“One of the things that we were excited about doing was talking more about multiple perspectives, not just, you know, Jefferson’s vision and Lewis and Clark.” “The museum had not been renovated since it originally opened in 1976, and so it was well past time to redo all of those exhibits,” Sanfilippo said. Photo courtesy of Gateway Arch Park Foundation. Scenic walkway at Gateway Arch National Park. The Museum of Westward Expansion was reopened as the Museum at the Gateway Arch in July 2018. In addition to the recent renaming, revamping the buildings and exhibits is a key part of the effort to improve the relevancy, accessibility and interactivity of the park to engage visitors. And I think for the community, that will be an economic boom,” Sanfilippo said. “We’re well over 1 million people visiting so far this year, and I think we are on that upward trend where we will see increased numbers next year and in years following. Louis renewed pride, but also provides more opportunities for national recognition and increased visitation to downtown, both from tourists as well as locals. Pam Sanfilippo, chief of Museum Services and Interpretation at Gateway Arch National Park, said the hope is that the new status not only gives St. Louis with renovations to the park’s grounds and buildings.

Over the years, staff at the Gateway Arch National Park have been further working with their partners in nonprofit, governmental and public organizations to rejuvenate local and national traffic to downtown St. In the mid-2000s, the Gateway Arch Park Foundation (formerly CityArchRiver Project) kickstarted a $380-million public-private partnership that worked to connect the city to the park to the river. The re-classification of the site from a memorial to a park was approved by Congress and signed into law that February, but changes to the park have been underway since long before. Photo contributed by Gateway Arch Park Foundation. Gateway Arch National Park reflection pond. Louis’ most famous monument – The Gateway Arch – was granted the status of national park, one of many in Missouri but the smallest in the United States, at 91 acres.

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