June 18, 2020Featured, Metro East, ParksComments Off on Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park, Home of the Gateway Geyser, Dedicated 15 Years Ago Today
It was 15 years ago today that the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park was formally dedicated.
The park overlook on December 10, 2010. Click image to see live webcam view.
The park is dedicated to the man who pushed for the creation of the Gateway Geyser more than 25 years ago:
The tallest water fountain in the United States and third tallest in the world, capable of rising to 630 feet, the Gateway Geyser began operating on May 27, 1995, helping to fulfill Malcolm W. Martin’s vision of creating a landmark along the Illinois riverfront that would complement the Gateway Arch. The Gateway Geyser was established with the help of the Gateway Center of Metropolitan St. Louis, a non-profit group founded by Malcolm, whose members raised $4 million in private donations to construct the geyser. (The park with a view)
Source: Metro East Park and Recreation DistrictJune 2015
It used to operate multiple times per day, but now only at noon — weather permitting, of course. The equipment is aging.
The Gateway Geyser is typically accompanied by four smaller fountains around the perimeter of the pond. These fountains are not expected to come back online until the 2020 season. Why? The pump is being rebuilt. This repair does not affect the operation of the Gateway Geyser. Sorry for any inconvenience.
This park is one of my favorite spaces in the the region, a reason why my husband and I got married here just over 6 years ago this month.
I’m the shorter one on the left, photo taken while our friend Dionna Raedeke sang ‘The Very Thought of You’
Another reason we picked this park, located in East St. Louis Illinois, for our wedding is we still couldn’t legally get married in Missouri — but Missouri is in all our photos anyway!
Now that wheelchair access to the west end of the Eads Bridge has been fixed, I can visit this park more often.
Saturday was my 5th wedding anniversary, we spent the weekend in Chicago to celebrate. At the time we got married Missouri recognized same sex marriages performed in other states, but we couldn’t get legally married in Missouri. No problem, we just borrowed the St. Louis skyline as the backdrop. We had a great day and our wedding was inexpensive thanks to borrowed audio equipment and dear friends volunteering to help. A beautiful wedding need not cost a fortune.
Our wedding was held at 9am at the Malcolm Martin Memorial Park in East St. Louis, Illinois — one of our favorite places.
We posed for a selfie with friend/officiate Chris Reimer (center) during the ceremony.
“People are like cities: We all have alleys and gardens and secret rooftops and places where daisies sprout between the sidewalk cracks, but most of the time all we let each other see is is a postcard glimpse of a skyline or a polished square. Love lets you find those hidden places in another person, even the ones they didn’t know were there, even the ones they wouldn’t have thought to call beautiful themselves.”
Friend Jesanka French read a poem she adopted from Edward Monkton’s Lovely Love StoryFriend Dionna Raedeke sang ‘The Very Thought of You’Here we’re smiling in the back seat of a new friend’s Tesla. She drove us carbon-free from the wedding in East St. Louis to the brunch reception in South St. LouisArrived at Bevo Mill
Our guests paid for their own brunch. In the 5 years since our wedding the building was purchased, renovated, reopened as Das Bevo, then closed except for special events. Plans to have a few guest rooms upstairs never materialized, we’d hope to spend the night there on our 5th anniversary.
It amazes me how quickly times goes by. I’ve lived in St. Louis almost 29 years, this is the 15th year of this blog, it has been over 11 years since my stroke. And something I never thought possible when I was younger — I’ve been legally married for 5 years! Speaking of time passing by quickly, today is my oldest brother’s 69th birthday.
So many great memories of our wedding day, thanks to our friends & family for attending & helping.
June 18, 2015Featured, Metro East, ParksComments Off on Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park Dedicated 10 Years Ago Today
Today is the 10th anniversary of one of my favorite parks in the region:
On June 7th, 2005, Gateway Center of Metropolitan St. Louis transferred title of the Gateway Geyser and the 34.1 acres of grounds, known as the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park, to Metro East Park and Recreation District (MEPRD). The Gateway Center had worked tirelessly for 40 years to protect the property from commercial development and with the transfer, was entrusting MEPRD with the task of bringing to life the dream of their founder and benefactor, Malcolm W. Martin, to transform the property into a true memorial park complementing the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and Gateway Arch directly across the Mississippi River. On June 18th, 2005, the park was officially dedicated as the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park, in honor of the man whose passion, dedication and generosity made the project possible. (Metro East Parks & Recreation District)
The Gateway Geyser began operating a decade earlier, on May 27, 1995.
