Bill to expand Gateway National Park into East St. Louis filed in Congress

Legislation to expand the boundaries of the Gateway Arch National Park across the Mississippi River into East St. Louis has been filed in Congress.

The bill filed in the House would place the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park and other nearby parcels that total roughly 50 acres in the park’s border.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers from both states — U.S. Reps. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, Illinois, Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, Wesley Bell, D-St. Louis County, and Anne Wagner, R-Ballwin — introduced the bill.

“This marks the first important step that Congress can take to enable the expansion of the Gateway Arch National Park and to bring renewed opportunities, energy and investment to communities all across this region,” Budzinski said at a Tuesday press conference.

The expansion has recently been revived by the Gateway Arch Park Foundation and supported by East St. Louis officials.

“We want to see something great and something fantastic,” City Manager Robert Betts said.

Expanding the site into Illinois was part of the original vision for the park by architect Eero Saarinen when the design was first pitched in the 1940s. Congress funded an expansion of Gateway Arch National Park into Illinois in the early 1990s, but that effort never amounted to anything concrete.

“Never have we made such progress on achieving this dream of many civic leaders who have come before us,” said Ryan McClure, executive director of the Gateway Arch Park Foundation. “This is a shining example of collaboration at its best.”

The bill has been filed with the House Committee on Natural Resources. Twin legislation, currently being drafted by the offices of Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, and Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, will also need to be filed in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, according to Budzinski’s staff.

The bipartisan support of the effort across both states is important to get this legislation across the finish line, Bell said.

“The partnership that you see represented by members on all sides of the aisle is not something that we’re seeing a whole lot of, but we have been very intentional about working together,” Bell said.

More than 20 acres directly to the south of Martin park, which are currently forested and East St. Louis recently acquired, is part of the legislation.

A grant funded evaluation by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to determine what’s needed to clean up the land is currently underway, Betts said.

Another roughly 20 acres, located farther north of a nearby grain elevator and casino, could be developed separately alongside the national park, Betts said.

Other steps in the initial phase of making the renewed idea a reality will focus on evaluating how much investment would be needed. Once the vision has been better formed, McClure said the foundation will be able to estimate how much the project will cost and turn to pursuing private donors who could be paired with public funding.

Exact details regarding what the national park in East St. Louis would look like are still to be determined, McClure said. Architectural firm PGAV will work with the foundation.

The Metro East Parks and Recreation District acquired the Martin park in 2005 with the idea that it could one day transfer the land to the National Park Service. That would make Martin proud, said Bryan Werner, the district’s executive director.

“Together, we are transforming this riverfront while honoring the legacy of the late Malcolm W. Martin,” Werner said. “Malcolm was a visionary, who worked tirelessly for this expansion. Today, we take a giant leap towards fulfilling that dream.”