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Civi Leader, Luther Ely Smith, returning to St. Louis from the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park in Vincennes, Indiana, beheld the crumbling St. Louis riverfront area and envisioned that building a memorial there would both revive the riverfront and stimulate the economy
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The details and blueprints were being finalized and loans were being gathered.
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The building date, originally December 20, 1961, was postponed to January 22, 1962, to clarify the details of the arch construction
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The Gateway Arch was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and German-American structural engineer Hannskarl Bandel.
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The project did not provide 5,000 jobs as expected. Workers numbered fewer than 100. The project did, however, incite other riverfront restoration efforts, totaling $150 million
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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. And the NPS ended up dropping the lawsuit because of chargers.
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The arch was completed with a total of 13 Million dollars which would be $97,300,000 in 2014
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The first proposal to illuminate the arch at night but the plan never came to fruition
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The funding for an arch lighting system was approved by St. Louis' Gateway Foundation, which agreed to take responsibility for the cost of the equipment, its installation, and its upkeep
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Since then the arch has been light up pink the entire month of october for breast cancer awarness. 25% of all sales the month of october go to the Susan G. Kommen fund.
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The arch has been bathed in white light between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. via a system of floodlights.
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The arch is the tallest memorial in the United States and the tallest stainless steel monument in the world.
