Civil Courts Building

The Civil Courts Building serves the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri in St. Louis. Its pyramid-shaped roof, modeled after the ancient Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, appears centered in many Gateway Arch photos taken from Illinois, as the building sits directly behind the Old Courthouse on Memorial Plaza. Voters approved an $87 million bond in 1923 to fund the Plaza and its monumental structures, including Kiel Auditorium and the Municipal Services Building, as part of the City Beautiful plan. The Civil Courts Building replaced the Old Courthouse, leading Auguste Chouteau’s descendants to sue unsuccessfully to reclaim the older building, which was supposed to remain the courthouse. The roof is cast aluminum, topped by two 12-foot sphinx-like figures with fleur-de-lis on their chests, sculpted by Cleveland’s Steven A. Rebeck. The facade features 32 Ionic columns of Indiana limestone, each about 42 feet tall and 5.5 feet in diameter, with six fluted drums and a cap. Some architectural elements removed during renovations now reside at the National Building Arts Center in Sauget, Illinois. Since 2012, the building has been lit for PrideFest, including a rotating rainbow pattern on its columns and, in 2016, 49 purple lights honoring the Orlando nightclub shooting victims.