As a major cultural landmark, the Arch will attract local, national, and international tourists. The artwork will attract conference hosts and participants. For example, LAGI has already been contacted by the Texas Society of Architects (TxA) seeking a tour of the Arch of Time to coincide with their annual conference.

Comparable projects with beneficial economic impacts include Cloud Gate in Chicago, which has been estimated to contribute $1.4 billion annually in tourism-related revenue, benefiting local hospitality and retail sectors, and NYC Waterfalls, a temporary project that cost $15.5 million to develop in 2008 and which brought in $53 million in incremental spending during the four months it was installed (source: NYCEDC).

Annual Visitors

Estimated to be as many as 500,000 per year.

Visitor Spending

If each visitor spends an average of $100 on dining, shopping, lodging, and other activities, this would result in an annual economic impact of $50 million, a payback period of only 6 months on the initial capital investment.

Job Creation

The Arch will create new jobs in Houston through direct and indirect impacts during fabrication and construction and from increased tourism during operations.