use the new tracks. June 1962 was the projected date of fruition.<ref name="Brown7"/>

On May 16, 1959, the [[United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies|Senate appropriations subcommittee]] received from St. Louis legislators a request for $2.4911&nbsp;million, of which it granted only $133,000. Wirth recommended that they reseek the funds in January 1960.<ref name="Brown7"/>

On March 10, 1959, Regional Director Howard Baker <!-- Howard W. Baker, not Howard Baker, Sr. or his son --> received $888,000 as the city's first subsidy for the project. On December 1, 1961, $23,003,150 in total had been authorized, with $19,657,483 already appropriated—$3,345,667 remained not yet appropriated.<ref name="Brown7"/>

==Construction==
The bidding date, originally December 20, 1961, was postponed to January 22, 1962, to clarify the details of the arch construction.{{#tag:ref |This deferral delayed the construction's ultimate completion, which had been slated for St. Louis' bicentennial.<ref name="Brown7"/> |group=lower-alpha}} About 50 companies that had requested the construction requirements received bidding invitations. Extending from $11,923,163 to $12,765,078, all four bids exceeded the engineer estimate of $8,067,000. Wirth had a committee led by [[George B. Hartzog Jr.|George Hartzog]] determine the validity of the bids in light of the government's conditions. Following a meeting with the bidders, the committee affirmed the bids' reasonableness, and Wirth awarded the lowest bidder, MacDonald Construction Co. of St. Louis,<ref name="modernsteel.com"/> the contract for the construction of the arch and the visitor center. On March 14, 1962, he signed the contract and received from Tucker $2.5 million, the city's subsidy for the phase. MacDonald reduced its bid $500,000 to $11,442,418.<ref name="Brown7"/> The [[Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company]] served as the subcontractor for the shell of the arch.<ref name="Corrigan"/>

In 1959 and 1960, [[Groundbreaking|ground was broken]],<ref name="Borcover">{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/614110842.html?dids=614110842:614110842&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=Gateway Arch: The New Spirit of St. Louis |last=Borcover |first=Alfred |date=June 14, 1969 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |page=G1 |access-date=December 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hb5X2kf?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share3/pqimage/hnirs103v/201109141815/55045/3451/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> and in 1961, the foundation of the structure was laid.<ref name="Wick"/> Construction of the arch itself began on February 12, 1963, as the first steel triangle on the south leg was eased into place.<ref name="Corrigan"/> These steel triangles, which narrowed as they rose to the top, were raised into place by a group of cranes and [[derrick]]s.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Gateway Arch in St. Louis Celebrates 30th Anniversary |series=All Things Considered |series-link=All Things Considered |network=[[NPR]] |airdate=October 27, 1995 |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-28472622.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105100027/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-28472622.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-11-05}}</ref> The arch was assembled of 142<ref name="LangmeadGarnaut">{{cite book |last1=Langmead |first1=Donald |last2=Garnaut |first2=Christine |title=Encyclopedia of Architectural and Engineering Feats |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofar0000lang |url-access=registration |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofar0000lang/page/130 130]–131 |year=2001 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |location=Santa Barbara, CA |isbn=978-1-57607-112-0}}</ref> {{convert|12|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} [[prefabrication|prefabricated]] stainless steel sections. Once in place, each section had its double-walled skin filled with concrete, [[Prestressed concrete|prestressed]] with 252 [[Rebar|tension bars]].<ref name="Franklin">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/10/24/archives/st-louiss-arch-is-near-its-topping-out-stage-630foothigh-memorial.html |title=St. Louis's Arch Is Near Its 'Topping Out' Stage; 630-Foot-High Memorial Is to Honor the West's Pioneers Saarinen-Designed Monument Has Stainless Steel Shell |last=Franklin |first=Ben A. |date=October 24, 1965 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=51 |access-date=January 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hbBpP0o?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share3/pqimage/hnirs101v/201109141818/29853/32212/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> In order to keep the partially completed legs steady, a scissors [[truss]] was placed between them at {{convert|530|ft|m}}, later removed as the derricks were taken down.<ref name="The Rotarian"/> The whole endeavor was expected to be completed by fall 1964, in observance of St. Louis's bicentennial.<ref name="csmonitor">{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/173592272.html?dids=173592272:173592272&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=Gleaming $11 Million Arch at St. Louis to Mark Gateway to West |date=August 31, 1962 |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |page=6 |access-date=January 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hbFlhu6?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share4/pqimage/hnirs101v/201109141819/32727/32212/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref><ref name="Soroka">{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/624505592.html?dids=624505592:624505592&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=St. Louis Arch Going Up, Up! |last=Soroka |first=Leo |date=March 15, 1964 |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |page=A3 |access-date=January 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hbIcABh?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share4/pqimage/hnirs104v/201109141820/17835/3567/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref><ref name="Brinkman">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bF9cAAAAIBAJ&pg=627,1690227 |title=St. Louis' Gateway Arch To Be Tallest Monument |last=Brinkman |first=Grover |date=August 30, 1964 |newspaper=[[The Vindicator|Youngstown Vindicator]] |page=2 |access-date=January 20, 2011}}</ref>

Contractor MacDonald Construction Co. arranged a {{convert|30|ft|m|adj=on}} tower for spectators<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oUIqAAAAIBAJ&pg=7665,2927147 |title=St. Louis' Huge Gateway Arch Already Tourist Attraction |date=August 11, 1963 |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Press]] |page=24 |access-date=January 11, 2011}}</ref> and provided recorded accounts of the undertaking.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qJ0zAAAAIBAJ&pg=7297,1804425 |title=St. Louis Builds 630-Foot Arch |date=August 6, 1963 |newspaper=[[The Spokesman-Review]] |agency=Associated Press |page=18 |access-date=January 11, 2011}}</ref> In 1963, a million people went to observe the progress, and by 1964, local radio stations began to broadcast when large slabs of steel were to be raised into place.<ref name="James"/> ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'' photographer [[Arthur Witman|Art Witman]] documented the construction for the newspaper's Sunday supplement ''Pictures'', his longest and most noted assignment.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Campbell, Tracy | title=The Gateway Arch : a biography | date=2013 | publisher=Yale University Press | isbn=978-0-300-16988-1 }}</ref> He visited the construction site frequently from 1963 to 1967 recording of every stage of progress. With assistant Renyold Ferguson, he crawled along the catwalks with the construction workers up to 190m above the ground.<ref>Gilbert Bailon. (2015). Book and special section commemorate 50 years of the Gateway Arch. St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, MO), pp. St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, MO), Oct 25, 2015.</ref> He was the only news photographer on permanent assignment at the construction, with complete access. He primarily worked with slide film but also used the only Panox camera in St. Louis to create panoramic photographs covering 140 degrees. Witman's pictures of the construction are now housed in the [[State Historical Society of Missouri]].

The project manager of MacDonald Construction Co., Stan Wolf, said that a 62-story building was easier to build than the arch: "In a building, everything is straight up, one thing on top of another. In this arch, everything is curved."<ref name="Wick"/>

===Delays and lawsuits===
[[File:June 1965 Arch Construction.jpg|thumb|Arch construction in June 1965]]
Although an [[actuary|actuarial]] firm predicted thirteen workers would die while building the arch, no workers were killed during the monument's construction.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Gateway Arch: A Reflection of America |date=April 15, 2008 |last=Johnson |first=Christopher |journal=[[Library Journal]] |volume=133 |issue=7 |page=120 |issn=0363-0277}}</ref> <!-- doesn't belong in this section, need to move elsewhere --> However, construction of the arch was still often delayed by safety checks, funding uncertainties, and legal disputes.<ref name="Tribune">{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/582662522.html?dids=582662522:582662522&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=630-foot High Gateway Arch Is Topped Out |date=October 29, 1965 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |page=D19 |access-date=December 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hbLkCbW?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share3/pqimage/hnirs101v/201109141821/05072/32216/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref>

Civil rights activists regarded the construction of the arch as a token of racial discrimination. On July 14, 1964, during the workers' lunchtime, civil rights protesters Percy Green and Richard Daly, both members of [[Congress of Racial Equality]], climbed {{convert|125|ft|m}} up the north leg of the arch to "expose the fact that federal funds were being used to build a national monument that was racially discriminating against black contractors and skilled black workers." As the pair disregarded demands to get off, protesters on the ground demanded that at least 10% of the skilled jobs belong to African Americans. Four hours later, Green and Daly dismounted from the arch to charges of "trespassing, peace disturbance, and resisting arrest."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lang |first=Clarence |year=2004 |title=Between Civil Rights and Black Power in the Gateway City: The Action Committee to Improve Opportunities for Negroes (ACTION), 1964–75 |journal=[[Journal of Social History]] |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=725–754 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y2IdjjdHBQ8C&pg=PA231 |isbn=978-0-252-07648-0 |doi=10.1353/jsh.2004.0013|s2cid=143641956 }}</ref><ref name="Moore">{{cite journal|last=Moore |first=Robert J. |date=1994 |title=Showdown Under the Arch: The Construction Trades and the First 'Pattern or Practice' Equal Employment Opportunity Suit, 1966 |journal=[[Missouri Historical Society|Gateway Heritage]] |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=30–43 |url=http://www.doi.gov/diversity/showdown.doc |access-date=January 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226110846/http://www.doi.gov/diversity/showdown.doc |archive-date=December 26, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> This incident ''inter alia'' spurred the [[United States Department of Justice]] to file the first [[Disparate treatment#Pattern or Practice Discrimination|pattern or practice]] case against AFL–CIO under [[Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964]], on February 4, 1966, but the department later called off the charges.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Wright |first=John Aaron |title=Discovering African American St. Louis: A Guide to Historic Sites |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L1pAFXCeGZUC&pg=PA4 |year=2002 |publisher=[[Missouri History Museum]] |location=Saint Louis |isbn=978-1-883982-45-4 |page=4}}</ref> The 1966 lawsuit was an attempt by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCC) to desegregate building-trade unions nationwide. Many technical building unions had little or no African-American representation into the mid-1960s. During Lyndon Johnson's presidency, the federal government recognized the need for more integration in all levels of society and started enforcing equal employment opportunity through federally funded job contracts.<ref name=":0" />

In 1964, the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company of Warren, Pennsylvania, sued MacDonald for $665,317 for tax concerns. In 1965, NPS requested that Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel remove the prominent letters "P-D-M" (its initials) from a creeper derrick used for construction, contending that it was promotional and violated federal law with regards to advertising on national monuments. Although Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel initially refused to pursue what it considered a precarious venture, the company relented after discovering that leaving the initials would cost $225,000 and after that, $42,000 per month,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.newspaperarchive.com/cache/89723979.pdf |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/637q729Ek?url=http://www.newspaperarchive.com/cache/89723979.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 11, 2011 |title=Cost Higher Than High Sign, So It Comes Down |date=August 25, 1965 |page=16 |work=[[The Salina Journal]] |agency=Associated Press |access-date= November 11, 2011 }}</ref> and the NPS dropped its lawsuit.<ref name="Corrigan"/>

On October 26, 1965, the [[International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers|International Association of Ironworkers]] delayed work to ascertain that the arch was safe. After NPS director Kenneth Chapman gave his word that conditions were "perfectly safe," construction resumed on October 27.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/10/28/archives/gateway-arch-work-resumed.html |title=Gateway Arch Work Resumed |date=October 28, 1965 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=50 |access-date=December 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hbP2FLe?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share4/pqimage/hnirs104v/201109141821/56280/3570/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> After the discovery of 16 defects, the tram was also delayed from running. The [[Bi-State Development Agency]] assessed that it suffered losses of $2,000 for each day the trains were stagnant.<ref name="Hauck"/>

