People Archives | Gateway Arch https://www.gatewayarch.com/category/people/ Gateway Arch Thu, 14 Oct 2021 20:59:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 We Love Our Visitors! https://www.gatewayarch.com/we-love-our-visitors/ Fri, 08 Oct 2021 20:26:43 +0000 https://www.gatewayarch.com/?p=21731 We love seeing pictures and videos of your visits to Gateway Arch National Park — here are just a few of our recent favorites. Keep […]

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]]> We love seeing pictures and videos of your visits to Gateway Arch National Park — here are just a few of our recent favorites.

Keep sharing your pictures with us! Be sure to tag us on Instagram @gatewayarchstl, use #gatewayarch or #seedifferently, and location tag “Gateway Arch National Park.”  Happy snapping!

 

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]]> Volunteer at Gateway Arch National Park! https://www.gatewayarch.com/volunteer-at-gateway-arch-national-park/ Thu, 01 Apr 2021 21:32:36 +0000 https://www.gatewayarch.com/?p=20475 April is National Volunteer Month! If you are looking to get involved this year, look no further than Gateway Arch National Park. Here’s how you […]

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]]> April is National Volunteer Month! If you are looking to get involved this year, look no further than Gateway Arch National Park. Here’s how you can get make a positive impact and support St. Louis’ urban national park!

The Gateway Arch Park Foundation and the National Park Service recruit individual volunteers on an as-needed basis. Individual service volunteers work with both organizations in the following departments:

Gateway Arch Park Foundation

  • Operations
  • Communication
  • Development
  • Events

Gateway Arch National Park

  • Administration
  • Education and Interpretation
  • Library and Museum
  • Grounds Keeping
  • Visitor Services

Volunteer opportunities are also available on designated days of service, which demonstrate and celebrate the power of volunteers working together to support neighborhoods, communities and the world. The National Park Service participates in national and local days of service to help preserve the national park for years to come, including National Public Lands Day (September), National Park Week (April), National Volunteer Week (April) and Family Volunteer Day (November).

Volunteering also has its perks, including an annual general membership to the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, free parking during volunteer hours, and more!

If you are interested in volunteering at Gateway Arch National Park, the Gateway Arch Park Foundation’s volunteer page on their website will help you get started.

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]]> The Invention of the Tram Ride to the Top https://www.gatewayarch.com/the-invention-of-the-tram-ride-to-the-top/ Thu, 11 Feb 2021 19:40:28 +0000 https://www.gatewayarch.com/?p=20022 What do you get when you combine the engineering of an elevator and Ferris Wheel? The Gateway Arch’s Tram Ride to the Top, one of […]

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]]> What do you get when you combine the engineering of an elevator and Ferris Wheel? The Gateway Arch’s Tram Ride to the Top, one of the most unique experiences in the world. There is truly nothing else like it.

Did you know the inventor of the tram ride, second-generation elevator man (and college dropout!) Dick Bowser, had only two weeks to create the design?

Here’s how it happened: Bowser and his father had developed, manufactured and installed Bowser Parking System elevator equipment. According to Bowser himself, these elevators could travel horizontally and diagonally through a structure as well as the normal vertical travel. By luck, Bowser was visiting a friend at the Montgomery Elevator Company offices in Moline, Illinois, one day in 1960. The company had just been contacted by Gateway Arch architect Eero Saarinen’s office. They were looking for a firm to take on a “transporter” project for the Arch. The friend was aware of Bowser’s skill within the elevator realm, and knew he was the right guy for the project.

A month (and more back and forths) later, Saarinen requested a presentation from Bowser — and they needed it within two weeks. The task? They wanted to build an elevator of sorts to transport visitors to the top of the Arch. As far as criteria goes, the design could not impact the exterior of the Arch, and it had to transport up to 11,000 people in a 14-hour day.

After much planning and thought, Bowser knew a standard elevator, escalator or even a Ferris Wheel type was not going to work. But a combination of elevator and Ferris Wheel principles, he deemed, would be the solution.

Two weeks later, Bowser presented his concept of the tram ride to Saarinen and his team, as well as St. Louis congressmen, the mayors of St. Louis and East St. Louis, the director of the National Park Service and many others. He nailed the presentation. A few weeks later, he was under contract to design the Tram Ride to the Top. The project took six years and was completed in 1967.

What makes the tram ride so unique? You could say the eight tram cars (or “pods” as some visitors refer them to) that can hold up to five visitors at a time are unique in themselves. But a defining feature of the ride is the series of clicks visitors hear as they ride to the top. The clicks are the cars rotating along the track. The rotation allows the cars (and visitors inside) to remain level the entire way to the top.

The next time you take a Tram Ride to the Top, take a moment to appreciate Bowser’s innovative vision and creativity, and be inspired by his sheer determination in inventing this modern transportation system.

Historical information from nps.gov/jeff

Image of Dick Bowser courtesy of the National Park Service

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]]> Arch-You Glad for Arch Pictures? https://www.gatewayarch.com/the-arch-this-year/ Tue, 29 Dec 2020 18:34:43 +0000 https://www.gatewayarch.com/?p=19806 While 2020 was busy happening, you all were busy taking the most magnificent photos of our favorite (and most photogenic!) monument. Here are a few […]

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]]> While 2020 was busy happening, you all were busy taking the most magnificent photos of our favorite (and most photogenic!) monument. Here are a few we loved this year. Your New Year’s Resolution: Keep snapping those Arch pics, and tag us @gateawayarchstl with #GatewayArch or #SeeDifferently.

 

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