Examining the Gateway Mall Master Plan

The Gateway Mall Master Plan 2009 sets the framework for the revitalization of the Gateway Mall. The plan is primarily an urban design framework and landscape architecture plan, with the primary focus being around the use and access of spaces and their design. It is assumed that this would have been the result of the project brief, as the reasons for the failure of the Mall go far beyond mere use and design components – something that the plan fully acknowledges.

Unlike Downtown Next, this plan was consultant driven so an analysis must consider not only the content of the plan, but also the wishes of the client. Who the client is, in this case, is somewhat unclear, as the project was funded by the Gateway Foundation and delivered to the City of St. Louis Planning & Design Agency. Still, it is established that the civic leaders refuse to consider allowing the Mall for commercial/residential development, so the consultants certainly wouldn’t have been able to offer up those types of suggestions.

While addressed, policy issues regarding street vendors, event applications, monitoring and policing, and other issues that affect the mall are not given a robust exploration. Only a few paragraphs address these issues in the implementation section. It is thus assumed that this was beyond the scope of the brief as well – despite being frequently cited as a major issue. This in itself is quite frustrating because there is little reason to pay someone $450,000 (the reported cost of the study) to tell you what you want to hear. It would have been ideal to see a section in the plan about the project brief they were given to measure how they responded to it, but alas.