Riverfront Developments Face Obstacles, Mississippi May Be Biggest
Date Posted: February 16, 2023
Posted In: News, Projects,
From Saint Louis Public Radio: Ideas for development along parts of the St. Louis riverfront have become more common in recent years.
From the scores of proposals, two projects are now moving forward after receiving approvals from the St. Louis Port Authority and tax incentives from the city’s Board of Aldermen.
Developers of Lighthouse Point plan to build a $325 million marina and entertainment district near the northernmost tip of St. Louis. The $1.2 billion Gateway South project would redevelop a legacy industrial area south of the Arch into a construction and design innovation district.
The surge of interest in development along the Mississippi riverfront is something Colin Wellenkamp first noticed picking up steam around 2005. He’s the executive director of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative and said the 2,500-mile river has had many identities over the decades.
“I’ve watched it take on different characteristics from a liability to something that you just don’t go near because it’s dangerous or polluted, to the renaissance that it is going through right now,” Wellenkamp said.
There’s new enthusiasm for projects that promote the Mississippi’s natural assets and expand capacity for transportation, ecotourism and restoration, he said. But this renewed interest also comes at a time when the river itself is seeing massive fluctuations in its level on a regular basis, Wellenkamp said.
“Now the events are stacking up very close together,” he said. “And it’s either feast or famine. It’s either massive flood or what we just went through this fall, a record drought.”