Editing Gateway Arch (section)

===Topping out and dedication===
[[File:Gateway Arch Plaque.jpg|thumb|The dedication plaque]]
President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] and Mayor [[Alfonso J. Cervantes]] decided on a date for the topping-out ceremony, but the arch had not been completed by then. The ceremony date was reset to October 17, 1965; workers strained to meet the deadline, taking double shifts, but by October 17, the arch was still not complete. The chairman of the ceremony anticipated the ceremony to be held on October 30, a Saturday, to allow 1,500 schoolchildren, whose signatures were to be placed in a time capsule, to attend. Ultimately, PDM set the ceremony date to October 28.<ref name="Corrigan"/>

The time capsule, containing the signatures of 762,000 students and others, was welded into the [[Keystone (architecture)|keystone]] before the final piece was set in place.<ref name="Leonard">{{cite news |url=http://more.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/gatewayarch.nsf/0/debc4c57af47bb18862570a000118e67 |title=Wow! At 40, shining Arch still is beacon to visitors |last=Leonard |first=Mary Delach |date=October 19, 2005 |newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |access-date=December 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5uyos5oDb?url=http://more.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/gatewayarch.nsf/0/debc4c57af47bb18862570a000118e67 |archive-date=December 14, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On October 28, the arch was [[topping out|topped out]] as then [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Hubert Humphrey]] observed from a helicopter.<ref name="Bryant"/> A Catholic priest and a rabbi prayed over the keystone,<ref name="Duffy">{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0FF768D6E1A3AE98/0D7C12F5A8A2A86A |title=Gateway Arch Is a Monument to Smith's Good Idea, Saarinen's Design |last=Duffy |first=Robert W. |date=December 14, 2003 |newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |page=30 |access-date=January 7, 2011 |issn=1930-9600 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707221028/http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&p_product=AWNB&p_text_direct-0=document_id%3D%28%200FF768D6E1A3AE98%20%29&p_docid=0FF768D6E1A3AE98&p_theme=aggdocs&p_queryname=0FF768D6E1A3AE98&f_openurl=yes&p |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> a {{convert|10|ST|t|adj=on}}, {{convert|8|ft|m|adj=mid|-long|spell=in}} triangular section.<ref name="Courant">{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/923570112.html?dids=923570112:923570112&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=Completion of Gateway Arch Hailed |date=October 29, 1965 |newspaper=[[The Hartford Courant]] |page=22 |access-date=December 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hbX8nqO?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share4/pqimage/hnirs104v/201109141824/00446/3576/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was slated to be inserted at 10:00&nbsp;a.m. [[Central Time Zone (North America)|local time]] but was done 30 minutes early<ref name="Duffy"/> because [[thermal expansion]] had constricted the {{convert|8.5|ft|m|adj=on}} gap at the top<ref name="Courant"/> by {{convert|5|in|cm}}.<ref name="Bryant"/> To mitigate this, workers used fire hoses to spray water on the surface of the south leg to cool it down<ref name="Tribune"/> and make it contract.<ref name="Bryant"/> The keystone was inserted in 13 minutes<ref name="Duffy"/> with only {{convert|6|in|cm}} remaining. For the next section, a [[hydraulic jack]] had to pry apart the legs {{convert|6 |ft|m|spell=in}}. The last section was left only {{convert|2.5|ft|m}}.<ref name="Courant"/> By noon, the keystone was secured.<ref name="Duffy"/> Some filmmakers, in hope that the two legs would not meet, had chronicled every phase of construction.<ref name="Dillon">{{cite news |title=Big Bend; Gateway Arch Remains One of America's Most Inspirational Monuments |last=Dillon |first=David |date=August 8, 2001 |work=[[The Dallas Morning News]] |page=12C }}</ref>

The Gateway Arch was expected to open to the public by 1964, but in 1967 the public relations agency stopped forecasting the opening date.<ref name="Hauck">{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/djreprints/access/117691539.html?dids=117691539:117691539&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=The St. Louis Blues: Will They Ever Finish That Gateway Arch? |last=Hauck |first=Philip C. |date=July 14, 1967 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |page=1 |access-date=December 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hbZjVcB?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share3/pqimage/hnirs103v/201109141824/39052/3458/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The arch's visitor center opened on June 10, 1967, and the tram began operating on July 24.<ref name="Arch timeline"/>

The arch was dedicated by Humphrey on May 25, 1968.<ref name="Offer">{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/961164912.html?dids=961164912:961164912&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |title=Lofty Gateway Arch Dedicated And Hailed by HHH in St. Louis |last=Offer |first=Dave |date=May 26, 1968 |newspaper=[[The Hartford Courant]] |page=12A |access-date=January 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61hbd4Ekm?url=http://hn.bigchalk.com/pqdocs/share3/pqimage/hnirs104v/201109141825/26513/3568/out.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He declared that the arch was "a soaring curve in the sky that links the rich heritage of yesterday with the richer future of tomorrow"<ref name="Sarasota"/> and brings a "new purpose" and a "new sense of urgency to wipe out every slum." "Whatever is shoddy, whatever is ugly, whatever is waste, whatever is false, will be measured and condemned" in comparison to the Gateway Arch. About 250,000 people were expected to attend, but rain canceled the outdoor activities.<ref name="Offer"/> The ceremony had to be transferred into the visitor center.<ref name="Sarasota"/>{{#tag:ref |When [[Stuart Udall]], then [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]], discussed the story of the arch, an African American person rose and hollered, "[Y]ou're all racists&nbsp; ... we want jobs, not arches."<ref name="Offer"/> Behind him, a man wearing a veteran's hat jostled him,<ref name="Sarasota">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EjwgAAAAIBAJ&pg=7151,6353989 |title=A Little Sun For Humphrey |date=May 26, 1968 |newspaper=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]] |page=10A |access-date=January 7, 2011 }}</ref> and [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] personnel removed him from the room. Udall resumed his speech, unperturbed.<ref name="Offer"/> |group=lower-alpha}} After the dedication, Humphrey crouched beneath an exit as he waited for the rain to subside so he could walk to his vehicle.<ref name="Offer"/>