The Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis will soon receive $17 million in funding from the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act to upgrade the interior of the historic Old Courthouse.
The move was announced Thursday by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who visited the state to talk about infrastructure, legacy pollution cleanup and other investments in Missouri. GAOA provides investments for sustaining public lands in the U.S. and Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools. It also established the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to address overdue maintenance needs.
Haaland, along with St. Louis Mayor Tishuara Jones, and Superintendent of Gateway Arch National Park Jeremy Sweat, stood outside the Old Courthouse in front of the Arch on a windy Thursday afternoon at Kiener Plaza. Haaland and Jones highlighted the historic significance of the courthouse — the site of the first two trials of the pivotal Dred and Harriet Scott cases in 1847 and 1850. It’s also where Virginia Minor’s case for women’s right to vote came to trial in the 1870s.
But the Scotts were only two of more than 300 enslaved people who sued for their freedom during that time, Jones pointed out.
“The preservation of the Old Courthouse reminds us that the stain of slavery and the struggle for civil rights is not distant history,” Jones said. “That struggle continues today. Preservation of this building will allow not just students, but people from every background across our city and our nation to understand our shared American history.”
Haaland said restoration of the Old Courthouse will include refurbishing the upper floors and exterior of the building.
“When this project is complete, the old courthouse will have improved accessibility that will allow increased visitation to this historic place, modernized utilities that will improve the experiences and new exhibits that will tell an even clearer story of the Dred Scott case and its impact on American history,” Haaland said.
For decades, critical infrastructure improvements at the Gateway Arch and other national parks across America have not gotten the attention they deserved, she added. This leads to deteriorating structures that inhibit how guests experience walkways, parking lots and restrooms, she said.
Haaland was a champion of the Great American Outdoors Act, which was signed into law in 2020 by then-President Donald Trump. The act drives investments in improving visitor experiences, bolstering climate resilience and boosting the economy by creating good-paying jobs, she said.
“I’ve traveled across the country to see how these investments are having a real impact on visitors, wildlife and local economies,” Haaland said. “Improving visitor safety, repaving roads, protecting historic structures and safeguarding against the impacts of the climate crisis are ways that GAOA is being felt in every corner of America.”
This is one of several ways the department is investing in visitor experience and increasing access for communities in St. Louis.
More funding
Missouri received $5 million earlier this year to begin assessing and inventorying thousands of orphaned oil and gas wells, which includes those with high methane emissions. The state is also eligible to receive up to nearly $27 million in additional grant funding to continue that work.
In Illinois, Great Rivers Greenway was recently awarded nearly $1 million to upgrade the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge Park.
Last month, the department granted Missouri more than $5.8 million to address abandoned mine lands, which is in addition to the more than $5.8 million the state received last year. State leaders are tasked with investigating, designing and undertaking reclamation projects.
Haaland said she witnessed the largest open pit uranium mine in the world in her hometown of the Pueblo of Laguna, which lasted for about 30 years. She said the mine shifted the economy from barter to cash, but the reverberation from pollution caused by the mine is still being felt today.
“So the work that we’re doing with abandoned mine lands and orphan gas wells is essentially healing our country from this legacy pollution, healing our country from the sins of the past,” Haaland said.
Haaland is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna tribe and a 35th-generation New Mexican. She made history when she became the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary in March 2021. Haaland also visited Springfield, Illinois, this week and hosted a roundtable with political and community leaders regarding investments from President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda.
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