One of the surprises the arch held for a visitor Wednesday was that she could ride in a seat to the top of the 630-foot monument, something she described as “almost like riding a Ferris wheel”. Another showed him 40 stories up, in line on the unfinished Arch to get a haircut – a company courtesy, given that the workers’ seven-day-a-week schedule on the project afforded them scant leisure time.
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The wicket-shaped landmark, the nation’s tallest man-made monument and the centerpiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial grounds, cost less than $15 million to build after construction began in early 1963.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has issued a proclamation honoring the 50th anniversary of the completion of the Gateway Arch. It was completed October. 28, 1965. Events in St. Louis on Wednesday are marking the anniversary.
“More than four million visitors from around the world come to the Arch each year, because it is a uniquely St. Louis and Missouri experience”, the Governor said.
It’s been a half century since the last, uppermost piece of the 630-foot-tall Gateway Arch went into place, and St. Louis is poised to observe that birthday.
In the city’s downtown, hundreds who turned out for a brief observance in the Arch’s shadow heard two firefighters ring a bell five times shortly after 11 a.m. – homage to that moment the last and highest of 142 stainless steel sections was tucked into place.
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60 of the workers that helped build the monument are still alive today. The city’s mayor and National Park Service officials will speak. The Gateway Arch was designed by Finnish-born architect Eero Saarinen, who did not have the opportunity to see his design become reality.
