Gateway Geyser
| Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park | |
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| Location | East St. Louis, Illinois, United States |
| Coordinates | 38°37′22″N 90°10′14″W / 38.62278°N 90.17056°WCoordinates: 38°37′22″N 90°10′14″W / 38.62278°N 90.17056°W |
| Area | 31.4 acres (12.7 ha) |
| Opened | 2009 |
| Parking | On site, south side. |
| Facilities | Gateway Arch viewpoint and Mississippi River Overlook; Gateway Geyser |
| Website | Metro East Park and Recreation District |
The Gateway Geyser is a fountain located in Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park, on the east side of the Mississippi River in East St. Louis, Illinois, directly across from the Gateway Arch and the city of St. Louis, Missouri. With its ability to lift water to heights as much as 630 feet (192 m), the Gateway Geyser is a counterpart to the equally tall St. Louis monument, and is visible from the west side of the river to the right of the prominent Cargill grain elevator. Four smaller fountains around the Geyser represent the four rivers which converge near the two cities: The Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, and Meramec. The park also includes an elevated viewing point overlooking the river.
Arch designer Eero Saarinen conceptualized a memorial touching both banks of the Mississippi River, but funding was not provided for the east side as the extensive Jefferson National Expansion Memorial took shape in St. Louis, of which the Arch is the most prominent element. One of the many supporters of the 1947 effort to fund that landmark was St. Louis attorney Malcolm W. Martin. After two decades without development on the Illinois side, Martin founded the Gateway Center of Metropolitan St. Louis to fund land acquisition for a park there, in 1968. He headed a federal committee in 1987 planning its design, and won an award for his work the following year.
Martin came home to St. Louis after graduating from Yale in 1933 to get his law degree from St. Louis City College of Law. He left for Europe in World War II and contributed to the Normandy D-Day invasion. Upon his second return to St. Louis, he became involved in many aspects of the community, including as a member of the St. Louis Board of Education and a founder of the area's PBS affiliate.
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