New Arch barriers criticized too

ST. LOUIS -- When critics cringed at barriers placed along the western edge of the Gateway Arch grounds last year, they took solace in knowing they would be temporary.

The so-called Jersey Barriers -- 10 feet long, and weighing two tons -- were criticized as big, bulky and ugly, unbecoming to Eero Saarinen's graceful design of the arch.

They will be replaced by a barricade of low posts called bollards that will wrap around the Gateway Arch grounds. Many say they are just as unsightly.

"We were hoping for a more creative solution," said Michelle Swatek, executive director of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. She said the bollard plan would be a "permanent mistake."

Besides objecting to the design, members of the community are upset the public was not invited to discuss security options before a plan was chosen.

Even city officials wanted the Park Service to step back and look at other options.

Arch superintendent Peggy O'Dell took her post in March, after contracts were in place for planning and design.

But she defends the bollards as an effective security system and as a visually pleasing solution to the National Park Service's problem. She said they will eventually fade into the landscape.

The bollards -- 40 inches high and 10 inches in diameter -- are made of concrete and steel. Swatek said plans showed them installed at 4-foot intervals.

O'Dell said the usual procedure for federal projects is to encourage public participation. But when national security is involved, she said, there is no obligation to invite public comment.

O'Dell said the AIA asked for the planning process to stop to allow public participation. She said the Park Service staff felt a sense of urgency, however, and "the project has moved steadily forward."

The AIA said the disagreement is not resolved.

Swatek said that the AIA had written Interior Secretary Gail Norton on Wednesday, asking her to reassess the plan.

"What we have is an engineered solution to an architectural problem," Swatek said.