At the start of a new year, it’s always fun to look ahead to the future. And in 2018, the Gateway Arch’s future is looking pretty bright. As we continue to introduce new and improved ways to experience Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, we’re looking forward to sharing many more stories of our beloved city and its most iconic monument.

In case you didn’t know, here’s what’s on deck for the Arch in 2018:

• The museum and Visitor Center will officially open in July 2018.
• Once the new Visitor Center opens, you’ll no longer enter the Arch through its legs. Instead, you’ll walk through its new entrance that faces west toward the Old Courthouse and downtown St. Louis.
• If you like maps, you’re in luck: A gigantic floor map of the United States will be featured in the brand-new mezzanine area of the new Arch museum.
• Speaking of the renovated museum, it will feature six interactive exhibit galleries with themes focusing on Colonial St. Louis, Jefferson’s Vision, Manifest Destiny, Riverfront Era, New Frontiers, and the Building of the Gateway Arch.
• The museum also features a beautiful scale model of the Mississippi riverfront levee as it would have looked in 1852, and a reproduction of a traditional French log cabin colonial home from the 18^th century in St. Louis (in addition to other surprises you’ll just have to experience yourself)!
• A video wall, which chronicles the construction of the Arch, drastically changes the look of the Arch Visitor Center.
• Did we mention that the museum and Visitor Center opening will coincide with the return of Fair Saint Louis to the Arch grounds? In addition, the grounds will play host to even more community events next year and beyond.
• One more thing: Get ready for a more user-friendly www.gatewayarch.com, coming early next year.

2018, we’re ready for you!