New material added, 2 p.m., July 2 -- Even as she watched the muddy Mississippi creep higher and higher up the cobblestone levee, Missy Slay remained convinced that the river was not going to dampen the city's huge Fourth of July bash.

For the past 28 years, after all, neither blistering summer heat, torrential rainstorms, nor lingering concerns over the fragile landscaping on the Gateway Arch grounds had been enough to force cancellation or relocation of the Independence week celebration on the city's riverfront.

 "I kept going down there to look at the water," said Slay, executive director of the Fair Saint Louis Foundation. "One day, it was getting close to the levee, then it was over the levee wall, then it was over the north end of Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard.

"Still, I kept thinking, 'This is going to recede; this is going to recede.'

"It was when the flood wall went up that we started thinking seriously about Plans B and C."

Finally, on June 18 -- just two weeks before the start of the festival -- Slay and the other key organizers decided it was time to fish or cut bait. After nearly three decades, it was Old Man River himself -- the historic focal point of the fair -- that forced the move to higher and drier ground.

"It's been a scramble," said Slay of the 11th hour decision to move the fairgrounds and an estimated 200,000 people some 13 blocks west to the Soldiers' Memorial.

"Essentially, we had to start from scratch," she said. "You're moving an event with 28 years of history in one location. It would be nice to have more time, but we haven't had that luxury."

When the floodwater covered Leonor K. Sullivan and the Riverfront Overlook stage area, it covered the heart of the fairgrounds. There was simply no way, Slay said, to relocate all of the vendors that stretched up and down the roadway -- at least not on the city's riverfront. Operational constraints of the fair and the National Park Service kept the vendors from being relocated onto the Gateway Arch grounds.

Even had the water stayed off the boulevard, she said, the fair likely would have had to move. There was simply not enough space to allow for a fire lane for emergency vehicles to get access to the area.

The flooding also affected organizers' ability to pull power from underground connections to generate electricity for the fair.

"I'm not sure people still understand why we can't have the fair on the Arch grounds. But it was not an option.

"If we could have stayed, we would."

The relocated fair grounds will be bounded by Tucker Boulevard on the east, Market Street on the south, Olive Street on the north and 15th Street on the west.

The area near the Soldiers' Memorial also will be the new site for LIVE On the Levee performances, renamed "LIVE Off the Levee" for this summer.

overlook under water

Rachel Heidenry | The Beacon

With the overlook stage still covered June 27, it's clear that Fair St. Louis had to move from the riverfront.

The fair's main stage, which had been erected in recent years on the now submerged Riverfront Overlook, will be built near Chestnut Street and Tucker Boulevard. Slay said she expects the stage area and huge TV screens set up in the fairgrounds area to provide good views of the entertainment.

Construction of the main stage presented yet another reason the show was moved. Even had the Arch grounds been able to accommodate the July 4 celebration, the area could not be used for the "Levee" performances. And the cost to assemble and disassemble the main stage on the Arch grounds and then reassemble it at the new venue would have been prohibitive, officials said.

Slay said the easiest part of the move has been the flexibility and cooperation of city agencies, "from streets, to parks, to forestry, to police and fire, to refuse."

The most difficult part, she says, has been trying to figure out how to best relocate vendors, entertainment venues and other key facets of the fair.

The fair's production company, Creative Producers Group, had to go out and "measure every piece of real estate we were going to utilize," she said. All of that information was then put into a computer program to help decide how to set up the fair grounds.

"Everything has happened very quickly," she said. "You can imagine the hours that people are working."

Fireworks in perspective

Tom Nagel | The Beacon

Fireworks will still be set off from barges on the river, but as this picture from 2007 shows, an urban frame can add interest.

 An ongoing concern of fairgoers is that they traditionally have viewed the fair's dazzling fireworks displays from blankets and lawn chairs set up on the Arch grounds.

While the fireworks still will be shot from a barge on the river, the fairgrounds now will be several blocks away.

Still, Slay said, the new location should still offer a good view of the displays. And for those still tied to tradition, the Arch grounds will remain open for viewing, although Slay warned that only the new fairgrounds area will have vendors and music accompaniment during the displays.

"You can still head down to the Arch, but it just won't be the same," she said.

In some ways, she says, the new venue is better than the riverfront. "There's a much better setup for parking," she said, and MetroLink stations are closer. She also said the vendor and entertainment areas will be more spread out and less congested.

"We were working with an area just 30 feet wide on Leonor Sullivan. Now we can go all the way up Market and Pine, and there is a lot of city park area. It's really almost endless."

Vendors said they remain optimistic.

"There was no choice" but to make the move, said David Hanon with Pujols 5 restaurant, which will have a booth at the fair.

"Mother Nature happens. I think the people are coming."

Carol Hacker, who with her husband, Craig, owns a Cold Stone Creamery franchise in The Boulevard area across from The Galleria shopping center, said good weather July 4 and 5 should bring in large crowds.

Some 15 Cold Stone Creamery franchisees in Illinois and Missouri have a booth at the event.

She noted that several conventions are being held in downtown this coming week, as well as a Cardinals-Cubs series, which should bring even more people to the fair.

"We're excited," she said. "We've never done anything this big before."

Are residents seem divided over whether the move will affect attendance at this year's fair.

Corey Fletcher, who says he lives just three blocks from the heart of the new venue, said he believes the switch will mean a drastic drop in the number of fairgoers.

"It's such a small, compacted area," Fletcher said of the new venue. "Besides, the Arch is such a landmark. There is nothing like seeing the fireworks from under the Arch."

But Jessica Meyer of South St. Louis says she feels the Soldiers' Memorial area offers both more space for visitors, more parking area and "more of a downtown feel" than the riverfront. "There's just more to look at," she said. The riverfront area, she said, is too confined for her tastes.

Nick Hammond of Alton, picnicking in Forest Park on Saturday with his wife, Amber, and their family, said he often went to the Fourth of July festival as a youngster, but said he is not interested in returning - no matter where it is held downtown.

"Just too many people," he said. "I'm really not into crowds."

Slay said fair officials considered other locations in addition to the Soldiers' Memorial Area.

Kiener Plaza and the Gateway Mall area were considered, but ruled out because of current construction work there on the new city's sculpture garden.

Officials also considered Forest Park--the site of Fourth of July celebrations before the move to the riverfront. It was ruled out largely because of insufficient parking.

She also said that the city decided to keep the fair downtown because officials wanted out of town visitors who made downtown hotel reservations specifically for the fair to be able to walk to the fair grounds.

Besides, she said, "our mission is to bring people downtown."

Slay says she hopes that this year's move from the riverfront will be a one time only change of pace.

"River willing," she said.

Detailed information on this year's fair and Live Off the Levee celebrations is at www.CelebrateStlouis.org .

St. Louis' downtown celebration is not the only one in the region affected by the flooding. Alton, which traditionally draws an estimated 80,000 to its annual holiday fireworks display, was forced to cancel its celebration because of high water. Dick Connell, spokesman for the Alton Expo Commission, said that display has been rescheduled for Sept. 5.

St. Louis' move from the riverfront and the cancellation of Alton's fireworks show might raise questions about whether families needing a holiday "fireworks fix" will seek out other displays.

A spot check of communities with holiday displays -- Granite City, Hazelwood and Webster Groves -- indicate that at least those communities are not expecting a significant increase in attendees.

"We might pick up some people," said Dave Williams, Granite City Park District director. "We have a nice carnival too, though, so they might want to come to get their carnival fix."