On January 7, 1966, members of [[AFL–CIO]] deserted their work on the visitor center,<ref name="Hauck"/> refusing to work with plumbers affiliated with [[Congress of Industrial Unions]] (CIU), which represented black plumbers. A representative of AFL–CIO said, "This policy has nothing to do with race. Our experience is that these CIU members have in the past worked for substandard wages."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/617084342.html?dids=617084342:617084342&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI |title=Union Dispute Stops Work on Gateway Arch |date=January 12, 1966 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |page=3 |access-date=January 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hbTFsF5?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share4/pqimage/hnirs103v/201109141822/31539/3449/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> CIU applied to the [[National Labor Relations Board]] (NLRB) for an [[injunction]] that required the AFL–CIO laborers to return to work. On February 7, Judge [[John Keating Regan]] ruled that AFL–CIO workers had participated in a [[secondary boycott]]. By February 11, AFL–CIO resumed work on the arch, and an AFL–CIO contractor declared that ten African Americans were apprenticed for arch labor. The standstill in work lasted a month.<ref name="Moore"/>

===Topping out and dedication===
[[File:Gateway Arch Plaque.jpg|thumb|The dedication plaque]]
President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] and Mayor [[Alfonso J. Cervantes]] decided on a date for the topping-out ceremony, but the arch had not been completed by then. The ceremony date was reset to October 17, 1965; workers strained to meet the deadline, taking double shifts, but by October 17, the arch was still not complete. The chairman of the ceremony anticipated the ceremony to be held on October 30, a Saturday, to allow 1,500 schoolchildren, whose signatures were to be placed in a time capsule, to attend. Ultimately, PDM set the ceremony date to October 28.<ref name="Corrigan"/>

The time capsule, containing the signatures of 762,000 students and others, was welded into the [[Keystone (architecture)|keystone]] before the final piece was set in place.<ref name="Leonard">{{cite news|url=http://more.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/gatewayarch.nsf/0/debc4c57af47bb18862570a000118e67 |title=Wow! At 40, shining Arch still is beacon to visitors |last=Leonard |first=Mary Delach |date=October 19, 2005 |newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |access-date=December 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5uyos5oDb?url=http://more.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/gatewayarch.nsf/0/debc4c57af47bb18862570a000118e67 |archive-date=December 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> On October 28, the arch was [[topping out|topped out]] as then [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Hubert Humphrey]] observed from a helicopter.<ref name="Bryant"/> A Catholic priest and a rabbi prayed over the keystone,<ref name="Duffy">{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0FF768D6E1A3AE98/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title=Gateway Arch Is a Monument to Smith's Good Idea, Saarinen's Design |last=Duffy |first=Robert W. |date=December 14, 2003 |newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |page=30 |access-date=January 7, 2011 |issn=1930-9600 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707221028/http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&p_product=AWNB&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D%28%200FF768D6E1A3AE98%20%29&p_docid=0FF768D6E1A3AE98&p_theme=aggdocs&p_queryname=0FF768D6E1A3AE98&f_openurl=yes&p |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> a {{convert|10|ST|t|adj=on}}, {{convert|8|ft|m|adj=mid|-long|spell=in}} triangular section.<ref name="Courant">{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/923570112.html?dids=923570112:923570112&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=Completion of Gateway Arch Hailed |date=October 29, 1965 |newspaper=[[The Hartford Courant]] |page=22 |access-date=December 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hbX8nqO?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share4/pqimage/hnirs104v/201109141824/00446/3576/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> It was slated to be inserted at 10:00&nbsp;a.m. [[Central Time Zone (North America)|local time]] but was done 30 minutes early<ref name="Duffy"/> because [[thermal expansion]] had constricted the {{convert|8.5|ft|m|adj=on}} gap at the top<ref name="Courant"/> by {{convert|5|in|cm}}.<ref name="Bryant"/> To mitigate this, workers used fire hoses to spray water on the surface of the south leg to cool it down<ref name="Tribune"/> and make it contract.<ref name="Bryant"/> The keystone was inserted in 13 minutes<ref name="Duffy"/> with only {{convert|6|in|cm}} remaining. For the next section, a [[hydraulic jack]] had to pry apart the legs {{convert|6 |ft|m|spell=in}}. The last section was left only {{convert|2.5|ft|m}}.<ref name="Courant"/> By noon, the keystone was secured.<ref name="Duffy"/> Some filmmakers, in hope that the two legs would not meet, had chronicled every phase of construction.<ref name="Dillon">{{cite news |title=Big Bend; Gateway Arch Remains One of America's Most Inspirational Monuments |last=Dillon |first=David |date=August 8, 2001 |work=[[The Dallas Morning News]] |page=12C}}</ref>

The Gateway Arch was expected to open to the public by 1964, but in 1967 the public relations agency stopped forecasting the opening date.<ref name="Hauck">{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/djreprints/access/117691539.html?dids=117691539:117691539&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=The St. Louis Blues: Will They Ever Finish That Gateway Arch? |last=Hauck |first=Philip C. |date=July 14, 1967 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |page=1 |access-date=December 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hbZjVcB?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share3/pqimage/hnirs103v/201109141824/39052/3458/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> The arch's visitor center opened on June 10, 1967, and the tram began operating on July 24.<ref name="Arch timeline"/>

The arch was dedicated by Humphrey on May 25, 1968.<ref name="Offer">{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/961164912.html?dids=961164912:961164912&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=Lofty Gateway Arch Dedicated And Hailed by HHH in St. Louis |last=Offer |first=Dave |date=May 26, 1968 |newspaper=[[The Hartford Courant]] |page=12A |access-date=January 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hbd4Ekm?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share3/pqimage/hnirs104v/201109141825/26513/3568/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> He declared that the arch was "a soaring curve in the sky that links the rich heritage of yesterday with the richer future of tomorrow"<ref name="Sarasota"/> and brings a "new purpose" and a "new sense of urgency to wipe out every slum." "Whatever is shoddy, whatever is ugly, whatever is waste, whatever is false, will be measured and condemned" in comparison to the Gateway Arch. About 250,000 people were expected to attend, but rain canceled the outdoor activities.<ref name="Offer"/> The ceremony had to be transferred into the visitor center.<ref name="Sarasota"/>{{#tag:ref |When [[Stuart Udall]], then [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]], discussed the story of the arch, an African American person rose and hollered, "[Y]ou're all racists&nbsp; ... we want jobs, not arches."<ref name="Offer"/> Behind him, a man wearing a veteran's hat jostled him,<ref name="Sarasota">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EjwgAAAAIBAJ&pg=7151,6353989 |title=A Little Sun For Humphrey |date=May 26, 1968 |newspaper=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]] |page=10A |access-date=January 7, 2011}}</ref> and [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] personnel removed him from the room. Udall resumed his speech, unperturbed.<ref name="Offer"/> |group=lower-alpha}} After the dedication, Humphrey crouched beneath an exit as he waited for the rain to subside so he could walk to his vehicle.<ref name="Offer"/>

===After completion===
The project did not provide 5,000 jobs as expected—as of June 1964, workers numbered fewer than 100. The project did, however, incentivize other riverfront restoration efforts, totaling $150&nbsp;million. Building projects included a [[Busch Memorial Stadium|50,000-seat sports stadium]], a 30-story hotel, several office towers, four parking garages, and an apartment complex.<ref name="James"/> The idea of a Disneyland amusement park that included "synthetic riverboat attractions" was considered but later abandoned.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/06/18/archives/architecture-fitting-site-american-institute-of-architects-meets-in.html |title=Architecture: Fitting Site; American Institute of Architects Meets in St. Louis, a Changing City |last=Huxtable |first=Ada Louise |date=June 18, 1964 |work=The New York Times |page=32 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61j2UiODv?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share3/pqimage/hnirs103v/201109151659/51984/4923/out.pdf |archive-date=September 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/02/04/archives/st-louis-success-architecture.html |title=St. Louis Success; Architecture |last=Huxtable |first=Ada Louise |date=February 4, 1968 |work=The New York Times |page=D33 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61j3Ny0iG?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share4/pqimage/hnirs103v/201109151704/12798/4925/out.pdf |archive-date=September 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> The developers hoped to use the arch as a commercial catalyst, attracting visitors who would use their services.<ref name="James"/> One estimate found that since the 1960s, the arch has incited almost $503 million worth of construction.<ref name="McGuire"/>

In June 1976, the memorial was finalized by federal allocations—"the statue of Thomas Jefferson was unveiled, the Museum of Westward Expansion was previewed, a theater under the Arch was dedicated in honor of Mayor Raymond Tucker and the catenary-like curving staircases from the Arch down to the levee were built."<ref name="Corrigan"/>

==Characteristics==

===Physical characteristics===
[[File:Gateway Arch windows.jpg|thumb|The windows of the observation deck are located around the apex of the arch.]]
Both the width and height of the arch are {{convert|630|ft|m|0}}.<ref name="facts"/><ref name="Bryant"/> The arch is the tallest memorial in the United States<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web |url= http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=2017&ResourceType=Structure |title= National Historic Landmarks Program: Gateway Arch |publisher= National Historic Landmarks Program |access-date= December 14, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090804114340/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=2017&ResourceType=Structure |archive-date= August 4, 2009 |url-status= dead |df= mdy-all }}</ref> and the tallest stainless steel monument in the world.<ref name="Cobb">{{cite book |last=Cobb |first=Harold M. |title=The History of Stainless Steel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E30rCBeM8nkC&q=%22tallest+monument%22&pg=PA308 |year=2010 |publisher=[[ASM International (society)|ASM International]] |location=Materials Park, OH |isbn=978-1-61503-010-1 |pages=170–174, 308}}</ref>

The cross-sections of the arch's legs are [[equilateral triangle]]s, narrowing from {{convert|54|ft|m}} per side at the bases to {{convert|17|ft|m}} per side at the top.<ref name="PopSci">{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mi0DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA91 |title=St. Louis' Two-Legged Tower: Tallest U.S. Monument |last=Remsberg |first=Charles |date=April 1964 |journal= [[Popular Science]] |volume= 184 |issue= 4 |pages=91–94 |issn=0161-7370}}</ref> Each wall consists of a [[stainless steel]] skin covering a sandwich of two carbon-steel walls with [[reinforced concrete]] in the middle from ground level to {{convert|300|ft|m}}, with [[carbon steel]] to the peak.<ref name="Brinkman"/><ref name="Mogin">{{cite news|url=http://thetartan.org/2006/10/30/scitech/htw |title=How Things Work: The Gateway Arch |last=Mogin |first=Sarah |date=October 30, 2006 |newspaper=[[The Tartan (Carnegie Mellon University)|The Tartan]] |access-date=December 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231061036/http://thetartan.org/2006/10/30/scitech/htw |archive-date=December 31, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> The arch is hollow to accommodate a unique tram system that takes visitors to an observation deck at the top.<ref name="csmonitor"/>

