Introduction: The Arch of St.Louis is dubbed as the 'Gateway to the West' and is probably the most famous attraction in Missouri. At 630ft (192m) tall, and exactly wide as it is tall, this is no small construction. It was designed by Finnish-American architect Eeor Saarinen and structural engineer Hannskarl Bandel. As well as being the tallest habitable structure in St.Louis, it is also the world's tallest monument. Completed in 1965 (4 years after Saarinen died) and costing approximately $15 million to finish, it stands as 'the' monument for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial* (a site that stretches across 91 acres along the Mississippi river). A remarkable thing about the Arch, is that it stands on the exact border between Missouri and Illinois.
Security: Once you make your way down into the 'base' through the main entrance, you are immediately greeted by security and you have to put all bags and coats through an x-ray machine, rather like the airport and walk through those scary metal detecting door way (which always beeps, meaning you have to be touched up by the random security person and try to act as nonchalant as you can). I must say, when I first saw there was such high security, I rolled my eyes, but then on second thought realized how important it is…as you go very high and with only 2 escape routes, if anything was to happen up there, you would be scuppered.
Getting
to the Top: For me, this was probably the funniest and most entertaining part of the whole experience. Once you've bought your tickets, you journey though an 'Alton towers' style fake set of old St.Louis with painted scenes and audio documentary telling you stories, facts and information (for example, did you know that it wasn't until the 1960s in St.Louis that the 'black' license was abolished, this was a certificate that all Black people had to own, declaring their identity. Sounds insane doesn't it?). You have to wait in this area until the next 'tram' is ready to take you up. There's one that goes up the North side and down the South. You get given a ticket with a number on, from 1 to 9. At this stage we didn't know what the numbers meant exactly, we just had to go through when our number was called. Going through corridors and down some steps, it all started to make sense. Our number corresponded to which booth within the 'Tram' we had to ride in. There was wall with 9, little 3ft x 4ft door ways (yes, they were very small) and each one had a number, so we had to wait by our relevant door. After a short projected film about the history of the Arch and St.Louis and the Mississippi, our Trams arrived and out popped the leaving passengers, leaving the empty seats for us. In my opinion, to call them 'Trams' was rather, well, strange. They're egg shaped pods, and they were TINY. They looked like something Mike TeeVee would ride in, in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', they were space shuttle white in colour and futuristic looking in design. The ceiling is sloped, which means that tall people have to lean forward. It was really funny squeezing in and promptly meeting your fellow passengers, as there are only 5 seats, so you are situated knee to knee…cosy! Once the doors closed, there was no escaping. If you suffer from claustrophobia, it may not be a good idea for you to do the Arch! The doors had four little windows, but all we could see on our way up, was the interior scaffolding and structure of the Arch, there were no views outside - which surely would have been a good design feature???…oh well. Once at the top, you are instructed which side of the staircase to stand and shufty yourselves around the people who are waiting to go back down…then you step up into the light and head for the top of the Arch.
At the top: Again if you are claustrophobic, it might be worth giving the Arch a miss completely. The area you can move around in, is probably a 6ft by 20ft corridor with small windows on either side. One side overlooks St.Louis, Missouri and the view is impressive. On a good day you can see for up to 30 miles. The Old Court house of St.Louis and Busch stadium look amazing, but apart from that, it's just…well…city. Then on the other side, you have the murky, brown Mississippi with lots of barges doing their industrial thing, and lots of land. Unfortunately, the views aren't anything to go mad over…the Arch is no Eiffel Tower, in terms of the sights you can see when at the top. In order to get a good look out of the windows, you have to lean across the wall, which slopes outwards away from you, so it's almost as if you are lying down, in order to see anything. So, once you've had a look out of both sides, taken your pictures and read the few information plaques that act as a guide as to what you are looking at…you're done. That's pretty much it. Unless you have a fetish for carpet and lighting fixtures, there's nothing else to look out. Time to go back down.
Going down: Pretty much the same as the way up, except it's more of a first come first serve 'go and stand by a door' to get down.
Price: To go up the Arch, on it's own, will cost $10 for adults (sorry, I didn't catch how much it was for children). There are 'package' tickets you can buy that grant you access to the Museum too. I think this is relatively cheap considering the price of some other tourist attractions, in other countries. And well, after 2 days wandering around St.Louis, this is probably one of the most interesting things to do there (…and that's not saying much).
What else is there?: There is also a Museum at the bottom, that is about the Westward Expansion, rather than squeezing out any more history of the Arch (fear not, it's not a whole museum dedicated to steel and arches), which is a good idea to 'change the subject' - as the Jefferson National Memorial isn't just about the Arch. We didn't look round the museum, but was told by friends that it was very good. There is also a gift shop, selling all sorts of random gubbins in the shape of an Arch, but most of it, as you might expect was rather pricey and from tackylandsville.
What time to go: We went really early, around 9:30ish in the morning and pretty much went straight through, by the time we came out, it was nearing 10:20am or so and by that time queues had developed. Quite frankly if I had to queue and wait for hours to go up the Arch, I think I would have been irritated and annoyed at how boring the whole 'attraction' was.
Conclusion: Well, to be honest, I was disappointed, which sounds rather ungrateful and ignorant of all the history surrounding it, but…t's an Arch…and you go up, look out the windows and come back…that's it! The most exciting part for me was the pods for the journey up. The views out aren't incredibly interesting - we were able to see our hotel (but you couldn't miss it, it was opposite the Arch) and that was fun…for about 5 seconds. Then the novelty of the whole experience wore off pretty rapidly. Don't get me wrong, from the ground, the Arch is beautiful and a feat of architecture and design ingenuity, but in terms of paying and using it as 'something to do', it's not that hot. I would say it was the most interesting thing I got to do in St.Louis, unless I missed something from the guide book that was too good for words (???) but sorry, that doesn't say much for St.Louis really, does it?
*For those interested, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial was established to commemorate several historical events: 1) The Louisana Purchase and subsequent westward movement of American explorers and pioneers. 2) The first civil government west of the Mississippi River. 3) The debate over slavery raised by the Dred Scott case. (I got this last bit of information from my beloved online buddy, Wikipedia…if you want to find out more info about the memorial, which is rather interesting, you can always go there…to discuss it all in this review would be tedious and deviate from the review of the Arch.)
Jul 5th, 2008
exceptional by (32%):
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