St. Louis Arch Renovation Delayed

The St. Louis Gateway Arch renovation project has been delayed according to a new construction schedule released Tuesday. Reports state that this isn’t the first time the project has been delayed.

According to the St. Louis Business Journal, an additional seven months have been added to the project’s completion date. With this extra time added to the renovation, the estimated completion date is now December 2016. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch stated that the project is now 14 months behind schedule.

“The timetable, produced by the National Park Service, pushes back completion of several projects: one month’s delay for the park over Interstate 70, five months for the Arch grounds’ north park and seven more months for the south park. The museum under the Arch — specifically, a renovation of its bathrooms — is charted to be the last component finished.”

Executive Director, Maggie Hales, told reporters that some of the delays have stemmed from earlier disagreements between the parties involved in the St. Louis Arch renovation. With all the fluctuating aspects of the project, Hales said “there are ways, we still think, to compress the schedule.”

In other news, The Inquisitr recently covered a gas leak that forced the evacuation of 23 local St. Louis homes on the 3400 block of Macklind Avenue. “The leak was spewing an unsafe amount of gas, prompting the evacuation,” according to Captain Garon Mosby of the St. Louis Fire Department.

Laclede Gas was called to the scene, along with the local fire department, and began taking readings that lead to the discovery of a home that had a reading that indicated “explosive limits”. As a part of a special precaution, officials decided to evacuate a total of 23 homes. The gas leak was reported around 8:50 am Monday morning and was finally located and repaired shortly before 4 pm.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, other construction projects in the area seem to be on time and on budget. Susan Trautman, director of the Great Rivers Greenway trails district, told reporters that the elevation of Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard along the river is on schedule. The report continued on to say that “the Walnut Street bridge is down, and the Missouri Department of Transportation’s street work will largely wrap up by the end of this year in preparation for the lid over Interstate 70.”

Hales stated that most of the disagreements that caused the initial setback have since been signed and agreed on. “It is happening,” said Bradley, the park superintendent. “I look out my window, I can see activity. There’s always going to be tensions, push and pull,” he continued. “But I do feel good about it.”

[Image via Shutterstock/Semmick Photo]