The [[structural load]] is supported by a [[Stressed skin|stressed-skin]] design.<ref name="Freeman">{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/219784512.html?dids=219784512:219784512&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=St. Louis Gateway Arch—a sweeping view |last=Freeman |first=Mary T. |date=November 4, 1967 |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |page=15 |access-date=December 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hbjIgRp?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share4/pqimage/hnirs101v/201109141827/00611/32220/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> Each leg is embedded in {{convert|25980|ST|MT}} of concrete {{convert|44|ft|m}} thick<ref name="Bryant">{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/10/28/gateway-arch-marks-20-years-over-st-louis/ |title=Gateway Arch Marks 20 Years Over St. Louis |last=Bryant |first=Tim |date=October 28, 1985 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |agency=[[United Press International]] |page=12 |access-date=January 7, 2011 |issn=1085-6706 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007045359/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-10-28/news/8503130852_1_eero-saarinen-jefferson-national-expansion-memorial-leg |archive-date=October 7, 2012 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}</ref> and {{convert|60|ft|m}} deep.<ref name="Sutton">{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/629600072.html?dids=629600072:629600072&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=Spectacle in Steel: St. Louis' Giant Gateway Arch |last=Sutton |first=Horace |date=December 5, 1965 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |page=J21 |access-date=December 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hc1jmrY?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share4/pqimage/hnirs101v/201109141831/32392/32213/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> {{convert|20|ft|m|spell=In}} of the foundation is in [[bedrock]].<ref name="Sutton"/> The arch is resistant to earthquakes<ref name="National Parks 1998">{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KDq3pMiK03sC&pg=PA35 |title=On the Trail of Discovery |last=La Pierre |first=Yvette |journal=[[National Parks (magazine)|National Parks]] |date=July–August 1998 |volume=72 |issue=7–8 |publisher=[[National Parks Conservation Association]] |issn=0276-8186}}</ref> and is designed to sway up to {{convert|18|in|cm}} in either direction,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gatewayarch.com/about/history/arch-faqs-facts.aspx|title=Plan Your Visit|access-date=April 17, 2016|archive-date=April 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418032150/http://www.gatewayarch.com/about/history/arch-faqs-facts.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> while withstanding winds up to {{convert|150|mph|km/h}}.<ref name="Post-Dispatch"/> The structure weighs {{convert|42878|ST|MT}}, of which concrete composes {{convert|25980|ST|MT}}; structural steel interior, {{convert|2157|ST|MT}}; and the 6.3mm thick grade 304 stainless steel panels that cover the exterior of the arch, {{convert|886|ST|MT}}.<ref name="Offer"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.doublestonesteel.com/blog/design/the-history-of-the-gateway-arch-st-louis-also-known-as-the-st-louis-arch-designed-by-eero-saarinen-and-completed-in-1965/#:~:text=The%20Gateway%20Arch%20is%20the%20largest%20stainless%20steel%20building%20in,how%20durable%20304%20can%20be.|title = The Gateway Arch, St Louis|date = July 6, 2015}}</ref> This amount of stainless steel is the most used in any one project in history.<ref name="Cobb"/><ref name="Post-Dispatch"/>

===Mathematical elements===
[[File:St Louis Gateway Arch.jpg|thumb|left |The arch is a weighted catenary—its legs are wider than its upper section.]]
The geometric form of the structure was set by mathematical equations provided to Saarinen by the [[German-American]] engineer [[Hannskarl Bandel]]. Bruce Detmers and other architects expressed the geometric form in blueprints with this equation:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/mathematical-equation.htm |title=Mathematical Equation |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=December 29, 2023}}</ref>

<math>y = A \left( \cosh \frac {Cx}{L}-1 \right) \quad\Leftrightarrow\quad x = \frac {L}{C} \operatorname{arcosh} \left( 1 + \frac {y}{A} \right)</math>,

with the constants

<math>A = \frac {f_c} {Q_b/Q_t - 1} = 68.7672</math>

<math>C = \operatorname{arcosh} \frac {Q_b}{Q_t} = 3.0022</math>

where ''f<sub>c</sub>'' = {{convert|625.0925|ft|m|4|abbr=on}} is the maximum height of centroid, ''Q<sub>b</sub>'' = {{convert|1262.6651|sqft|m2|5|abbr=on}} is the maximum cross sectional area of arch at base, ''Q<sub>t</sub>'' = {{convert|125.1406|sqft|m2|5|abbr=on}} is the minimum cross sectional area of arch at top, and ''L'' = {{convert|299.2239|ft|m|5|abbr=on}} is the half width of centroid at the base. The triangular cross sectional area varies linearly with the vertical height of its centroid.

This [[hyperbolic function|hyperbolic cosine function]] describes the shape of a [[catenary]]. A chain that supports only its own weight forms a catenary; the chain is purely in tension.<ref name="KabaiTóth">{{cite web |url=http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/JeffersonNationalExpansionMemorial/ |title=Jefferson National Expansion Memorial |last1=Kabai |first1=Sándor |last2=Tóth |first2=János |publisher=[[Wolfram Demonstrations Project]] |access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last= Weisstein |first= Eric |author-link= Eric W. Weisstein |url= http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Catenary.html |title=Catenary |work= [[MathWorld]] }}</ref> Likewise, an inverted catenary arch that supports only its own weight is purely in compression, with no shear. The catenary arch is the stablest of all arches since the thrust passes through the legs and is absorbed in the foundations, instead of forcing the legs apart.<ref name="Corrigan"/> The Gateway Arch itself is not a common catenary, but a more general curve of the form ''y''=''A''cosh (''Bx'').<ref>{{cite journal|last=Osserman |first=Robert |title=Mathematics of the Gateway Arch |url=https://www.ams.org/notices/201002/rtx100200220p.pdf |date=February 2010 |journal=[[Notices of the American Mathematical Society]] |issn=0002-9920 |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=220–229 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023000925/http://www.ams.org/notices/201002/rtx100200220p.pdf |archive-date=October 23, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> This makes it an ''inverted weighted catenary.''<ref name="The Rotarian">{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DzcEAAAAMBAJ&q=weighted+catenary&pg=PA34 |title=Soaring Symbol for St. Louis |last=Hannon |first=Robert E. |pages=33–34 |journal=[[The Rotarian]] |date=June 1963 |volume=102 |issue=6 |issn=0035-838X}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BuMDAAAAMBAJ&q=weighted+catenary&pg=PA89 |title=The Incredible Gateway Arch: America's Mightiest National Monument |last=Hicks |first=Clifford B. |page=89 |journal=[[Popular Mechanics]] |date=December 1963 |volume=120 |issue=6 |issn=0032-4558}}</ref> Saarinen chose a weighted catenary over a normal catenary curve because it looked less pointed and less steep. In 1959, he caused some confusion about the actual shape of the arch when he wrote, "This arch is not a true [[parabola]], as is often stated. Instead it is a catenary curve—the curve of a hanging chain—a curve in which the forces of thrust are continuously kept within the center of the legs of the arch." William V. Thayer, a professor of mathematics at [[St. Louis Community College]], later wrote to the ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'' calling attention to the fact that the structure was a weighted catenary.<ref name="AIA 1983">{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQEyAQAAIAAJ |title=Is It a Catenary? |last=Crosbie |first=Michael J. |publisher=[[American Institute of Architects]] |date=June 1983 |volume=72 |issue=6 |journal=AIA Journal |pages=78–79}}</ref>

===Lighting===
[[File:Gateway Arch Illuminated in Pink.jpg|thumb |left |The arch illuminated in pink in honor of [[Breast Cancer Awareness Month]]]]
[[File:Gateway Arch illuminated at night.jpg|thumb|right |upright |The arch's lighting system]]
The first proposal to illuminate the arch at night was announced on May 18, 1966, but the plan never came to fruition.<ref name="Arch timeline" /> In July 1998, funding for an arch lighting system was approved by St. Louis's Gateway Foundation,<ref name="Nevada Daily Mail"/> which agreed to take responsibility for the cost of the equipment, its installation, and its upkeep.<ref name="Duffy2">{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0EDCA514CED5FA3F/0DF73E411D70C6CA |title=Monument Soon Will Light Up The Night Sky; Arch Illumination Project Gets Green Light |last=Duffy |first=Robert W. |date=August 9, 2001 |work=[[St Louis Post-Dispatch]] |page=A1 |access-date=February 1, 2011 |issn=1930-9600 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200108210212/https://www.webcitation.org/61hcFhrRb?url=http://iw.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb%3Fp_action=doc&p_theme=aggdocs&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date:D&p_product=AWNB&p_docid=0EDCA514CED5FA3F&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D(%200EDCA514CED5FA3F%20)&s_lang=en-US&p_nbid=G53N4EBEMTMxNjAzOTY5OC4yODI4N |archive-date=January 8, 2020 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In January 1999, [[MSNBC]] arranged a temporary lighting system for the arch so the monument could be used as the background for a visit by [[Pope John Paul II]].<ref name="Nevada Daily Mail">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OEArAAAAIBAJ&pg=1570,2526284 |title=St. Louis Gateway Arch will be illuminated at night |page=5A |work=[[The Nevada Daily Mail]] |agency=Associated Press |date=August 9, 2011 |access-date=January 29, 2011}}</ref> Since November 2001, the arch has been bathed in white light between 10&nbsp;p.m. and 1&nbsp;a.m. via a system of floodlights.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0EFF9946A5830D61/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title=Visitors Take A Shine To Illuminated Arch |date=November 23, 2001 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |page=A1 |access-date=February 1, 2011 |issn=1930-9600 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707222431/http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&p_product=AWNB&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D%28%200EFF9946A5830D61%20%29&p_docid=0EFF9946A5830D61&p_theme=aggdocs&p_queryname=0EFF9946A5830D61&f_openurl=yes&p |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Designed by Randy Burkett, it comprises 44 lighting fixtures situated in four pits just below ground level.<ref name="Nevada Daily Mail"/><ref name="Duffy2"/>

On October 5, 2004, the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]], at the pressing of both of Missouri's US Senators, [[Jim Talent]] and [[Kit Bond]], approved a bill permitting the illumination in pink of the arch in honor of [[National Breast Cancer Awareness Month|breast cancer awareness month]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_bills&docid=f:s2895cps.txt.pdf |title=Bill S. 2895 |publisher=[[United States Government Printing Office]] |access-date=February 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107231205/http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_bills&docid=f:s2895cps.txt.pdf |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Both [[Estée Lauder Companies|Estee Lauder]] and [[The May Department Stores Company|May Department Store Co.]] had championed the cause.<ref name="Jonsson"/> One employee said that the arch would be a "beacon&nbsp; ... for the importance of prevention and finding a cure."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/1059BDE80376C512/0DF73E411D70C6CA |title=Pink may light Arch in breast cancer fight |date=October 6, 2004 |newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |page=B1 |access-date=January 24, 2011 |issn=1930-9600 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200108205644/https://www.webcitation.org/61hcN7eKt?url=http://iw.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb%3Fp_action=doc&p_theme=aggdocs&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date:D&p_product=AWNB&p_docid=1059BDE80376C512&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D(%201059BDE80376C512%20)&p_nbid=D59G54TKMTMxNjAzOTgwMy4xMDIzMzE6MTo3OnJhLT |archive-date=January 8, 2020 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> While the National Park Service took issue with the plan due to the precedent it would set for prospective uses of the arch, it yielded due to a realization that it and Congress were "on the same team" and because the illumination was legally obligatory; on October 25, the plan was carried out.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/24/national/24arch.html |title=St. Louis Arch to Glow Pink for Anti-Cancer Cause |date=October 24, 2004 |work=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |access-date=January 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200108193100/https://www.webcitation.org/5w0oEBemX?url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/24/national/24arch.html%3F_r=1 |archive-date=January 8, 2020 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The previous time the arch was illuminated for promotional purposes was on September 12, 1995,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0EB0832E8A6B5A1B/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title='Oz On Ice' Promotion Will Light Up the Arch |last=Berger |first=Jerry |date=September 7, 1995 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |page=1G |access-date=February 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707222949/http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&p_product=AWNB&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D%28%200EB0832E8A6B5A1B%20%29&p_docid=0EB0832E8A6B5A1B&p_theme=aggdocs&p_queryname=0EB0832E8A6B5A1B&f_openurl=yes&p |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> under the management of local companies [[FleishmanHillard|Fleishman-Hillard]] and Technical Productions when a rainbow spectrum was shone on the arch to publicize the debut of [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus]]' ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1987 musical)#1990s productions|Wizard of Oz on Ice]]'' at the [[Scottrade Center|Kiel Center]].<ref name="Jonsson">{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/105FAFC7B050569C/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title=Reflections of Hope |last=Jonsson |first=Greg |date=October 26, 2004 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |page=A1 |access-date=February 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707223106/http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&p_product=AWNB&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D%28%20105FAFC7B050569C%20%29&p_docid=105FAFC7B050569C&p_theme=aggdocs&p_queryname=105FAFC7B050569C&f_openurl=yes&p |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Lighting Dimensions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GeZUAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Apparently_it%22 |page=20 |volume=20 |year=1996 |journal=Lighting Dimensions Associates}}</ref>

