【時報訊】隨著聖路易市市長Francis Slay的一聲令下，一排排圍牆應聲倒地，絢麗的噴泉噴出六尺高的水花。建築工人們辛苦搭建了15個月城市花園，今天終於有機會展示出它獨特的風采。
在此之前，籌畫城市花園的Gateway基金組成員十分擔心民眾對於這個花園的反映：這個獨一無二的城市花園會不會發揮它應有的作用？民眾們會不會到這裡來參觀和休息？為了保證城市花園的亮相儀式不會冷場，基金組成員們甚至在附近安置了一個冰淇淋車，希望能夠吸引更多的觀眾。然而，事實證明這些擔心完全是多餘的。在圍牆倒下後幾分鐘時間裡，大批的觀眾就已經彙聚在這個花園中。7月1日，即花園正式開放的第一天，參觀的遊客擠滿了整個花園。
城市花園的精美不僅讓市民們瞠目結舌，各方媒體也對其讚不絕口。7月1日的聖路易燈塔報頭版報導：“城市花園亮相Rave Review！”燈塔報記者Duffy寫道：“無論從哪個角度看，Gateway基金為聖路易地區所建設的城市花園都是一個巨大的成功。城市花園將各種自然元素與藝術、建築、智慧與品位有機結合在一起，使人們感受到置身天堂般的舒暢和美好。”
聖路易郵訊報的報導對於城市花園也是大加讚賞：“城市花園的建造，將一塊曾經荒涼的街區變成了市民們休閒娛樂的新去處。此外，對於熱衷於現代建築藝術的人們，這個雕塑花園的出現，更是一份令人驚喜的禮物。”
花園的閃亮登場同樣引起了美國國內各大媒體的關注：紐約時報在7月5日以一整頁的篇幅配以10多幅彩圖，報導了城市花園的開放。報導引用了聖路易市城市發展執行理事Barbara Geisman的話：“這應該是過去十幾年裡發生在downtown地區的最振奮人心的事！”
CITYGARDEN OPENS TO RAVE REVIEWS
On June 30, 2009, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, holding his cell phone aloft while standing at a podium on Ninth St. between Market and Chestnut, punched in seven digits. "Gentlemen," he told the man who answered-Paul McLeane of BSI Constructors-"start your fountains!"And to paraphrase Ronald Reagan, tear down that fence!"
Seconds later, water leapt six feet into the air from 102 nozzles implanted in a paved plaza behind the Mayor; at the same time, workmen began dismantling a cyclone fence that for the previous 15 months had surrounded two square blocks on the Gateway Mall.
And with that, Citygarden was officially dedicated and opened to the public.
The people who conceived, planned and paid for Citygarden-the board and staff of Gateway Foundation-were worried about what might happen next. Would the public respond? Would people visit the two-block attraction that had consumed their lives the previous three years? Would the public appreciate the fact that the City of St. Louis and Gateway Foundation had created a unique urban space in America-a completely open, accessible sculpture garden in the heart of a major city's downtown? Or would the place stand largely empty-not understood or enjoyed by the broad public for which it was intended?
To increase the odds that someone would show up, the foundation hired an ice cream truck to park at the garden the next day.
Talk about needless worry. Within minutes of the time the fence started disappearing, people began to stream onto the grounds. And by July 1, the first full day of operation, the garden was jammed.
"Citygarden opens to rave reviews-and much splashing," the St. Louis Beacon reported July 1. "Citygarden opens to an approving public," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch echoed the next day.
Since that time, the public's embrace of Citygarden has, if anything, grown tighter. From 6 in the morning until late in the evening every day, the garden has drawn a crowd-and an intriguing one, at that. The diverse nature of the garden's attractions has drawn a broad cross-section of the public, establishing the garden immediately as one of the best people-watching places in St. Louis. And the public reaction has been met by equally enthusiastic critical appraisals.
"By any measure, Gateway Foundation's most prominent contribution to theSt. Louis region is a triumph," the Beacon's Robert Duffy wrote in a lengthy critique. "" Citygarden is a syncretism of earth, stone, water, art, architecture, urban context, intelligence, restraint and taste; it is a paradisiacal place which has significant historic roots."
David Bonetti, the Post-Dispatch art critic, was equally flattering, writing: "Citygarden, the new sculpture park downtown on two formerly forlorn blocks of the Gateway Mall, should be a delight to lovers of modern and contemporary sculpture and those who just want to hang out in an urbane public park." The headline on Bonetti's piece: "New sculpture park downtown gets it right."
The garden has also drawn national media attention. The New York Times gave it a full page in its Sunday, July 5 Arts and Leisure section, with 10 color photos and a color rendering. After describing some of the efforts under way to revive St. Louis' downtown-the development of new lofts, a new bookstore and the new Schnucks grocery, Culinaria-The Times commented: "But perhaps the most original-and most onspicuous-step in the campaign is Citygarden, a 2.9 acre sculpture park that opened Wednesday on two blocks of the city's central corridor, known as the Gateway Mall."
"There are several development opportunities right in the vicinity, and as the economy recovers, I think Citygarden will make those sites a lot more attractive," the newspaper quoted Barbara Geisman, the City's executive director of development, as saying. "This is probably one of the best things that's happened downtown in the last couple of decades."
In other words, Citygarden has not only given downtown St. Louis-not known for its active, public spaces-one of the most chic public spaces in any American city; it has also created a major new destination attraction for St. Louisans and visitors alike. In just a few short months, it has also brought flattering attention to St. Louis from publications all over the country and the world.
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