One of my best photos at Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park was taken at 12:51pm on December 10, 2010. The overlook, left, gives you great views across the Mississippi River.Malcolm W. Martin at the top of the overlook.esl gateway geyserHundreds gathered at Malcolm Martin Memorial Park in East St. Louis IL to watch the St. Louis fireworks on July 4th, 2011I introduced David to this park while we were engaged, We held our wedding here on Sunday June 8th 2014, officiated by our friend Chris Reimer.
If you’ve never experienced this park I highly recommend a visit. Driving there isn’t the easiest, but there is parking once you arrive. The better way from downtown St. Louis wold be to walk or bike across the Eads Bridge. From Missouri or Illinois take MetroLink to the East Riverfront station then go south of the grain elevator.
April 15th through October 15th Daily eruptions (each 10-minutes) at noon, 3PM, and 6PM Each eruption is dependent on current wind and weather conditions.
Less than 5 years until the 25th anniversary of the geyser!
June 8, 2015Featured, Metro East, TravelComments Off on Day Trip To Atlanta For First Anniversary
Today is my wedding anniversary — my first ever. When I finally acknowledged to myself, at age 16, that I was gay, the idea of marrying a man 30+ years later never entered my mind. Thankfully the political & social landscape has changed a lot since then!
David and I exchanging our vows on Sunday June 8 2014, officiated by our friend Chris Reimer. The location was the Malcolm Martin Memorial Park in East St. Louis, IL Click image for information on Reimer’s new book “Happy Work”
To celebrate we decided to visit Atlanta…Illinois, not Georgia. First we visited his family in Springfield IL, then we headed north to Atlanta. This small town on the old Route 66 was incorporated in 1853.
We had lunch at the Palm Grill Cafe, which opened in 1934 to serve travelers on Route 66. In 1947 a bypass sent Route 66 traffic around the East edge of town. The Palm Grill closed in the late 60s.It reopened in 2009, helping boost the town’s sales tax revenue. People from 50+ countries have signed their guest book! Click image to see video from 4 years after reopening.This symbolizes what they’ve done: the new iPad-based register sits next to a vintage register.Next door we visited the Route 66 Arcade Museum, featuring arcade games from the 1930s-1980.Across the street we checked out their Route 66 Park.From inside the park. No building was razed for the park, the wood shed that has been on the site since the mid 19th century remains.
We decided to save the tour of the wood J. H. Hawes Grain Elevator Museum and other sites for our next visit. After Atlanta we drove 5 minutes North on the old Route 66 to the smaller town of McLean IL, incorporated 13 years later. We’d actually been to McLean before — the truck stop right off I-55 is where Megabus stops to/from Chicago.
The toen square is technically s triangle because of the design of the street grid & railroadA magnificent Secind Empire house near the town square.These buildings face the square 00 love the corner building with the peaked clay tile roof.Our destination was Arcadia.This arcade features games from 1980-2000, click image for website
These towns sprang up in the 19th century because of the railroad, which has me curious about how the railroads got their right-of-way. I also find the street patterns in these towns — in relation to the railroad — interesting.
The design of the original town of McLean remains almost unaltered to this day from the original plans. The design was similar to other places along the Alton and Springfield Railroad including Normal, Towanda, Odell, and Dwight. The original town was basically a square with streets aligned north-south and east-west, split diagonally by the railroad with a line of lots paralleling either side of the tracks.
As in other towns along the same railroad, there was a widened rectangular area paralleling the tracks labeled “Depot Grounds.” In the case of McLean, the Depot Grounds were laid out only on the southeast side of the railroad. The triangle of land on the northwest side, between the lots paralleling the railroad and remainder of the town, was designated as a public property and is still used as a park. The comparable triangle on the opposite side of the tracks was unlabeled and its intended use is unclear. This same arrangement of public land was followed at the town of Towanda.
Mclean was distinctive in that there were no streets between the diagonal line of lots along the tracks.Perhaps because of this, much of the business district developed along Morgan Street, which ran east-west just north of the park, or along Hamilton Street, which ran north-south, just west of the park. The line of lots paralleling the tracks and southeast of the railroad became the location of the hotel and the town jail. Later additions on the east side of the town featured additional lots which parallel the railroad as well as more conventional blocks (Wikipedia)
Interstate 55 in this area opened in 1977, making the remaining Route 66 a by-road. We had a great day exploring Illinois, eating good food, and playing video games — a perfect way to celebrate our first anniversary!
One of the best views of St. Louis fireworks isn’t in St. Louis at all, but in East St. Louis across the Mississippi River.
ABOVE: Hundreds watched gathered on the 4th in the Malcolm Martin Memorial Park in East St. Louis IL to watch the St. Louis fireworks.ABOVE: Fireworks on the 4th with the Arch and St. Louis skyline in the background. Taken with an iPhone 4S.
For more information on Malcolm Martin Memorial Park click here.
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