==Public access==
[[File:Gateway arch south entrance.jpg|thumb|right |Southern entrance to the subterranean visitor center]]
In April 1965, three million tourists were expected to visit the arch annually after completion;<ref name="Wick"/> 619,763 tourists visited the top of the arch in its first year open. On January 15, 1969, a visitor from [[Nashville, Tennessee]], became the one-millionth person to reach the observation area; the ten-millionth person ascended to the top on August 24, 1979.<ref name="Arch timeline"/> In 1974, the arch was ranked fourth on a list of "most-visited man-made attraction[s]".<ref name="Corrigan"/> In 2010, the Gateway Arch had over four million visitors,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=206438 |title=Gateway Arch draws the most visitors in St. Louis |last=Glaus |first=Heidi |date=July 8, 2010 |location=St. Louis |publisher=[[KSDK-TV]] |access-date=February 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130127183905/http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=206438 |archive-date=January 27, 2013 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> of which around one million traveled to the top.<ref name="USA Today cable"/> In 2022, an estimated 1.62 million people visited the Arch.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nps.gov/jeff/learn/news/gateway-arch-national-park-sees-41-attendance-increase-in-2022.htm#:~:text=Visitation%20at%20the%20Arch%20grew,off%20to%20a%20strong%20start. |title=Gateway Arch National Park Sees 41% Attendance Increase in 2022 |date=March 10, 2023 | publisher=National Park Servie | access-date=February 21, 2024}}</ref>

On December 8, 2009, sponsored by nonprofit CityArchRiver2015, the international design competition "Framing a Modern Masterpiece: The City + The Arch + The River 2015" commenced.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cityarchrivercompetition.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/cityarchriver_competition_news_release_120809.pdf |title=International Design Competition to Invigorate the Gateway Arch Starts Today |date=December 8, 2009 |publisher=National Parks Conservation Association |access-date=January 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820193857/http://www.npca.org/media_center/press_releases/2009/international-design.html |archive-date=August 20, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> It aimed to "design a plan to improve the riverfront park landscape, ease access for pedestrians across Memorial Drive and expand onto the East St. Louis riverfront,"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_f949a3e6-baaa-5d92-b3c0-88b9de2d7135.html |title=Revised riverfront plan, including gondolas, to be unveiled Wednesday |last=O'Neil |first=Tim |date=January 26, 2011 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |access-date=February 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129021340/http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_f949a3e6-baaa-5d92-b3c0-88b9de2d7135.html |archive-date=January 29, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> as well as to attract visitors.<ref name="Olson">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-arch-stlouis-idUSTRE70Q0ZJ20110127 |title=Proposal unveiled for revamped Gateway Arch park |last=Olson |first=Bruce |date=January 27, 2011 |work=[[Reuters]] |access-date=January 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131171827/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/27/us-arch-stlouis-idUSTRE70Q0ZJ20110127 |archive-date=January 31, 2011 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}</ref> The contest consisted of three stages—portfolio assessment (narrowed down to 8–10 teams), team interviews (narrowed down to 4–5 teams), and review of design proposals.<ref name="manual">{{cite web|url=http://assets.centralcast.net/cityarchrivercompetition/Competition-Manual-v6-051910.pdf |title=Competition Manual |work=cityarchrivercompetition.org |access-date=January 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723040620/http://assets.centralcast.net/cityarchrivercompetition/Competition-Manual-v6-051910.pdf |archive-date=July 23, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> The competition received 49 applicants,<ref name="O'Neil">{{cite news|url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_acfdcd8e-29a7-11e0-8712-0017a4a78c22.html |title=Latest Arch plan has $578 million price tag, calls for closing Memorial Drive |last=O'Neil |first=Tim |date=January 26, 2011 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |access-date=January 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128004942/http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_acfdcd8e-29a7-11e0-8712-0017a4a78c22.html |archive-date=January 28, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> which were narrowed down to five in the first two stages. On August 17, 2010, the designs of the five finalists were revealed to the public and exhibited at the theater below the arch.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_48aa1bfe-3185-5ea2-b958-8c501015e4f9.html |title=Plans for Arch grounds attract curious crowds and praise |last=O'Neil |first=Tim |date=August 18, 2010 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |access-date=January 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121084659/http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_48aa1bfe-3185-5ea2-b958-8c501015e4f9.html |archive-date=November 21, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> On August 26, the finalists made their cases to an eight-member jury,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stltoday.com/article_036e04ce-b341-5554-8a4d-52ef02af56d6.html |title=Arch 2015: A citizen's guide |date=August 17, 2010 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |access-date=January 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010173614/http://www.stltoday.com/article_036e04ce-b341-5554-8a4d-52ef02af56d6.html |archive-date=October 10, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_395ecf5e-b8bb-519d-ab23-19bba6a84c0f.html |title=Archscape design competitors take their visions to the jury |last=O'Neil |first=Tim |date=August 27, 2010 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |access-date=February 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130221201/http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_395ecf5e-b8bb-519d-ab23-19bba6a84c0f.html |archive-date=November 30, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> and on September 21,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cityarchrivercompetition.org/competition/about/ |title=About |work=cityarchrivercompetition.org |access-date=January 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131130813/http://www.cityarchrivercompetition.org/competition/about/ |archive-date=January 31, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> the winner was revealed—[[Michael Van Valkenburgh#Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc.|Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates]]. The initiative's plans include updating Kiener Plaza and the Old Courthouse, connecting the city to the Arch grounds with a park over Interstate 70, a re-imagined museum and improved accessibility.  The budget for the project is $380 million and was set to be completed in 2018.<ref name="O'Neil"/>

Ground broke on the "Park over the Highway" project, the first component of the CityArchRiver project, on August 2, 2013. This project features a landscaped structure over Interstate 70 and rerouted surface traffic that had previously formed a moat separating the Gateway Arch from the Old Courthouse. This project was completed in December 2014.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/arch-s-park-over-highway-bridge-completed-ready-for-landscaping/article_8a2cb137-7b29-5bfd-b6fb-6afb71f4b90c.html|title=Arch's park-over-highway bridge completed, ready for landscaping work|last=Hunn|first=David|work=stltoday.com|access-date=December 14, 2017|language=en}}</ref>

===Visitor center===
[[File:Gateway Arch visitors center.jpg|thumb|right |Inside the visitor center prior to its 2018 renovation]]
The underground visitor center for the arch was designed as part of the National Park Service's [[Mission 66]] program.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/allaback/vci.htm |title=Mission 66 Visitor Centers: The History of a Building Type |last=Allaback |first=Sara |chapter=Appendix I: Mission 66 Visitor Centers |year=2000 |publisher=National Park Service |isbn=978-0-16-050446-4}}</ref> The {{convert|70000|ft2|m2|adj=on}} center is located directly below the arch,<ref name="Kimbell">{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/enquirer/access/1822812391.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT |title=Enter the Gateway of St. Louis |last=Kimbell |first=Becky Yaeger |date=October 12, 2003 |newspaper=[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]] |page=T.2 |access-date=January 13, 2011 |archive-date=November 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105083509/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/enquirer/access/1822812391.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT |url-status=dead }}</ref> between its legs. Although construction on the visitor center began at the same time as construction for the arch itself, it did not conclude until 1976 because of insufficient funding;<ref name="Visitor center" /> however, the center opened with several exhibits on June 10, 1967.<ref name="Arch timeline" /> Access to the visitor center is provided through ramps adjacent to each leg of the arch.<ref name="Visitor center">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4zuo4E6WLKwC&pg=PA121 |title=Underground Buildings: More Than Meets the Eye |last=Hall |first=Loretta |publisher=Quill Driver Books |year=2004 |page=121 |isbn=978-1-884956-27-0}}</ref>

The center houses offices, [[mechanical room]]s, and waiting areas for the arch trams, as well as its main attractions: the [[Museum of Westward Expansion]] and two theaters displaying films about the arch.<ref name="Visitor center" /> The older theater opened in May 1972;<ref name="Arch timeline" /> the newer theater, called the Odyssey Theatre, was constructed in the 1990s and features a four-story-tall screen. Its construction required the expansion of the underground complex, and workers had to excavate solid rock while keeping the disruption to a minimum so the museum could remain open.<ref name="Visitor center" /> The museum houses several hundred exhibits about the United States' [[westward expansion]] in the 19th century<ref name="PopSci" /> and opened on August 10, 1977.<ref name="Arch timeline" />

As part of the CityArchRiver project, the visitor center and museum underwent a $176 million expansion and renovation that was completed in July 2018.<ref name="Hahn">{{Cite news|url=https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/hotlist/gateway-arch-museum-visitors-center-to-open-in-time-for/article_9222e6c1-b789-54ac-93af-241ea9abeccd.html|title=Gateway Arch museum, visitors center to open in time for Fair St. Louis|last=Hahn|first=Valerie Schremp|work=stltoday.com|access-date=December 14, 2017|language=en}}</ref> The renovation includes a 46,000-square-foot underground addition featuring interactive story galleries, video walls, a fountain and a cafe.<ref name="Hahn"/>

===Observation area===
[[File:JNEM Observation deck.jpg|thumb|left |Observation area on top of the Gateway Arch]]
Near the top of the Arch, passengers exit the tram compartment and climb a slight grade to enter the observation area. This arched deck, which is over {{convert|65|ft|m}} long and {{convert|7|ft|m}} wide,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Gateway Arch |last=Selbert |first=Pamela |journal=[[Trailer Life]] |date=April 2004 |volume=64 |issue=4 |page=64 |publisher=TL Enterprises, Inc. |issn=0041-0780}}</ref> can hold up to about 160 people, equivalent to the number of people from four trams.<ref name="Mogin" /> Sixteen windows per side, each measuring {{convert|7|x|27|in|mm}}, offer views up to {{convert|30|mi|km}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gatewayarch.com/Arch/info/act.arch.aspx |title=Top of the Gateway Arch |publisher=Gateway Arch Riverfront |access-date=December 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501044957/http://www.gatewayarch.com/Arch/info/act.arch.aspx |archive-date=May 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> to the east across the [[Mississippi River]] and southern [[Illinois]] with its prominent [[Mississippian culture]] mounds at [[Cahokia Mounds]] and to the west over the city of [[St. Louis]] and [[St. Louis County, Missouri|St. Louis County]] beyond.{{citation needed |date=September 2011}}

====Modes of ascent====
[[File:Gateway Arch tram car.JPG|thumb|upright |Interior of the tram capsule in the Gateway Arch]]
There are three modes of transportation up the arch: two sets of 1,076-step emergency stairs (one per leg),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/arch-faq.htm |title=Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=December 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530224648/http://www.nps.gov/archive/jeff/arch_faq.html |archive-date=May 30, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> a 12-passenger elevator to the {{convert|372|ft|m|adj=on}} height,<ref name="James"/> and a tram in each leg.<ref name="csmonitor"/>

Each tram is a chain of eight cylindrical, five-seat compartments<ref name="Nofziger">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mqVYAAAAIBAJ&pg=5612,1305043 |title=The Ups & Downs Of Jefferson Expansion Memorial Park |last=Nofziger |first=Fred |date=December 27, 1987 |newspaper=[[The Blade (Toledo)|Toledo Blade]] |page=D7 |access-date=January 13, 2011}}</ref> with glass doors.<ref name="Schatt">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Qkk0AAAAIBAJ&pg=5780,5802040 |title=Gateway Arch Worth A Trip To St. Louis |last=Schatt |first=Steve |date=December 28, 1975 |newspaper=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]] |page=7F |access-date=January 11, 2011}}</ref> As each tram has a capacity of 40 passengers and there are two trams, 80 passengers can be transported at one time, with trams departing from the ground every 10 minutes.<ref name="Post-Dispatch"/> The compartments (capsules) rotate like [[Ferris wheel|Ferris-wheel]] cars as they ascend and descend the arch on rails.<ref name="Sutton"/> This fashion of movement gave rise to the idea of the tram as "half-Ferris wheel and half-elevator."<ref name="Sutton"/> The trip to the top takes four minutes,<ref name="Borcover"/> and the trip down takes three minutes.<ref name="Mogin" />

