Current Hours of Operation
The Headwater activation feature is CLOSED for the season.
Please stay tuned for the 2025 schedule coming soon!
Named Nee Kee Nee, or “revived water” in the language of the Osage people who once inhabited the land, the East Stream captures stormwater from 43 acres of the Park and provides a naturalized play area filled with Missouri native plants. The stream’s Headwaters are just west of the Stupp Center and are fed by a user-activated potable water source. Stormwater from intakes on Arsenal Street rejoin the stream 300 feet below the headwaters and are managed by a system of weirs and rain gardens that divert 3.8 million gallons of stormwater from entering the Mississippi annually.
The Headwaters installation contains elements that reference the origin story of the Osage People, and interpretive resources created with their input are planned for the near future.
This project was funded by generous donations from the Crawford Taylor Foundation and members of the Kindle and Taylor families, as well as an appropriation from Project Clear of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer district.
Award and Acknowledgements
2022 AGC Construction Keystone Award - First Place Utility Infrastructure Category
2023 Prairie Gateway ASLA Award of Excellence
2023 Central States ASLA Award of Excellence
2023 Urban Lands Institute Americas Award of Excellence Finalist