Jefferson National Expansion Administrative History

¹Development and Management Plan and Environmental Assessment, Proposed East St. Louis Addition to Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, Illinois/Missouri, August 1987, National Park Service, Introduction. Reading this document is an indispensable step in understanding the reasons for considering an east side expansion and the plans for its implementation. See especially pages 4-7 of the study.

²See plans for Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, 1948, by Eero Saarinen and Dan Kiley, copy, JEFF historian's files. See also the original Architectural Competition for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Program, 1947, which states on page 13: "it seems not unreasonable to anticipate, however remotely, if river front cultural, educational, and recreational activities are developed to the extent hoped for by the Government, the City, and the Association, that the east bank of the Mississippi, in East St. Louis in the State of Illinois, which forms the landscape background of the River, will ultimately be incorporated in the Memorial . . . " The extension of the memorial to the east side of the river was mandated in the original architectural competition, and Saarinen and Kiley drew up plans which showed development on both sides of the river.

³Early plans for the east side of the river are detailed in East St. Louis Riverfront Suitability/Feasibility Analysis, 1970, p. 41, JEFF File D18.

⁴Development and Management Plan, pp. 4-7.

⁵Ibid.

⁶Ibid.

⁷Jefferson National Expansion Memorial — East St. Louis Extension Data Report, 1986, p. 21, JEFF File D18.

⁸Ibid., p. 22.

⁹Ibid.

¹⁰Suitability/Feasibility Analysis, 1970, p. 41.

¹¹See East St. Louis Suitability Study, JEFF, August, 1970, in the JNEM Archives, Record Unit 106, Box 35, Folder 21.

¹²East St. Louis Riverfront Master Plan/Draft Environmental Statement, JEFF, 1974; JEFF File D18.

¹³Letter from Manager, Denver Service Center (DSC) to Rep. Melvin Price, July 31, 1974; memo from Regional Director to Manager, DSC, August 6, 1974; letter from Associate Director, Legislation, to Price, October 4, 1974; memo from JEFF Superintendent LeRoy Brown to Regional Director, October 21, 1974; letter from Price to Regional Director, December 13, 1974, all File D18, JEFF.

¹⁴See the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 19 and 20, 1975; and Metro-East Journal, January 20, 1975. Price introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives on January 14, 1975, which authorized the Department of the Interior to enlarge JEFF by not more than 50 acres. On November 10 of that year, the Midwest Regional Office of the NPS opposed the bill due to constraints in staffing and funding, but at the same time citing the fact that the railroad tracks would have to be cleared from the area. The East-West Gateway Coordinating Council Task Force called upon the NPS to meet with St. Louisans before rejecting the idea; St. Louis Globe-Democrat, February 6, 1975. Newspaper articles referenced in this chapter may be found in the Newspaper Clippings File, JNEM Archives.

¹⁵Memo of phone call from Rep. Price's administrative assistant to the Executive Assistant to the Regional Director, January 20, 1975; memo to Programs File from Programs Officer, March 10, 1975; JEFF File D18.

¹⁶Special Study East Bank Extension of JEFF, NPS, 1975; memo from Associate Director to Regional Director, Midwest Region, January 15, 1975; memo from Regional Director to Associate Director, Legislation, November 10, 1975; all JEFF Files D18.

¹⁷Memo from Legislative Counsel to Deputy Assistant, Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, October 6, 1980; JEFF File D18.

¹⁸H.R. 6620, February 26, 1980, copy, JEFF File D18.

¹⁹"E. St. Louis riverfront redevelopment gets boost," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, February 7, 1983, pp. 1A and 8A; "Park Vision For Illinois Riverfront," St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial, February 13, 1983.

²⁰Interview with former Superintendent Jerry Schober, September 25, 1992, by JEFF Historian Bob Moore.

²¹"A dream across the river," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 6, 1983, p. 9A.

²²"East St. Louis museum study OK'd by Reagan," Belleville (Illinois) Democrat, November 6, 1983.

²³Draft Task Directive, Museum of American Culture and Anthropology, January 1984; copy, JEFF File D18.

²⁴"U.S. Agency Opposes Plan For Illinois Riverfront Park," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 15, 1983, pp. 1 and 9A; "Area officials go to bat for E. Side park," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, November 16, 1983.

²⁵Letter to Director, Office of Management and Budget, from Assistant Secretary of the Interior, July 11, 1984; Public Law 98-398, August 24, 1984, copy in File D18, JEFF. For more on the objections of the Department of the Interior and the Reagan Administration to the proposal, see "U.S. calls memorial expansion plan a scheme for urban renewal," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 13, 1984, p. 3A; and "Congress OKs Bill Expanding Arch Memorial To E. St. Louis," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 1, 1984, pp. 1 and 9A. For more on the signing ceremony, which took place in Chicago while President Reagan attended a convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, see "Reagan To Sign E. St. Louis Arch Expansion Bill," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. 4A.

²⁶JEFF Amendments Act of 1984, Public Law 98-398; see Appendix D of this administrative history.

²⁷Memo to Secretary of the Interior from Director, NPS, December 26, 1984. While plans moved forward on the Federal Commission, Illinois Governor James Thompson created his own "Riverfront Task Force" to work toward feasible plans for riverfront development. "The goal is to create in Illinois the same kind of dynamic economic growth we see in the St. Louis area," said Thompson. See "East St. Louis riverfront is focus of new task force," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 16, 1985, pp. 1A and 11A; "2-Part Push For East St. Louis Riverfront," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 16, 1985, pp. 1 and 4.

