St. Louis Gets $17 Million for Old Courthouse Restoration

The federal funding, announced today by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, will help restore the museum’s upper floor and exterior

Mar 21, 2024 at 5:02 pm

The Department of the Interior today announced $17 million in federal funding will be used to restore St. Louis' Old Courthouse. FLICKR/PAUL SABLEMAN

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland came to St. Louis today to announce new federal investments in the city’s national park. Overall, the city will see $17 million in new funding for the Gateway Arch National Park.

Haaland and Mayor Tishaura Jones Thursday afternoon unveiled the spending plan at Kiener Plaza.

The $17 million will be used in the restoration of the Old Courthouse, which is the site of the first two trials of the Dred Scott case in 1847 and 1850. The historic courthouse, which sits across the street from the Arch grounds and now operates as a museum, is currently closed for renovations, according to the National Park Service.

The funds will help restore the upper floors and exterior of the building, according to the release.

“At the completion of the project, the Old Courthouse will have improved accessibility that will allow more visitors to visit this historic place, modernized utilities that will improve the visitor experience, and new exhibits that will tell a fuller story of the Dred Scott case and its impacts on American history,” the department said.

The funds come from the Great American Outdoors Act, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Last month, the Interior Department also granted Missouri more than $5.8 million to help address abandoned mine lands, its release said. This is in addition to the $5.8 million the state received last year and will be used to “investigate, design and undertake reclamation projects and many of the currently inventoried abandoned mine land projects.”

“Earlier this year, the Department also provided Missouri $5 million to begin work assessing and inventorying thousands of orphaned oil and gas wells — including those with high methane emissions — and prioritize them for future plugging and remediation efforts,” according to the release. “The state is eligible to receive up to nearly $27 million in additional grant funding to continue that work.”