[[File:STL JNEM north tram upper station.jpg|thumb|left |North stairs and tram descending from observation platform]]
Because of a lack of funds in March 1962, the NPS did not accept bids for the arch's internal train system<ref name="Brown7"/> and considered discarding the idea.<ref name="Corrigan"/> In May 1962,<ref name="Corrigan"/> the [[Bi-State Development Agency]] proposed that it issue revenue bonds to obtain the required funds. The Department of the Interior and Bi-State entered into an agreement where Bi-State would construct and operate the tram.<ref name="Corrigan"/><ref name="Brown7"/> Bi-State would have to raise $1,977,750 for the construction of the tram system.<ref name="Brown7"/> It [[wikt:retire#Verb|retired the bonds]] by setting a $1 riding fee to the top.{{#tag:ref |Some locals wrote letters to the [[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] accusing Bi-State of "gouging".<ref name="Corrigan"/> |group=lower-alpha}}
[[File:Downtown-STL-4 (32131567337).jpg|thumb|A view of the city of St. Louis from the observation room of the St. Louis Arch]]
Bi-State put in $3.3&nbsp;million [[revenue bond]]s and has operated the tram system since.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kU5hAAAAIBAJ&pg=4456,4487422 |title=St. Louis Arch Train System Opens After Many Delays |date=July 24, 1967 |newspaper=[[St. Joseph News-Press]] |agency=Associated Press |page=1B |access-date=January 24, 2011}}</ref> The tram in the north leg entered operation in June 1967,<ref name="Freeman"/> but visitors were forced to endure three-hour-long waits until April 21, 1976, when a reservation system was put in place.<ref name="Arch timeline" /> The south tram was completed by March 1968. Commemorative pins were awarded to the first 100,000 passengers.<ref name="Corrigan"/> As of 2007, the trams have traveled {{convert|250000|mi|km}}, conveying more than 25&nbsp;million passengers.<ref name="Post-Dispatch">{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/119736C1B5DFABF8/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title=The Gateway Arch |date=May 24, 2007 |newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |page=23 |access-date=January 11, 2011 |issn=1930-9600 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707223359/http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&p_product=AWNB&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D%28%20119736C1B5DFABF8%20%29&p_docid=119736C1B5DFABF8&p_theme=aggdocs&p_queryname=119736C1B5DFABF8&f_openurl=yes&p |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

====Incidents====
[[File:Boy looking out observation window.jpg|thumb|left|A boy is looking out one of the observation windows at the city of St. Louis.  [[Busch Stadium]] can be seen through the window.]]
On July 8, 1970, a six-year-old boy, his mother, and two of her friends were trapped in a tram in the arch's south leg after the monument closed. According to the boy's mother, the group went up the arch around 9:30&nbsp;p.m. [[Central Daylight Time|CDT]], but when the tram reached the de-boarding area, its doors did not open. The tram then reportedly traveled up to a storage area {{convert|50|ft|m|0}} above the ground, and the power was switched off.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BFRWAAAAIBAJ&pg=2145,3066012&dq=gateway-arch&hl=en |title=Four Spend Shaky Hour in High Train |date=July 10, 1970 |agency=Associated Press |work=[[The Spokesman-Review]] |access-date=March 24, 2011}}</ref> One person was able to pry open the tram door and the four managed to reach a security guard for help after being trapped for about 45 minutes.<ref name="Arch timeline" />

On July 21, 2007, a broken cable forced the south tram to be shut down, leaving only the north tram in service until repairs were completed in March 2008.<ref name="USA Today cable">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2008-03-18-st-louis-arch-tram_N.htm |title=After 8 months, tram in St. Louis Gateway Arch moving again |date=March 18, 2008 |work=USA Today |agency=Associated Press |access-date=January 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130205085010/http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2008-03-18-st-louis-arch-tram_N.htm |archive-date=February 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> Around 200 tourists were stuck inside the arch for about three hours because the severed cable contacted a high-voltage rail, causing a [[electrical fuse|fuse]] to blow. The north tram was temporarily affected by the power outage as well, but some passengers were able to exit the arch through the emergency stairs and elevator. It was about two hours until all the tram riders safely descended, while those in the observation area at the time of the outage had to wait an additional hour before being able to travel back down. An arch official said the visitors, most of whom stayed calm during the ordeal, were not in any danger and were later given refunds.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna19893149 |title=Tram out of service after Gateway Arch mishap |agency=Associated Press |work=[[NBC News]] |date=July 22, 2007 |access-date=March 24, 2011}}</ref> The incident occurred while visitors in the arch were watching a fireworks display, and no one was seriously injured in the event. However, two people received medical treatment; one person needed [[oxygen]] and the other was [[diabetic]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/22/AR2007072200045.html |title=200 Trapped in Gateway Arch for 2 Hours |agency=Associated Press |date=July 22, 2007 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=March 24, 2011}}</ref> Almost immediately after the tram returned to service in 2008, however, it was closed again for new repairs after an electrical switch broke. The incident, which occurred on March 14, was billed as a "bad coincidence."<ref>{{cite news |title=Gateway Arch tram reopens, breaks down |date=March 15, 2008 |work=[[United Press International|UPI NewsTrack]] |publisher=United Press International}}</ref>

[[File:Mississippi River from the Arch.jpg|thumb|right|A view of the Mississippi River from the observation room of the St. Louis Arch.]]
On the morning of February 9, 2011, a National Park Service worker was injured while performing repairs on the south tram. The 55-year-old was working on the tram's electrical system when he was trapped between it and the arch wall for around 30 seconds, until being saved by other workers. Emergency officials treated the injured NPS employee at the arch's top before taking him to [[Saint Louis University Hospital]] in a serious condition.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_9f3b5873-7763-593f-aaa4-74a65ef09f59.html |title=Worker injured by tram inside Gateway Arch |last=Currier |first=Joel |date=February 10, 2011 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |access-date=May 14, 2011}}</ref>

On March 24, 2011, around one hundred visitors were stranded in the observation area for 45 minutes after the doors of the south tram refused to close. The tourists were safely brought down the arch in the north tram, which had been closed that week so officials could upgrade it with a new computer system. The National Park Service later attributed the malfunction to a computer glitch associated with the new system, which had already been implemented with the south tram. No one was hurt in the occurrence.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/251177/3/Arch-trams-shut-down-stranding-visitors- |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130127065538/http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/251177/3/Arch-trams-shut-down-stranding-visitors- |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 27, 2013 |title=Arch trams shut down, stranding visitors |date=March 24, 2011 |last=Held |first=Kevin |location=St. Louis |publisher=KSDK-TV |access-date=March 24, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Group-trapped-at-top-of-Arch-after-malfunction-118606314.html |title=Group trapped at top of Arch after malfunction |date=March 24, 2011 |location=St. Louis |publisher=[[KMOV-TV]] |access-date=March 24, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110326045551/http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Group-trapped-at-top-of-Arch-after-malfunction-118606314.html |archive-date=March 26, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Around 2:15&nbsp;p.m. local time on June 16, 2011, the arch's north tram stalled due to a power outage.<ref name="tram stall">{{cite news |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_744afb22-985d-11e0-80ed-001a4bcf6878.html |title=Arch tram stalls with 40 on board |last=Currier |first=Joel |date=June 16, 2011 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |access-date=June 16, 2011}}</ref> The tram became stuck about {{convert|200|ft|m}} from the observation deck, and passengers eventually were told to climb the stairs to the observation area.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/263425/3/Arch-north-tram-stalls-trapping-visitors |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120904034758/http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/263425/3/Arch-north-tram-stalls-trapping-visitors |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 4, 2012 |title=St. Louis Arch tram stalls, trapping visitors |last=Held |first=Kevin |date=June 16, 2011 |location=St. Louis |publisher=KSDK-TV |access-date=June 16, 2011 }}</ref> It took National Park Service workers about one hour to manually pull the tram to the top, and the 40 trapped passengers were able to return down on the south tram, which had previously not been operating that day because there was not an abundance of visitors. An additional 120 people were at the observation deck at the time of the outage and also exited via the south tram. During the outage, visitors were stuck in the tram with neither lighting nor air conditioning.<ref name="tram stall" /> No one was seriously injured in the incident, but one visitor lost consciousness after suffering a [[panic attack]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Visitors-to-the-Arch-stuck-after-tram-loses-power-124031214.html |title=Arch tram loses power, passengers stuck |last=Chiodo |first=Joe |date=June 16, 2011 |location=St. Louis |publisher=KMOV-TV |access-date=June 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110618151551/http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Visitors-to-the-Arch-stuck-after-tram-loses-power-124031214.html |archive-date=June 18, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> and a park ranger was taken away with minor injuries. The cause of the outage was not immediately known.<ref name="tram stall" />

===Stunts and accidents===
[[File:STL Skyline 2007 edit cropped.jpg|thumb|right |The arch in September 2007]]
On June 16, 1965, the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] cautioned that aviators who flew through the arch would be fined and their licenses revoked.<ref name="Wolf">{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/626557502.html?dids=626557502:626557502&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=St. Louis' Stainless Steel Streamline Baby |last=Wolf |first=Jacob |date=May 12, 1968 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |page=I28 |access-date=January 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hcbXuod?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share4/pqimage/hnirs104v/201109141840/22213/3567/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> At least ten pilots have disobeyed this order,<ref name="Arch timeline"/> beginning on June 22, 1966.<ref name="Corrigan"/>

In 1973, Nikki Caplan was granted an FAA exception to fly a [[hot air balloon]] between the arch's legs as part of the [[Great Forest Park Balloon Race]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Cox |first=Jeremy R. C. |title=St. Louis Aviation |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ttPS7yYgiKMC&pg=PA31 |year=2011 |publisher=[[Arcadia Publishing]] |location=Charleston, SC |isbn=978-0-7385-8410-2 |page=31 |chapter=The Beginning of Flight in St. Louis}}</ref> During the flight, on which the St. Louis park director was a passenger, the balloon hit the arch and plummeted 70 feet before recovering.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/610909732.html?dids=610909732:610909732&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=Column 1: Hot air fans meet, shoot the breezes |last=Oppenheim |first=Carol |date=August 12, 1976 |work=Chicago Tribune |page=1 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61j1Nn95w?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share4/pqimage/hnirs101v/201109151633/37704/27294/out.pdf |archive-date=September 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref>

In 1976, a [[U.S. Army]] exhibition skydiving team was permitted to fly through the arch as part of [[Fourth of July]] festivities,<ref name="Evening Independent accident" /> and since then, numerous skydiving exhibition teams have legally jumped onto the Arch grounds, after having flown their parachutes through the legs of the Arch.

