The Kiener Plaza splash pad is open for the season again, and for the first time after the COVID-19 pandemic started early last year.
The 1.9-acre park at 500 Chestnut St. in downtown St. Louis is free and open for St. Louisans and out-of-towners to use, along with their children. It reopened May 28 when the splash pad was turned on at 7 a.m., just in time for those warm summer days in St. Louis.
The park in St. Louis city features paths around garden beds filled with Missouri native plants, a lawn that can accommodate a variety of events, a bicycle parking grove, a bistro area with café tables and chairs, benches, a fountain garden with a splash pad, a children’s play garden and “The Runner” statue.
Construction is currently taking place on the northeast side of the plaza for a new Visitor Services & Maintenance Building that will include a workspace for on-site security and provide storage and support space for events and maintenance. The project is a collaboration between Gateway Arch Park Foundation, Great Rivers Greenway, Explore St. Louis and Jefferson National Parks Association. Work on the new building is expected to be completed by fall 2021.
The splash pad features hundreds of nozzles that shoot water up at varying heights, providing an urban oasis for visiting children.
The pool and fountain in the center of the park containing “The Runner” statute was turned on for the season first. The statue honors the park’s namesake Harry Kiener, a USA Track and Field national team member who competed at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis and eventually became a steel company executive and philanthropist.
Gateway Arch Park Foundation is a nonprofit organization with a mission to ensure the Gateway Arch, its grounds, neighboring public space, and attractions are a vital, active, welcoming, well-supported resource to the community and nation for generations to come. The Foundation is part of an alliance that helps meet this mission, which includes the National Park Service, Bi-State Development, Great Rivers Greenway, Jefferson National Parks Association, and the City of St. Louis. For more information, visit www.ArchPark.org.
Great Rivers Greenway is a public agency, created by a vote of the people in St. Louis City, St. Louis County and St. Charles County. Their mission is to make the St. Louis region a more vibrant place to live, work and play by developing a regional network of greenways. The agency collaborates with partners and communities to build, care for and bring to life your network of greenways, creating healthy habitats and watersheds along the way. There are 128 miles of greenways and counting to explore and enjoy: www.GreatRiversGreenway.org.
