quincunx wrote: ↑Jan 09, 2021
The riverfront wasn't cleared for the Arch or even a memorial. It was cleared to reduce the supply of real estate and sold as a Depression-era make-work project. What to do with was to be figured out later.
The old
National Park Service Jefferson National Expansion Memorial website had this to say, citing a letter from Franklin Roosevelt to Bernard Dickmann dated February 19. 1934:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was enthusiastic about the idea, stating that he was "greatly interested in the suggestion for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial for the St. Louis Riverfront ... I can ... tell you that I like the principle underlying the thought of a memorial to the vision of Thomas Jefferson and the pioneers in the opening up of the Great West."
It goes on to cite a Post Dispatch Story from October 31, 1965 by Terry Dickson entitled "A Monument to Thirty Years of Patience, Perseverance, and Determination":
In April 1934 the committee obtained a state charter as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Association and acquired a nonprofit designation.
Is that mistaken? Is the National Park Service misquoting Roosevelt? Is the Post Dispatch in error in reporting that there was an association chartered to create a memorial ? I'll gladly grant that there might well have been ulterior motives and that this was an early example of an ugly trend, but it sure looks like they knew they wanted to build a memorial there from day one. The fact that it was also a depression-era make work project doesn't change the nature of the work they intended to make: building a memorial. The fact that it required "slum clearance" that tidily benefited developers further west also doesn't necessarily change the intent, though it does complicate the motivation.
I think it's more than just a bit of a reach to say it "wasn't cleared for a memorial" when there were clear charters there to say it was; when there was fundraising and enabling legislation. When it was sold to the public as a memorial from the very beginning. There very well might have been (almost certainly were) ulterior motives. There's definitely an ugly side to it. I think we can all agree that the architecture that was lost was worthy stuff. I bet we can even all agree that the thing doubtless displaced people and that the odds are good some of those people were not adequately compensated; that the taking did them real and lasting harm.
But it really was intended to be a memorial. Took a while to raise the funds. (There was a depression on, after all. And then there was a war.) And it took even longer to get it finished. But forty years from start to finish isn't even unreasonable for a project of that size and complexity. After all, look how long it took to get a streetcar built in the Loop. *ducks*
Besides, it came out pretty well in the end. We just need to find a way to invigorate the blocks to the north and south and keep them relevant so that no more of them end up demolished now. (Odds are pretty good maybe only half the buildings in the memorial footprint would survive now even if they hadn't been demolished then. Half is a lot more than none, but let's not pretend this would all be wine and roses without our most famous feature. Ours is always going to be a complicated and flood prone riverfront. The river is a great brown god. And she won't let you forget it.)
Now . . . how do we make it work? A more extensive lid is a great idea, but maybe cheaper would be closing southbound Memorial Drive to all but local traffic between Washington and Spruce. Make it essentially a pedestrian zone. All that's there is some garage and service access and a little bit of street parking. Could the garages be reconfigured? There's already plenty of curb cuts on the west side leading into some or all of them. Maybe the east side could be emergency and service access only. If we were going to have a pedestrian zone, that'd be the place to put it. There's already relatively little traffic there anyway and with the right treatment it would be a great place for street cafes and festivals. Plant trees and shrubs around the depressed section to deaden the sound. Get rid of the street parking. Brick the street over. Make it pretty. Get the cars off as much as possible.
It's not a terribly pricey book, and I bet the library has it. Probably well worth the investment. That said . . . what say you to closing southbound Memorial if ways to deal with the garages can be had? Let's pivot to fixing the now. 