The arch has been a target of various [[stunt performer]]s, and while such feats are generally forbidden, several people have parachuted to or from the arch regardless. In June 1980, the National Park Service declined a request by television producers to have a performer jump from the arch; a similar appeal by stuntman Dan Koko was also turned away in February 1986.<ref name="Arch timeline" /> Koko, who was a [[stunt double]] for ''[[Superman (1978 film)|Superman]]'', wanted to perform the leap during Fourth of July celebrations.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ca8yAAAAIBAJ&pg=2127,1252455 |title=Gateway Arch stunt off |date=February 13, 1986 |work=[[Ottawa Citizen|The Citizen]] |access-date=March 25, 2011}}</ref>

'''1980 accident'''

On November 22, 1980, at about 8:45&nbsp;a.m. CST, 33-year-old Kenneth Swyers of [[Overland, Missouri]], parachuted onto the top of the arch. His plan was to release his main parachute and then jump off the arch using his reserve parachute to perform a [[base jump]]. After landing the wind blew him to the side, and he slid down the north leg to his death.<ref name="Montreal Gazette accident">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EVwxAAAAIBAJ&pg=3581,1871410&hl=en |title=Wife sees 'chutist plunge to death |date=November 24, 1980 |agency= United Press International |work=[[The Gazette (Montreal)|The Gazette]] |location= Montreal |access-date=March 25, 2011 }}</ref> The accident was witnessed by several people, including Swyers' wife, also a parachutist. She said her husband "was not a hot dog, daredevil skydiver" and that he had prepared for the jump two weeks in advance. Swyers, who had made over 1,600 jumps before the incident, was reported by one witness to have "landed very well" on the top of the arch, but "had no footing."<ref name="Evening Independent accident" /> Swyers was reportedly blown to the top of the arch by the wind and was unable to save himself when his reserve parachute failed to deploy.<ref name="Montreal Gazette accident" /> The Federal Aviation Administration said the jump was unauthorized and investigated the pilot involved in the incident.<ref name="Evening Independent accident">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IGFQAAAAIBAJ&pg=1666,2432018&dq=kenneth-swyers+gateway-arch&hl=en |title='I Knew He Was Dead': Parachutist Dies After Landing On St. Louis Arch |date=November 24, 1980 |agency=Associated Press |work=[[Evening Independent]] |access-date=March 25, 2011}}</ref>

On December 27, 1980, St. Louis television station [[KTVI]] reported receiving calls from supposed witnesses of another stunt landing. The alleged parachutist, who claimed to be a retired professional stuntman, was said to be wearing a [[Santa Claus]] costume when he jumped off an airplane around 8:00&nbsp;a.m. CST, parachuted onto the arch, grasped the monument's beacon, and used the same parachute to glide down unharmed. KTVI said it was told the feat was done as an act of homage to Swyers, and "apparently was a combination of a dare, a drunk, and a tribute."<ref name="Eugene Register-Guard jump">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dFhYAAAAIBAJ&pg=6888,8834513&dq=kenneth-swyers+gateway-arch&hl=en |title='Santa' parachutes onto arch to honor stunt man |agency=United Press International |date=December 28, 1980 |work=[[Eugene Register-Guard]] |access-date=March 25, 2011}}</ref> On the day after the alleged incident, authorities declared the jump a hoax. A spokesperson for the [[St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department]] said no calls were received about the jump until after it was broadcast on the news, and the Federal Aviation Administration said the two calls it had received were very similar. One caller also left an out-of-service phone number, while the other never followed up with investigators.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yApIAAAAIBAJ&pg=4262,4403948&dq=arch+stunt&hl=en |title=Gateway Arch leap seen hoax |date=December 29, 1980 |work=[[Record-Journal]] |access-date=March 25, 2011}}</ref> Arch officials said they did not witness any such jump, and photos provided by the alleged parachutist were unclear.<ref name="Eugene Register-Guard jump" />

'''1992 stunt'''

[[File:Gateway Arch from air.jpg|thumb|right |Aerial shot of the arch]]
On September 14, 1992, 25-year-old John C. Vincent climbed to the top of the Gateway Arch using [[suction cup]]s and proceeded to parachute back to the ground. He was later charged with two [[misdemeanor]]s: climbing a national monument and parachuting in a national park. [[United States Attorney|Federal prosecutor]] Stephen Higgins called the act a "great stunt" but said it was "something the Park Service doesn't take lightly."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HQBMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4977,3479064&dq=john-vincent+gateway-arch&hl=en |title=Gateway Arch climber charged |date=September 17, 1992 |agency=Associated Press |work=[[Oxnard Press-Courier|Press-Courier]] |access-date=March 25, 2011}}</ref> Vincent, a construction worker and diver from [[Harvey, Louisiana]],<ref name="STLPD innocent">{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0EB04DCD374E5048/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title=Innocent Plea In Arch Climb&nbsp;– Defendant Had Said That He Pulled Off Stunt |date=September 22, 1992 |last=Bryant |first=Tim |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707223918/http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&p_product=AWNB&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D%28%200EB04DCD374E5048%20%29&p_docid=0EB04DCD374E5048&p_theme=aggdocs&p_queryname=0EB04DCD374E5048&f_openurl=yes&p |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |access-date=March 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> said he did it "just for the excitement, just for the thrill," and had previously parachuted off the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] in May 1991. He said that scaling the arch "wasn't that hard" and that he had considered a jump off the monument for a few months. In an interview, Vincent said he visited the arch's observation area a month before the stunt, to see if he could use a maintenance hatch for accessing the monument's peak. Due to the heavy security, he instead decided to climb up the arch's exterior using suction cups, which he had used before to scale shorter buildings. Dressed in black, Vincent began crawling up the arch around 3:30&nbsp;a.m. CST on September 14 and arrived undetected at the top around 5:45&nbsp;a.m., taking an additional 75 minutes to rest and take photos before finally jumping. During this time, he was seen by two traffic reporters inside the [[One Metropolitan Square]] skyscraper.<ref name="STLPD jump">{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0EB04DCB4831D454/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title=Climber Parachutes From Top Of Arch |date=September 15, 1992 |last=Smith |first=Bill |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707224031/http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&p_product=AWNB&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D%28%200EB04DCB4831D454%20%29&p_docid=0EB04DCB4831D454&p_theme=aggdocs&p_queryname=0EB04DCB4831D454&f_openurl=yes&p |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |access-date=March 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Vincent was also spotted mid-air by Deryl Stone, a Chief Ranger for the National Park Service. Stone reported seeing Vincent grab his parachute after landing and run to a nearby car, which quickly drove away. However, authorities were able to detain two men on the ground who had been videotaping the jump.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=N5FKAAAAIBAJ&pg=5955,2865869&dq=suction+cup+gateway+arch&hl=en |title=Man parachutes off Gateway Arch |agency=Associated Press |date=September 15, 1992 |work=[[The Telegraph (Nashua)|The Telegraph]] |location= Nashua, NH |access-date=March 25, 2011}}</ref> Stone said 37-year-old Ronald Carroll and 27-year-old Robert Weinzetl, both St. Louis residents, were found with a wireless communication headset and a video camera, as well as a still camera with a [[telephoto lens]]. The two were also charged with two misdemeanors: disorderly conduct and commercial photography in a national park.<ref name="STLPD jump" /> Vincent later turned himself in and initially pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.<ref name="STLPD innocent" /> However, he eventually accepted a guilty plea deal in which he testified against Carroll and Weinzetl, revealing that the two consented to record the jump during a meeting of all three on the day before his stunt occurred.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VOwwAAAAIBAJ&pg=3279,1302928 |title=Photographer of arch jumper guilty of misdemeanor |date=January 24, 1993 |agency=Associated Press |work=[[The Nevada Daily Mail]] |access-date=March 25, 2011}}</ref> [[United States magistrate judge|Federal magistrate judge]] David D. Noce ruled on January 28, 1993, that Carroll had been involved in a [[conspiracy (crime)|conspiracy]] and was guilty of both misdemeanor charges; the charges against Weinzetl were dropped by federal prosecutors. In his decision, Noce stated, "There are places in our country where the sufficiently skilled can savor the exhilaration and personal satisfaction of accomplishing courageous and intrepid acts, of reaching dreamed-of heights and for coursing dangerous adventures," but added that other places are designed for "the exhilaration of mere observation and for the appreciation of the imaginings and the works of others. The St. Louis Arch and the grounds of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial are in the latter category."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0EB04DFDE9ECCFA8/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title=Guilty: Man Who Filmed Arch Climber |date=January 29, 1993 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707224154/http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&p_product=AWNB&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D%28%200EB04DFDE9ECCFA8%20%29&p_docid=0EB04DFDE9ECCFA8&p_theme=aggdocs&p_queryname=0EB04DFDE9ECCFA8&f_openurl=yes&p |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |access-date=March 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

After his guilty plea, Vincent was sentenced to a $1,000 fine, 25 hours of community service, and a year's probation. In December 1992, Vincent was sentenced to ninety days in jail for violating his probation.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dropzone.com/forums/topic/31689-st.louis%2C-mo-arch-base-jump/ |title=St. Louis, MO Arch Base Jump |date=January 3, 2004 |work=Dropzone.com |access-date=April 10, 2019}}</ref>{{unreliable source|date=November 2024}}

===Security===
Two years after the 1995 [[Oklahoma City bombing]], a little over $1&nbsp;million was granted to institute a [[counterterrorism]] program. Park officials were trained to note the activity of tourists, and inconspicuous electronic detection devices were installed. After the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, security efforts became more prominent and security checkpoints moved to the entrance of the visitor center.<ref name="Nixon">{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0F9E8724422A6C71/0DF73E411D70C6CA |title=Security tightened at St. Louis Gateway Arch |last=Nixon |first=Mike |date=May 31, 2002 |newspaper=St. Charles County Business Record |access-date=January 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200105204424/https://www.webcitation.org/61hcjvzGx?url=http://iw.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb%3Fp_action=doc&p_theme=aggdocs&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date:D&p_product=AWNB&p_docid=0F9E8724422A6C71&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D(%200F9E8724422A6C71%20)&p_nbid=A65M60YWMTMxNjA0MDE0MS45NjA3NDk6MTo3OnJhLT |archive-date=January 5, 2020 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> At the checkpoints, visitors are screened by [[magnetometers]] and [[x-ray]] equipment,<ref name="Miller">{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2003/03/17/daily56.html |title=Gateway Arch will close if alert raised to 'red' |last=Miller |first=Beth |date=March 20, 2003 |newspaper=St. Louis Business Journal |access-date=January 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809212334/http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2003/03/17/daily56.html |archive-date=August 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> devices which have been in place since 1997.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0EB0504762F5FB6B/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title=On Guard: Metal Detectors Make Debut at Gateway Arch |last=Hopgood |first=Mei-Ling |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=May 21, 1997 |access-date=January 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707224459/http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&p_product=AWNB&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D%28%200EB0504762F5FB6B%20%29&p_docid=0EB0504762F5FB6B&p_theme=aggdocs&p_queryname=0EB0504762F5FB6B&f_openurl=yes&p |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

The Arch also became one of several U.S. monuments placed under [[restricted airspace]] during 2002 [[Fourth of July]] celebrations.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/07/03/july4th-celebrations.htm |title=USA engages in guarded celebration |last1=Locy |first1=Toni |last2=Watson |first2=Traci |work=USA Today |date=July 7, 2002 |access-date=January 28, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/27/us/government-restricts-airspace-at-3-us-landmarks-for-july-4.html |title=Government Restricts Airspace At 3 U.S. Landmarks for July 4 |date=June 27, 2002 |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924204432/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/27/us/government-restricts-airspace-at-3-us-landmarks-for-july-4.html?src=pm |archive-date=September 24, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> In 2003, {{convert|10|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}}, {{convert|32|in|cm|adj=mid|-high}}, {{convert|4100|lb|kg|adj=on}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KKgfAAAAIBAJ&pg=2830,4988670 |title=Barricades around Arch grounds draw some complaints |last=Wittenauer |first=Cheryl |date=February 7, 2003 |work=[[Southeast Missourian]] |agency=Associated Press |page=4A |access-date=February 1, 2011}}</ref> movable [[Jersey barrier]]s<ref>{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0F90B46078215940/0DF73E411D70C6CA |title=Protecting the Arch; Barriers Are Considered Temporary Solution; Concrete Barricades Do the Job Until More Attractive Design Is Found |last=Duffy |first=Robert W. |date=February 6, 2003 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |page=B1 |access-date=February 1, 2011 |issn=1930-9600 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200108205142/https://www.webcitation.org/61hcq4dPh?url=http://iw.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb%3Fp_action=doc&p_theme=aggdocs&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date:D&p_product=AWNB&p_docid=0F90B46078215940&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D(%200F90B46078215940%20)&p_nbid=T4FN4ARAMTMxNjA0MDIzMy42NTU2NDM6MTo3OnJhLT |archive-date=January 8, 2020 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> were installed to impede terrorist attacks on the arch. Later that year, it was announced that these walls were to be replaced by concrete posts encased in metal to be more harmonious with the steel color of the arch.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0FF317BDF146E616/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title=Better-looking Barriers To Protect Gateway Arch |date=November 30, 2003 |newspaper=[[San Jose Mercury News]] |page=6H |access-date=January 14, 2011}}</ref> The movable [[bollard]]s can be manipulated from the park's dispatch center, which has also been upgraded.<ref name="GAO"/>

