Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

Owing to external pressures to redevelop the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the National Park Service (NPS) retained EDAW/AECOM to complete multiple projects for the Memorial, a National Historic Landmark. The Memorial is located along the Mississippi River on the site of the original French settlement of St. Louis, and includes Eero Saarinen’s Gateway Arch, an inverted stainless steel catenary arch that has become the city’s definitive icon. The Arch is sited within the Memorial grounds designed by renowned landscape architect Dan Kiley and NPS landscape architects. The collaboration of Saarinen and Kiley paired two of the 20th century’s most influential designers in their respective fields of architecture and landscape architecture. The 630-foot stainless steel Gateway Arch reflects St. Louis’s role as the gateway to the West. Located below ground under the Arch is the 45,000-sf Museum of Westward Expansion, one of the largest museums in the NPS system. The NPS also interprets the old courthouse within the Memorial as a prime example of mid-19th century Greek Revival civic architecture and, more importantly, the location where in 1846 Dred and Harriet Scott sued for their freedom from slavery.

Documents prepared for the Memorial include:

  • General Management Plan / Environmental Impact Statement (2009)
  • Traffic Study (2009)
  • Cultural Landscape Report (2010)
  • Landscape Preservation Maintenance Plan (2010)
  • Framing a Modern Masterpiece: The City/The Arch/The River 2015 International Design Competition Services (2010)
  • Emerald Ash Borer Strategy Environmental Assessment (2011)

RMLA principal Rob McGinnis served as EDAW/AECOM’s project director for the General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement; Cultural Landscape Report; Landscape Preservation Maintenance Plan; Emerald Ash Borer Strategy Environmental Assessment; and technical services in support of the international design competition.

While with OCULUS, RMLA principal Rob McGinnis supported Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA) in their preparation of conceptual design alternatives including participating in alternatives development as part of the Environmental Assessment and NPS Value Analysis / Choosing By Advantages process. Rob McGinnis also undertook review of MVVA’s schematic designs as part of the NPS design review process.