Luther Ely Smith Square Flagpole Will Replace Flag on Top of Old Courthouse Dome
The morning of the Arch’s 50th celebration I posted a photo of the Arch and new flagpole along 4th Street to social media, I was surprised by a couple of negative reactions to the flagpole. What they might not have known was this new permanent flagpole will replace the Stars & Bars that has been flown from the top of the Old Courthouse’s dome.
Not sure if the flagpole atop the Old Courthouse will be removed, or if it’ll remain.
— Steve Patterson
I was very confused at first what a square flagpole would look like.
My grandpa, Leon Newman, a union sheet metal worker in St. Louis, was also an acrobat. He was hired to climb up on top of that Old Courthouse dome in the 1920s and paint the round knob.
I really don’t have a dog in the hunt, since I no longer live in St Louis, but in my opinion there are only a few symbols which truly represent the principles of freedom and democracy that our nation upholds–American unity, common purpose, and a future brim-filled with optimism and confidence. The American flag is one of those symbols.
When I first viewed the St Louis arch on a senior high school trip to St Louis in August 2000, I was impressed with the simplicity of Eero Saarinen’s presentation, especially as it was viewed from a distance. It stood there as a rather humble yet very bold structure, uncomplicated and uncluttered. Besides the Arch, all that was seen, when viewed from the St Louis elevation, was open sky.
I wonder if by inserting the captivating and alluring American flag into the composite, we are somehow compromising Eero Saarinen’s original vision, and if doing so will somehow diminish the purity and honesty of the design and compromise his original design intent.
Move that flagpole. Your first picture demonstrates how that flag pole turns photos of the Arch into enormous butt cheek shots.
What a stupid decision, keep the views unobstructed, clean and simple.