In 2006, arch officials hired a "physical security specialist," replacing a law enforcement officer. The responsibilities of the specialist include [[risk assessment]], testing the park's security system, increasing security awareness of other employees, and working with other government agencies to improve the arch's security procedures.<ref name="GAO">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eWxEY7wZleYC&pg=PA36 |title=Homeland Security: Actions Needed to Improve Security Practices at National Icons and Parks |last=Goldstein |first=Mark L. |year=2010 |publisher=Diane Publishing Co. |pages=19, 36 |isbn=978-1-4379-2332-2}}</ref>

==Symbolism and culture==
{{quote box |width=215px |salign=right |quote=The Gateway Arch packs a significant symbolic wallop just by standing there. But the Arch has a mission greater than being visually affecting. Its shape and monumental size suggest movement through time and space, and invite inquiry into the complex, fascinating story of our national expansion.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0FDFCA575A89702D/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title=Car Tag Sales Will Help Tell Arch's Tale |last=Duffy |first=Robert W. |date=October 4, 2003 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |page=8 |access-date=February 3, 2011 |issn=1930-9600 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707224739/http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&p_product=AWNB&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D%28%200FDFCA575A89702D%20%29&p_docid=0FDFCA575A89702D&p_theme=aggdocs&p_queryname=0FDFCA575A89702D&f_openurl=yes&p |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> |source= —Robert W. Duffy of the ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'', October 4, 2003}}

Built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States, the arch typifies "the pioneer spirit of the men and women who won the West, and those of a latter day to strive on other frontiers." The arch has become the iconic image of St. Louis,<ref name="Courant"/> appearing in many parts of city culture. In 1968, three years after the monument's opening, the St. Louis phone directory contained 65 corporations with "Gateway" in their title and 17 with "Arch". Arches also appeared over gas stations and drive-in restaurants.<ref name="Wolf"/> In the 1970s, a local sports team adopted the name "Fighting Arches"; [[St. Louis Community College]] would later (when consolidating all athletic programs under a single banner) name its sports teams "Archers". Robert S. Chandler, an NPS superintendent, said, "Most [visitors] are awed by the size and scale of the Arch, but they don't understand what it's all about ... Too many people see it as just a symbol of the city of St. Louis."<ref name="McGuire">{{cite news |title=Gateway Arch Now Spanning 10 Years |last=McGuire |first=John |date=October 27, 1975 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch<!-- |access-date=December 14, 2011-->}}</ref>

[[File:Gateway Arch July 2012.jpg|thumb|left|The Gateway Arch as seen from southern leg]]

The arch has also appeared as a symbol of the State of Missouri. On November 22, 2002, at the [[Missouri State Capitol]], Lori Hauser Holden, wife of then [[List of Governors of Missouri|Governor]] [[Bob Holden]], uncovered the winning design for a Missouri coin design competition as part of the [[50 State quarters#50 State Quarters Program|Fifty States Commemorative Coin Program]]. Designed by [[watercolorist]] [[Paul Jackson (artist)|Paul Jackson]],<ref name="Bell"/> the coin portrays "three members of the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition|Lewis and Clark expedition]] paddling a boat on the Missouri River upon returning to St. Louis" with the arch as the backdrop.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dotan |first=Yossi |title=Watercraft on World Coins: America and Asia, 1800–2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vW95H-X295AC&pg=PA231 |page=231 |year=2010 |publisher=[[Sussex Academic Press]] |isbn=978-1-898595-50-2 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Holden said that the arch was "a symbol for the entire state ... Four million visitors each year see the Arch. [The coin] will help make it even more loved worldwide."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0F77DAD6B104EBA9/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title=Missouri's Gateway Arch to become coin of the realm |last=Bengali |first=Shashank |date=November 23, 2002 |work=[[The Kansas City Star]] |page=A1 |access-date=February 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707224846/http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&p_product=AWNB&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D%28%200F77DAD6B104EBA9%20%29&p_docid=0F77DAD6B104EBA9&p_theme=aggdocs&p_queryname=0F77DAD6B104EBA9&f_openurl=yes&p |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
{{#tag:ref |The [[United States Mint|U.S. Mint]] altered Jackson's design to make it less "off balance," however, with three people in the canoe instead of just Lewis and Clark. A Mint representative said the third person was Clark's slave, [[York (explorer)|York]].<ref name="Bell">{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0F77FC01571FE9F0/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title=Commemorative Coin? Artist Finds It Forgettable |last=Bell |first=Kim |date=November 23, 2002 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |page=12 |access-date=February 2, 2011 |issn=1930-9600}}</ref> The finalized coin entered circulation on August 4, 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/50sq_program/index.cfm?flash=yes&action=Schedule |title=State Quarter Release Schedule |publisher=[[United States Mint]] |access-date=February 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224113032/http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/50sq_program/index.cfm?flash=yes&action=schedule |archive-date=December 24, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> |group=lower-alpha}} A special license plate designed by [[Arnold Worldwide]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2003/06/09/daily29.html |title=Arnold Worldwide to design Gateway Arch license plate |date=June 10, 2003 |work=St. Louis Business Journal |access-date=February 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809071220/http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2003/06/09/daily29.html |archive-date=August 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> featured the arch, labeled with "{{smallcaps |Gateway to the West}}."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dor.mo.gov/forms/License_Plate_Sample_Book.pdf |title=License Plate Sample Book |publisher=[[Missouri Department of Revenue]] |access-date=February 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809120029/http://dor.mo.gov/forms/License_Plate_Sample_Book.pdf |archive-date=August 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> Profits earned from selling the plates would fund the museum and other educational components of the arch.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=--0wAAAAIBAJ&pg=6326,246661 |title=Group unveils license plate for Gateway Arch fund-raiser |last=Suhr |first=Jim |date=June 4, 2004 |work=[[The Nevada Daily Mail]] |agency=Associated Press |page=5 |access-date=February 4, 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Gateway arch reflect 1.jpg|thumb|right |The Arch viewed from one of two reflecting pools]]
Louchheim wrote that although the arch "has a simplicity which should guarantee timeliness", it is entirely [[High modernity|modern]] as well because of the innovative design and its scientific considerations.<ref name="Louchheim1"/> In ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]'', architectural critic David Dillon opined that the arch exists not as a functional edifice but as a symbol of "boundless American optimism". He articulates the arch's multiple "moods"—"reflective in sunlight, soft and pewterish in mist; crisp as a line drawing one moment, chimerical the next"—as a way the arch has "paid for itself many times over in wonder".<ref name="Dillon"/>

Some have questioned whether St. Louis really was—as Saarinen said<ref name="SaarinenPelkonenAlbrecht"/>—the "Gateway to the West". [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]]-born "deadline poet" [[Calvin Trillin]] wrote,<ref>{{cite book |title=Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin |chapter=T. S. Eliot and Me |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQotHp5x3twC&pg=PT109 |year=2011 |first=Calvin |last=Trillin |author-link=Calvin Trillin |isbn=978-1-4000-6982-8 |publisher=Random House |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/quiteenoughofcal0000tril }}</ref>
<blockquote>I know you're thinking that there are considerable differences between T.S. Eliot and me. Yes, it is true that he was from St. Louis, which started calling itself the Gateway to the West after Eero Saarinen's Gateway Arch was erected, and I'm from Kansas City, where people think of St. Louis not as the Gateway to the West but as the Exit from the East.</blockquote>

With renovations in the 2010s of the visitor center, the message of the arch has been more inclusive in its historic perspective, highlighting the impact of [[colonialism]] and particularly [[Manifest Destiny]] of American [[frontierism]] on the environment, land and people of [[Native Americans in the United States|First Americans]], as well as [[Indigenous peoples of Mexico|Native Mexicans]].<ref name="Kennicott 2018">{{cite news | last=Kennicott | first=Philip | title=Perspective - 50 years later, St. Louis's Gateway Arch emerges with a new name and a skeptical view of western expansion | newspaper=Washington Post | date=2018-06-26 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/50-years-later-st-louis-gateway-arch-emerges-with-a-new-name-and-a-skeptical-view-of-western-expansion/2018/06/25/7cbee8d6-644d-11e8-99d2-0d678ec08c2f_story.html | access-date=2022-06-21}}</ref><ref name="NPR.org 2015">{{cite web | title=As Gateway Arch Turns 50, Its Message Gets Reframed | website=NPR.org | date=2015-10-28 | url=https://www.npr.org/2015/10/28/452299164/as-gateway-arch-turns-50-its-message-gets-reframed | access-date=2022-06-21}}</ref> Furthermore exhibiting the urban history of the site and the struggle of its people, as well as of its construction workers for more rights, during the [[civil rights movement]] era.<ref name="Kennicott 2018"/>

Its futuristic style has been seen as a symbol for the [[Fordism|automobile age]] and the surrounding [[automotive city|automobile centric urban]] and [[Interstate Highway System|interstate]] [[infrastructure]], promising a technological future of a new accessible frontier.<ref name="Kennicott 2018"/> This outlook has seen continuation, lending the Gateway Arch's iconic shape and meaning to the name and logo of the future [[Lunar Gateway]], with its purpose as a gateway to the [[Moon]] and [[Mars]].<ref name=sdc20190918>{{cite news |url=https://www.space.com/nasa-lunar-gateway-moon-station-logo.html |title=NASA Reveals New Gateway Logo for Artemis Lunar Orbit Way Station |author=Robert Z. Pearlman |work=space.com |date=September 18, 2019 |access-date=28 June 2020 |archive-date=28 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628112732/https://www.space.com/nasa-lunar-gateway-moon-station-logo.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Awards and recognitions===
In 1966, the arch was given a Special Award for Excellence from the [[American Institute of Steel Construction]] for being "an outstanding achievement in technology and aesthetics."<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9OVPAAAAMAAJ |journal=Architectural Awards of Excellence |publisher=American Institute of Steel Construction |volume=8 |title=Special Award For Excellence: The Gateway Arch, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial St. Louis, Missouri |year=1966}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBImAAAAMAAJ |title=Gateway Arch |journal=Constructor |publisher=Associated General Contractors of America |year=1967 |volume=49 |page=182}}</ref> On February 9, 1967, the arch received the [[American Society of Civil Engineers#Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) awards|Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award]] of 1967 from the [[American Society of Civil Engineers]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ywldAAAAIBAJ&pg=3296,2256152 |title=Gateway Arch Wins Award |date=February 10, 1967 |newspaper=[[St. Joseph Gazette]] |agency=Associated Press |page=4B |access-date=January 11, 2011}}</ref> The arch was once among ''[[Travel + Leisure]]''{{'}}s unofficial rankings for the most-visited attraction in the world, after [[Lenin's Mausoleum|Lenin's Tomb]], [[Walt Disney World Resort|Disney World]], [[Disneyland]], and the [[Eiffel Tower]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sHRQAAAAIBAJ&pg=5983,740187 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713104323/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sHRQAAAAIBAJ&pg=5983,740187 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 13, 2012 |title=St. Louis Gateway Arch 5th in Appeal to Tourists |date=August 3, 1973 |newspaper=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]] |page=23 |access-date=January 11, 2011 }}</ref> On February 22, 1990,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://business.highbeam.com/435553/article-1G1-137868505/history-arch |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011010616/http://business.highbeam.com/435553/article-1G1-137868505/history-arch |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 11, 2012 |title=A History of the Arch |date=October 28, 1990 |newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |access-date=January 26, 2011}}</ref> the arch received the [[American Institute of Architects]]' (AIA) Twenty-Five Year Award<ref name="LangmeadGarnaut"/> for its "enduring significance that has withstood the test of time." It was declared "a symbolic bridge between East and West, past and future, engineering and art" that "embodies the boundless optimism of a growing nation."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0EB04C94E287F9B1/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title=St. Louis' Pride And Joy |date=February 25, 1990 |newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |page=2B |access-date=January 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707225008/http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&p_product=AWNB&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D%28%200EB04C94E287F9B1%20%29&p_docid=0EB04C94E287F9B1&p_theme=aggdocs&p_queryname=0EB04C94E287F9B1&f_openurl=yes&p |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In 2007, the arch was ranked fourteenth on the AIA's "[[America's Favorite Architecture]]" list.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-poparch07-sort2.html |title=Americans' Favorite Buildings |last=Frangos |first=Alex |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=February 7, 2007 |access-date=May 13, 2011}}</ref>

