Citygarden the New St. Louis Sculpture Park Opens to the Public |
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| Written by rubin |
| Friday, 03 July 2009 02:43 |
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“This new garden is immediately taking its place among the great cultural attractions of St. Louis for residents and visitors alike,” St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said. “It’s dazzling, and its complete openness in the heart of downtown makes it unique in the country.” Slay was joined at the dedication ceremonies yesterday by local and state government leaders. After brief speeches, the Mayor signaled to the garden’s control room to turn on of all three of the garden’s fountains. Afterwards, the garden was opened to television cameras for the first time, and workmen, who had started earlier in the morning, began to complete the removal of a fence that has surrounded the garden since construction began, in April 2008. The fence will be completely removed yesterday, in time for the garden’s official public opening today.  The
garden occupies the two blocks between Eighth and Tenth and Chestnut and Market
Streets. The two blocks, which are owned by the City and cover 2.9 acres, are
part of the Gateway Mall, a 19-square block spine of green space that stretches
mostly uninterrupted for a little more than a mile from Broadway to 21st Street.
The space is framed to the east by St. Louis’s world-renowned Gateway Arch and
its historic Old Courthouse. Ground for the garden was broken in April,
2008,Slay said the extraordinary quality of the garden is also valuable in the standard it sets for the improvement of the rest of the Gateway Mall. “By setting the bar so high, it gives us reason to hope that the entire Gateway Mall will eventually fulfill the dreams that civic planners have had for it for the better part of a century. The Mall can be a wonderful, multi-faceted cultural and recreational space for our City and the region.” The City of St. Louis and Gateway Foundation announced in June, 2007 that they would partner in creating the garden. The City owns the garden improvements and will continue to own the land. Its only expenses will be for water and electricity. The not-for-profit Gateway Foundation is providing the funding — an estimated $25-$30 million, covering design and construction and front-end “soft costs” such as financing, anticipated expenses for security and insurance, etc. The cost of the sculpture, which is and will remain owned by the foundation, is separate. Going forward, Gateway Foundation will pay for all costs of Citygarden except water and electricity. Gateway Foundation has contributed significantly in recent years to the revitalization of downtown’s urban landscape, with projects ranging from the funding of the Gateway Mall master plan to the lighting of the Gateway Arch, Old Courthouse, Civil Courts building, and the city’s historic water towers. Other projects have ranged from the development of Triangle Park at Clark and 14th Streets to the restoration and construction of playgrounds and to the placement around the community of more than two dozen pieces of public art. Be sure and visit the Citygarden website at : http://www.citygardenstl.org/ Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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