²⁸Midwest Region FY 86 Budget Briefing Statement, February 20, 1985, JEFF File D18.

²⁹JEFF Superintendent's Annual Report for 1985, p. 1; Superintendent's Annual Reports may be found in JEFF File A2621. "E. St. Louis Riverfront Park Gets Go-Ahead," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 22, 1985, p. 3A.

³⁰Memo from Supervisory Landscape Architect and Supervisory Historian, Northeast Team, DSC to Assistant Manager Midwest/Rocky Mountain Team, DSC, August 5, 1985, JEFF File D18.

³¹Interview with former Superintendent Jerry Schober, September 25, 1992.

³²"Land Freed For E. St. Louis Park," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 9, 1985, p. 7A; memo from Supervisory Landscape Architect and Supervisory Historian, Northeast Team, DSC to Assistant Manager Midwest/Rocky Mountain Team, DSC, August 5, 1985, JEFF File D18.

³³Trip Report from Supervisory Historian, Northeast Team, DSC, October 9, 1985, JEFF File D18.

³⁴Draft Task Directive, East St. Louis Development and Management Plan, October 1985, JEFF File D18.

³⁵Planning Issues and Options, Proposed East St. Louis Addition, August 1986; JNEM Commission Report, October 1986, both File D18, JEFF; the Commission's reports were similar to newsletters and were mailed to interested citizens in 1986 and 1987; see also "Taking dream across the river," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, November 27, 1985, p. 4A; "60-Acre Limit Is Sought For East St. Louis Park," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 29, 1986; "Memorial's expansion open to discussions," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 14, 1986, p. 18A; "People gather under the Arch to talk about expansion plan," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 15, 1986, p. 7A. In addition to the two public meetings of August 14, 1986 in St. Louis, and August 15, 1986 in East St. Louis, a booth was operated in the JEFF visitor center by the Commission to inform interested visitors about the proposed East Side expansion.

³⁶The final Development and Management Plan was not completed until August, 1987. See "Plan to extend Arch park delayed 1 year," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, June 12, 1986, p. 12A; "Arch Park Extension May Begin in 2 Years," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 12, 1986, p. 4B.

³⁷Planning Issues and Options, Proposed East St. Louis Addition, August 1986; JNEM Commission Report, October 1986, both File D18, JEFF.

³⁸Suitability Study for a Museum of American Culture and Anthropology, January 1987, JEFF File D18.

³⁹Memo to Members, JEFF Commission from DSC, March 8, 1987, JEFF File D18.

⁴⁰Development and Management Plan, 1987, pp. 15-16.

⁴¹Ibid.

⁴²Ibid., p. 19.

⁴³Trip Report from Section Chief, Branch of Planning, DSC, June 3, 1987; letter to Secretary of the Interior from JEFF Commission, September 16, 1987, JEFF File D18. Secretary of the Interior Donald Hodel was cautious about the plan during a visit to St. Louis on December 10, 1987. See "Hodel Cites Questions On E. St. Louis Park," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 11, 1987, p. 4C.

⁴⁴Letter from President, Gateway Center to Secretary of the Interior, February 23, 1988, JEFF File D18; "Plan to Expand Arch Park Grounds to Illinois Gets Twin Boost," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 23, 1988.

⁴⁵Letter to Secretary of the Interior Donald Hodel from Governor Thompson, April 20, 1988; JEFF File D18.

⁴⁶"Hodel Backs Park For East St. Louis," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 14, 1988; memo from NPS Director to Secretary of the Interior, June 17, 1988; letter from Secretary of the Interior to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, September 15, 1988, JEFF File D18; JEFF Superintendent's Annual Report for 1988, p. 1; News From Paul Simon, U.S. Senator, July 8, 1988, JEFF Historian's Files.

⁴⁷H.R. 2028, April 18, 1989, copy, JEFF File D18; JEFF Superintendent's Annual Report for 1989, p. 1.

⁴⁸ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 27, 1989; letter from Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan to Costello, August 17, 1989, JEFF File D18.

⁴⁹Memo from Executive Director to Chairman, SWIDA, May 4, 1990; Briefing Statement for Secretary of the Interior, April 12, 1990, both JEFF File D18; JEFF Superintendent's Annual Report for 1990, p. 4.

⁵⁰"Push Is On To Extend Arch Park," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 8, 1990, pp. 1 and 10A; and "Expand Park For Arch's 25th Birthday," editorial, July 10, 1990. The Collinsville Herald (Illinois) of July 12, 1990, expressed the opinion that the stalled project "would have proceeded long ago had it involved an area other than East St. Louis. Yet that beleaguered city will not see better days until it is viewed as an integral part of this metropolitan area, with its successes and failures helping and hurting all of us."

⁵¹JEFF Statement For Management, 1991-1992, pp. 12 and 30, JEFF File D18.

⁵²Letter from SWIDA Chairman Earl Lazeron to JEFF Superintendent Jerry Schober, November 1, 1990, JEFF File D18.

⁵³Interview with former Superintendent Jerry Schober, September 25, 1992.

⁵⁴"Costello ready with expansion bill," Belleville News-Democrat, July 15, 1991, p. 3; "Measure Seeks Extension Of Arch Park," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 18, 1991; "E. St. Louis Park Project OK'd," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 7, 1992; letter, Superintendent Gary W. Easton to Robert L. Page, College of Architecture and Design, Seaton Hall, Manhattan, Kansas, September 30, 1992, JEFF File D18. A copy of the east side legislation may be found in Appendix D of this administrative history.