The Gateway Geyser Is Shutting Down

The East St. Louis companion to the Gateway Arch was the tallest water fountain in the U.S.

Feb 21, 2024 at 10:13 am

Thar she blew: the Gateway Geyser was the tallest water fountain in the U.S., but kind of looked like a water main break. FLICKR/PAUL SABLEMAN

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It’s the end of an era on the east side of the Mississippi River.

For almost 30 years, the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park, which sits right across the river from the Arch, has hosted the Gateway Geyser. During the warmer months of the year, every day at noon, the geyser shoots a stream of water 630 feet into the air. For 10 minutes the curved shape of the spray’s rise and fall formed an ephemeral companion to St. Louis’ signature landmark. It was really, really cool.

But alas, as the park says in a statement recently posted to their website, all good things must come to an end.

“Nearly 30 years of wear and tear has certainly taken a toll on the geyser’s pond liner, pumps, generators and infrastructure; really no different than if your daily driver was a 30-year-old vehicle,” the park’s statement says.

Additionally, the park says that the intrinsic coolness (our words) of running the country’s tallest fountain is now outweighed “by fiscal due diligence, environmental impacts, and the prioritization of other important goals and objectives.”

The National Park Service has long expressed an interest in acquiring the park, the statement says, but had “major reservations” about the geyser. (They already have one in Wyoming.)

The park’s statement says the geyser was “clearly incompatible with the mission and story behind the Gateway Arch being a memorial to the Westward Expansion of the United States.” It says, “The removal of the geyser will not only alleviate that concern for the National Park Service but will allow space for potential future developments and make way for the new Illinois Route 3 which will be directly adjacent to where the geyser once operated.”

To our mind, the geyser was the perfect companion piece to the Arch. Even so, the true gem of the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park is the observation deck at its southwest corner abutting the river.

You could call the switchback ramps of the observation deck something of a “stairway to nowhere,” except that once you’re at the top you’re greeted by a terrific view of St. Louis’ skyline. Perhaps the best such view in town.

And fortunately, though the geyser will geys no more, the park itself — and its the magnificent view it affords — remains. That’s a good thing that we hope never comes to an end.