Daniel S.
Yelp
I love hearing about downtown dreams brought to life. Citygarden is the quintessential downtown dream brought to life. By the late 1990s a two block parcel in the Gateway Arch Mall bounded by 10th Street, Chestnut Street, Eighth Street, and Market Street was a dilapidated grassy lot. In the shadow of Busch Stadium and the Gateway Arch, this idle parcel of grass was a poor representation of prime downtown space. The City of Saint Louis and the Gateway Foundation had a dream of transforming this three acre parcel into an urban oasis with gardens, sculptures, trees, and water features. On July 1, 2009 the Citygarden dream became reality.
What I love more than downtown dreams brought to life is experiencing them firsthand. My Dad, brother, and I exchanged a few hours for time in the Citygarden.
Although Citygarden is a small three acres, it is the seed of a crop that will spawn signifant revitalization in downtown Saint Louis. In recent times, the Gateway Arch Mall that it is incorporated in has given Saint Louis a new Kiener Plaza, a refurbished Gateway Arch National Park and a green connection above Interstate 44. I bring this up to emphasize the point that Citygarden is a jewel along the necklace that is Gateway National Park. With the nearby parks and landmarks along the Mall, the Citygarden is a satisfying stop. The dot map below shows its proximity to nearby attractions.
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Gateway Arch Mall.
Aloe Civil City Kiener. Old The
Plaza Court. garden. Plaza. Court Arch
house
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Union
Station
Through the above dot map, I am empthazing that Citygarden is one stop on a grand tour along the Gateway Arch Mall from the Arch to Union Station.
My time here is best described as whimsical. I contribute the 24 sculptures to this upbeat mood. These sculptures included Zenit the rider less horse, the Scarecrow, two marshmallow white bunnies, the dismembered head of Eros lying on its side, Kindly Geppeto, a bronze version of what could pass as Pinochio's twin, a bronze bird, the white painted aluminum suit, and 17 others.
The landscape brought out the best of these bronze and painted aluminum sculpture stars. The landscape designers did a commendable job representing the regions River Bluffs, flood plains, and river terraces. The sculptures fit in with the diverse landscape.
The landscape also brought out the best of my camera. Here are some photo spots I captured. The southwest corner vista of the Gateway Arch sprouting from a blooming yellow wildflower bed. The west-facing Split Basin elengated vista of the Historic Civil Courts Building. The Spray Plaza stretching to the Peabody Tower. A living bunny rabbit in the two marshmallow bunny rabbits territory. The photo spots include the individual 24 sculptures. From a closed off 9th Street, there is a comprehensive vista of a few of the sculpture stars. My favorite photo spots of capturing the statues was up on the northwest bluff where Zenit stood on the grassy hill near the Scarecrow off a woodsy walking path.
Citygarden is an urban oasis in the downtown heat island. There are over 100 plant species. It was in the shadows of Gingko trees bordering the Spray Plaza where we rested.
Now if I didn't drink Starbuck's prior to here, I could of sat in the Kaldi's Coffee bordering the Split Basin. It is in a modern building where floor to ceiling windows overlook the park. For the record this is the only restroom on park property. However, it is not a public restroom. There is a sign saying that the restroom is for customers.
Fortunately, the dream of Citygarden has not become a nightmare. There is obviously sufficient police and security presence. I spotted zero vandalism scars. Kudos to the parks gatekeepers for doing a fantastic job of maintaining the park.
I enjoyed every minute that I was awake in a downtown dream become reality. I ain't dreaming about the four star experience that my family and I had in St. Louis urban garden.