===Cultural references===
* Dutch composer [[Peter Schat]] wrote a 1997 work, ''Arch Music for St. Louis'', Op. 44.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Eisler |first=Edith |date=May–June 1999 |title=Choice Concerts: Soloists, Duos, and Trios in New York |journal=Strings |volume=13 |issue=78 |url=http://www.stringsmagazine.com/issues/strings78/reviews.html |access-date=February 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070105080118/http://www.stringsmagazine.com/issues/Strings78/reviews.html |archive-date=January 5, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref><ref name="peterschat">{{cite web|url=http://www.peterschat.nl/prognote.html#ARCHuk |title=Program Notes: Arch Music for St. Louis, Op. 44 (1997) |last=Schat |first=Peter |work=peterschat.nl |access-date=February 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724163019/http://www.peterschat.nl/prognote.html |archive-date=July 24, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> for the [[St. Louis Symphony Orchestra]]. It premiered on January 8, 1999, at the [[Powell Symphony Hall]]. Since Schat did not ascend the arch due to his fear of heights, he used his creativity to depict in music someone riding a tram to the top of the arch.<ref name="peterschat"/>
* [[Paul Muldoon]]'s poem, "The Stoic", is set under the Gateway Arch. The work, "an elegy for a miscarried foetus<!--This is the correct British spelling. Please do not change it to "fetus."-->",<ref name="Twiddy">{{cite journal |last=Twiddy |first=Iain |year=2006 |title=Grief Brought to Numbers: Paul Muldoon's Circular Elegies |journal= English|volume=55 |issue=212 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/english/55.212.181 |pages=181–199}}</ref> describes Muldoon's ordeal standing under the Gateway Arch after his wife telephoned and informed him that the baby they were expecting had been miscarried.
* [[Percy Jackson]] encounters [[Echidna (mythology)|Echidna]] and the [[Chimera (mythology)|Chimera]] in the Gateway Arch in ''[[The Lightning Thief]]'' and its [[Percy Jackson and the Olympians (TV series)|television adaptation]], after he, [[Grover Underwood]], and [[Annabeth Chase]] visit the Arch during their trip to California to recover the Master Bolt. Percy faces the Chimera, jumps over 200 meters (600 ft.)out of the Arch, and falls into the Mississippi River.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fox2now.com/news/st-louis-arch-to-play-a-pivotal-role-in-new-disney-show/|title=St. Louis Arch to play a pivotal role in a new Disney+ show|work=[[KTVI]]|last=Millitzer|first=Joe|date=June 29, 2021|access-date=August 7, 2022|archive-date=August 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807193309/https://fox2now.com/news/st-louis-arch-to-play-a-pivotal-role-in-new-disney-show/|url-status=dead}}</ref>  
* A damaged Gateway Arch is prominently featured in ''[[Defiance (TV series)|Defiance]]'', a science fiction television series. The apex is used as a radio station studio, with the arch itself acting as the station's [[Antenna (radio)|antenna]].<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/television/gail-pennington/defiance-imagines-aliens-humans-in-st-louis/article_bc2d16c8-0d39-50eb-841b-fa86c1aa120a.html|title = 'Defiance' imagines aliens, humans in 2046 St. Louis|date = April 14, 2013|access-date = July 12, 2015 |work = St. Louis Post-Dispatch|last = Pennington|first = Gail}}</ref>

==Maintenance==
[[File:St louis arch exterior welds.jpg|right|thumb |Welds on the arch's skin seal gaps between 4-by-8-foot sheets of stainless steel. Graffiti is scratched on the lower five to seven feet of the monument.]]
The first act of vandalism was committed in June 1968: the vandals etched their names on various parts of the arch. In all, $10,000 was spent that year to repair damage from vandalism.<ref name="Corrigan"/> The arch was first targeted by [[graffiti artist]]s on March 5, 1969.<ref name="Arch timeline" />

In 2010, signs of corrosion were reported at the upper regions of the stainless steel surface. Carbon steel in the north leg has been rusting, possibly a result of water accumulation, a side effect of leaky [[welding|welds]] in an environment that often causes rain to enter the skin of the structure. Maintenance workers use mops<ref name="Pistor">{{cite news|url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_73704097-9a47-5d28-8eb1-0f5c76db8214.html |title=Arch corrosion continues unabated |last=Pistor |first=Nicholas J.C. |date=September 9, 2010 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |access-date=February 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213112847/http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_73704097-9a47-5d28-8eb1-0f5c76db8214.html |archive-date=December 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> and a temporary setup of water containers to ease the problem.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_75095ba4-2d7d-5811-b4f9-a7ce769ddb0d.html |title=Gateway Arch showing rust and decay |last=Pistor |first=Nicholas J. C. |date=August 22, 2010 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |access-date=February 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110117203643/http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_75095ba4-2d7d-5811-b4f9-a7ce769ddb0d.html |archive-date=January 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> According to NPS documents, the corrosion and rust pose no safety concerns.<ref name="Pistor" />

A more comprehensive study of the corrosion had been suggested as early as 2006 by architectural specialists studying the Arch, and reiterated in a 2010 Historic Structure Report. In September 2010, the NPS granted [[Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.]] a contract for a structural study that would "gather data about the condition of the Arch to enable experts to develop and implement the right long-term solutions."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nps.gov/jeff/parknews/sructural-study-on-gateway-arch.htm |title=National Park Service Awards Contract For Structural Study on Gateway Arch |date=September 21, 2010 |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=February 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628222358/http://www.nps.gov/jeff/parknews/sructural-study-on-gateway-arch.htm |archive-date=June 28, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref>

Stain samples were taken from the west face of the Arch on October 21, 2014, to determine the best way to clean it. The cleaning will cost about $340,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/multimedia/worker-scales-west-face-of-gateway-arch/image_3b081677-e9b7-5e48-86c1-865525f94957.html |title=Worker scales west face of Gateway Arch |work= St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=October 21, 2014}}</ref>

In 1984, structural engineer Tibor Szegezdy told ''Smithsonian Magazine'' that the Arch could stand "considerably less than a thousand years" before collapsing in a wind storm.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chiles |first1=James R. |title=Engineers versus the eons, or How long will our monuments last? |url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/barnes/grandcoulee/chiles.html |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=March 1984 |access-date=May 24, 2024 |archive-date=March 19, 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020319024030/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/barnes/grandcoulee/chiles.html |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

== Brickline Greenway ==
The [[Brickline Greenway]] Project is a major public-private partnership that aims to connect [[Forest Park (St. Louis)|Forest Park]] and the [[Washington University in St. Louis]] [[Danforth Campus]] to the Gateway Arch grounds.  Among the partners leading this project are [[The Great Rivers Greenway District|Great Rivers Greenway]], the Arch to Park Collaborative, [[St. Louis City]], and [[Washington University in St. Louis]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://greatriversgreenway.org/chouteau/|title=Chouteau Greenway Master Plan|website=Great Rivers Greenway|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-03|archive-date=August 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803234048/https://greatriversgreenway.org/chouteau/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/washu-partner-greenway-project-connect-forest-park-arch/|title=WashU a partner in greenway project to connect Forest Park to the Arch|date=2017-10-11|website=Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis|language=en|access-date=2019-08-03|archive-date=August 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803234043/https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/washu-partner-greenway-project-connect-forest-park-arch/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Brickline Greenway was known as the Chouteau Greenway prior to March 10, 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://greatriversgreenway.org/greenway/brickline-greenway/|title=Brickline Greenway|website=Great Rivers Greenway|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-23|archive-date=September 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924080606/https://greatriversgreenway.org/greenway/brickline-greenway/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Architecture|National Register of Historic Places}}
* [[Architecture of St. Louis]]
* [[Fair Saint Louis]]
* [[List of tallest buildings in St. Louis]]
* [[List of National Historic Landmarks in Missouri]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in St. Louis, Missouri]]
* [[Zhivopisny Bridge]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web |author=AECOM |date=May 2010 |title=Cultural Landscape Report |url=http://www.nps.gov/jeff/parkmgmt/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=249387 |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |access-date=January 31, 2011 |format=PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107192931/http://www.nps.gov/jeff/parkmgmt/loader.cfm?csModule=security%2Fgetfile&PageID=249387 |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |author-link=AECOM}} [https://archive.org/stream/GatewayArchCulturalLandscapeReportmay2010/LandscapeReport Alt URL]
* Baglione, Chiara (June 2015), ''Eero Saarinen - Gateway to the West, 1947–1965'', "Casabella", 850, June 2015, 4-27, 94-95 [English text].
* {{cite web |author1=((Bahr Vermeer Haecker Architects)) |author2=((Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates)) |author2-link=Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. |author3=((Alvine and Associates)) |url=http://www.nps.gov/jeff/historyculture/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=249382 |title=Historic Structure Report |date=June 2010 |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=January 27, 2011 |format=PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107191827/http://www.nps.gov/jeff/historyculture/loader.cfm?csModule=security%2Fgetfile&PageID=249382 |archive-date=November 7, 2012}} [https://archive.org/stream/GatewayArchHistoricStructureReportVolume1june2010/Historic-Structure-Report-for-the-Gateway-Arch Alt URL]
* {{cite book |last=Brown |first=Sharon A. |title=Administrative History: Jefferson National Expansion Memorial National Historic Site |publisher=National Park Service |date=June 1984}}
* {{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Tracy |title=The Gateway Arch: A Biography |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2013}}
* {{cite news |last=Tackett |first=Michael |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Sf0tAAAAIBAJ&pg=3514,3594455 |title=The Arch at 25: Gateway Gave St. Louis a Much-Needed Identity |date=October 26, 1990 |work=[[Moscow-Pullman Daily News]] |page=4D |access-date=March 26, 2011}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category |Gateway Arch}}
{{Wikivoyage|St. Louis|Gateway Arch}}
* {{official website |http://www.gatewayarch.com/}}
* {{Whmc stl photodb |keywords=gateway+arch |title=Gateway Arch Construction}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170408184613/http://www.cityarchriver.org/ St. Louis Gateway Arch Grounds Project]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160825173404/http://drpanorama.com/PanoPage.aspx?TourID=680&ImageID=1166 360 Degree Panorama] of the Gateway Arch Taken from [http://www.meprd.org/mmmp.html Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722101600/http://www.meprd.org/mmmp.html |date=July 22, 2011 }}, East St. Louis, IL
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1967 establishments in Missouri]]
[[Category:Arches and vaults]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in St. Louis]]
[[Category:Eero Saarinen structures]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Missouri]]
[[Category:Metro Transit (St. Louis)]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1967]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Missouri]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in St. Louis]]
[[Category:1965 sculptures]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in St. Louis]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in national parks]]
[[Category:Downtown St. Louis]]