Friday - October 28, 2005

Happy Birthday

October 28, 1965 ... the last piece was put in place and the Ninth Wonder Of The World was complete. Come to St. Louis and see it. It will take your breath away!

St. Louis’ Arch to Ring in 40th Year
(ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH)

Granted, St. Louis’ 630-foot stainless-steel monument to the can-do spirit of America’s pioneers gets its gleam from the inspired design of architect Eero Saarinen. So, in an obvious and very large way our riverfront marvel is Saarinen’s Arch. But the Arch also belongs to the math and engineering wizards who figured out how to build the one-of-a-kind structure. And to those sure-footed, no-fear ironworkers who stacked those two legs neatly into the sky, one triangular section at a time, until they were joined at the top on a crisp autumn morning — Oct. 28, 1965 — while a wide-eyed city watched from below.

Though the Gateway Arch quickly became one of the nation’s most recognizable symbols, it is still “Papa’s Arch” to the children and grandchildren of Bill Quigley, the crane operator who placed the final section that day. Quigley, who died in 2003, used to joke that if he had dropped that 10-ton section, everyone would have remembered his name, says his wife, Mary Ann Quigley of O’Fallon, Mo. Among the thousands of spectators gathered on the riverfront to watch the topping out was Wilfred Kuennen of St. Louis, a self-described “window superintendent” who never turned a bolt or welded a seam, but developed a connection to the Arch that is shared by the uncountable legions who observed the construction from their cars and downtown office buildings.

Kuennen kept a dedicated eye on the Arch-raising from the 17th floor of the old Pierce Building — now the Adams Mark Hotel — on Fourth Street. “As window superintendent, I could hardly wait for the topping date,” he says. Lucky schoolchildren by the busloads watched the big event on the riverfront, while thousands of others clustered around TVs in classrooms and gymnasiums, hoping to spot the time capsule - their personal link to the monument. The names of 762,000 St. Louis area students and well-wishers were hoisted into history along with that last keystone section. The signatory sheets were sealed in the metal time capsule that was welded into the keystone, and that’s where they will stay for as long as the monument stands.

The signatures were the idea of Edwynne P. Murphy, chairman of the Topping Out Committee, who clearly understood the concept of ownership. “Children, when they grow up and have their own families, will be able to point to the Arch and say their names are in it. Close association is important,” Murphy said at the time. Forty years later, those children are all grown up and telling their Arch stories, just as Murphy hoped they would.

Brian T. McGuire of St. Charles, who was a first-grader at Griffith Elementary School in Ferguson, recalls family drives on weekends to check on the building progress and signing his name for the Arch time capsule. “I was always fascinated by the awesome monument,” McGuire says.

- The Official Anniversary Web Site Is Here

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/28/2005 at 08:52 AM   
Filed Under: • Science-Technology •  
• Comments (11) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner