East St. Louis deserves a place in the Arch’s story
It’s been nearly 61 years since the capstone, completing construction of the iconic Gateway Arch, was laid on my late father’s birthday, October 28, 1965. For those six decades, the Arch has stood as a gleaming monument to westward expansion, while East St. Louis, Illinois, the city just across the Mississippi River, has long been […] The post East St. Louis deserves a place in the Arch’s story appeared first on St. Louis American.
Black News 
It’s been nearly 61 years since the capstone, completing construction of the iconic Gateway Arch, was laid on my late father’s birthday, October 28, 1965.
For those six decades, the Arch has stood as a gleaming monument to westward expansion, while East St. Louis, Illinois, the city just across the Mississippi River, has long been defined by its political and financial struggles.
But on March 10, 2026, on an unseasonably warm, sunny afternoon, a bipartisan bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Nikki Buszinski, a Democrat from Springfield, Illinois, and co-sponsors Wesley Bell, a Democrat from St. Louis, Missouri, Mike Bost, a Republican from Murphysboro, Illinois, and Ann Wagner, a Republican from Ballwin, Missouri, was proposed to expand Gateway Arch National Park across the river into roughly 50 acres of vacant riverfront parcels, including the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park grounds.
The goal would be to expand the park from 100 to 102 acres, initially, and drive Metro East redevelopment, with the potential to eventually add a museum, natural amphitheater and other features to bridge the Missouri-Illinois divide.
This proposed bill signals that East St. Louis may finally move from being an afterthought to being part of a shared narrative of regional growth.
After all, when the Cardinals have won World Series titles, the former St. Louis Rams won their Super Bowl and the Blues won their Stanley Cup, aerial footage of the Arch and stadiums was shot from the East St. Louis riverfront — some of the most prime real estate in the region.
So it would only be fitting that the Illinois riverfront, facing the Arch, complement, not distract from, its beauty and symbolism.
However, I am not so naïve as to ignore that the proposal comes with challenges. The first phase will begin with a feasibility study to evaluate the environmental and economic impacts of such a development.
Anyone who has read this space over the years is well aware that East St. Louis has long grappled with entrenched political dysfunction, corruption scandals, patronage systems, fiscal mismanagement, an erosion of public trust and the depletion of its population and business community.
For example, in 1959 East St. Louis was named an All-America City by the National Civic League and featured in Look magazine.
Then, between 1960 and 1970, the city lost 70% of its businesses. Between 1970 and 2000, it lost 55% of its population, according to author and historian Dr. Andrew Theising, formerly of Southern Illinois University.
To ensure this proposed expansion succeeds, there must be safeguards to provide clear accountability and transparency in politics and funding, while maintaining strong collaboration among federal, state and local entities, including East St. Louis residents.
In short, the symbolism and aspirations of this proposal must be matched by sound structure, feasibility and practicality.
Because there is no question that East St. Louis deserves this investment. In fact, it’s long overdue.
Yet this may be the final opportunity for the Arch to stop being, for East St. Louis, what it has been for six decades — a beautiful symbol just out of reach.
James T. Ingram, an East St. Louis native and writer, covers the Illinois political scene.
The post East St. Louis deserves a place in the Arch’s story appeared first on St. Louis American.
