The Civil Courts Building is a landmark court building used by the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. The building with its pyramid shaped roof is prominently featured in the center of photos of the

Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Some sources conside ...

from the Illinois side as its location on the Memorial Plaza is lined up in the middle directly behind the Old Courthouse. The building was part of an $87 million bond issue ratified by voters in 1923 to build monumental buildings along the Memorial Plaza which also included

Kiel Auditorium Kiel Auditorium was an indoor arena located in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the home of the St. Louis University basketball team and hosted the NBA's St. Louis Hawks, from 1955 to 1968. The site was home to Charles H. Turpin's Booker T. Wash ...

and the Municipal Services Building. The Plaza and the buildings were part of St. Louis's

City Beautiful The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...

plan. It replaced the Old Courthouse as the city's court building and its construction prompted the descendants of the founding father

Auguste Chouteau René-Auguste Chouteau, Jr. (September 7, 1749, or September 26, 1750 – February 24, 1829Beckwith, 8.), also known as Auguste Chouteau, was the founder of St. Louis, Missouri, a successful fur trader and a politician. He and his partner had a mo ...

to unsuccessfully sue the city to get the Old Courthouse back since the stipulation was that it was to always be the courthouse. The pyramid roof on the top was designed to resemble the

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus or Tomb of Mausolus ( grc, Μαυσωλεῖον τῆς Ἁλικαρνασσοῦ; tr, Halikarnas Mozolesi) was a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC in Halicarnassus (present Bodrum, Turkey) for Mausolus, an ...

which was one of the

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as the Seven Wonders of the World or simply the Seven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present during classical antiquity. The first known list of seven wonders dates back to the 2 ...

. It features 32

Ionic column The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

s. Each of the columns have 6 fluted drums, and a cap, and are about high, feet in diameter. They are made of

Indiana limestone Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...

. The roof is made of cast aluminum and is topped by two high sphinx-like structures with the fleur-de-lis of St. Louis adorned on the chests. These sphinx-like creatures were sculpted by Cleveland sculptor, Steven A. Rebeck. Some architectural elements from the building have been removed in renovations and taken to the

Sauget, Illinois Sauget ( ) is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. It is part of Greater St. Louis. The population was 141 at the 2020 census, down from 159 in 2010. Geography Sauget is located at (38.587013, -90.166690). According to the ...

storage site of the

National Building Arts Center The National Building Arts Center (NBAC) is a large collection of significant architectural, structural, and industrial items saved before these elements from the built environment are demolished. It is the physical collection of the St. Louis Bui ...

. During

St. Louis PrideFest PrideFest St. Louis is an annual LGBT pride event in St. Louis, Missouri. The event is organized by Pride St. Louis, an LGBT non-profit organization in the Greater St. Louis area. Overview PrideFest St. Louis began in 1980 as the ''St. Louis G ...

, the building has lit its columns up in a rotating rainbow pattern. In 2016, the top of the building lit up with 49 purple lights to show solidarity to the victims in the

Orlando nightclub shooting On , 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man, killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. Orlando Police officers shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff. In a 9- ...

. The tradition of Pride started in 2012, when the building was first lit up.

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1930 Courthouses in Missouri Skyscraper office buildings in St. Louis Downtown St. Louis Buildings and structures in St. Louis 1930 establishments in Missouri