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At
the turn of the twentieth century when plans were first laid for developing
St Louis's Forest Park into the
biggest and best fair the world has ever seen, there there were those who disagreed with the
site or who did not cooperate with its planners. Many citizens of the area
decried the destruction of the many trees that would have to give way to the
large palaces that would be built or be used in their construction.
The Palace
of Varied Industries alone which was to cover fourteen acres and use up seven
million board feet of lumber gives just a glimpse of the staggering scale
of the entire project. Moreover, the original tract of 657 acres to become
the Fairgrounds was only around half the acreage that David Francis and his
Director of Works, Isaac Taylor, were hoping for. Acquiring 110 acres through
a lease arrangement with Washington University gave their project a boost.
But their attempts to acquire adjacent lands to this Western 657 acre
portion of the fairgrounds wound up getting the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Company in court with the non cooperative landowners. But after the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition Company successfully dealt with those refusing to sell,
other problems emerged.
One
of the most perplexing was the one posed by the River Des Peres. Wherever
the expositions planners wanted to construct a palace it seemed the River
Des Peres meandered. And the river flooded, something that could not be
allowed once |
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construction of the palaces
got underway.
The solution in theory would
be simple. The engineers would just create a different channel for the water
to flow through and this channel would be underground , beneath the feet of
future fair goers. Work started on the project during the winter at a time
when the ground was frozen solid. Later, when the ground started to thaw,
shifting forces threatened the stability of the 14 foot channel's walls, a
condition that could have cost the lives of workmen digging the channel.
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By
the middle of 1902 a new channel had been created and the land
required for the entire project's completion had been acquired.
The construction of the enormous palaces got underway.
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The Saint Louis
Art Museum---then (1904) and now |
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