The District

Known as The District, downtown Columbia, Missouri, is a thriving, mixed-use district located adjacent to a major university and two local colleges. The District needed a plan to give identity to and help establish entryways into downtown. Arcturis was commissioned to develop a placemaking master plan that involved gateway designs and creative and artful means of neighborhood identity. Based on sound analysis, public involvement, and placemaking strategies, a resulting Master Plan developed a summary report which identifies the planning process and implementation strategy. Arcturis assisted with the creation of the landscape planning, sculptural assets, lighting design, and implementation of the plan.

As the overall project progressed, The District was looking to build a project that celebrated Columbia’s bicentennial. The Gateway Plaza was chosen as that project. The Gateway Plaza is positioned at the furthest west point of The District. Within the Gateway Plaza is a large sculpture that spells out COLUMBIA. The letter ‘O’ is built as a globe that celebrate the history and important milestones in the form of text or symbols. Other letters are simply built as their shape. As a gateway into The District, the plaza acts as a destination on its own for those who visit. The sculpture is meant to be walked through for the visitor to discover moments in Columbia’s history that are interpreted by etched stories on the letters.