Star Tribune: Letter of the Day
"The public is better served by more parks"
» Two articles in Friday's paper -- the proposed park adjacent to the new Guthrie and the threatened demolition of Station 19 by the University of Minnesota for a football stadium -- have a surreal link to the proposal by DeLaSalle High School to develop an athletic complex on Nicollet Island.
The Minneapolis Park Board's failure to perceive any problem with the loss of open space on Nicollet Island and the overbearing nature of the whole sports enterprise is astonishing.
The downtown park is a no brainer, it is such a grand idea, and long overdue -- too bad the Park Board doesn't see park land and open space as a positive option for the island. DeLaSalle should recognize the strength of its tradition as an academic institution and the richness of its downtown resource base of theater, art and music. Yet it persists in demonstrating it ignorance by suggesting that the only way to success is through the promotion of its athletics program.
The university should realize the condemnation of historic places -- whether single buildings or open spaces -- is not in the public interest.
THOMAS ROSE, MINNEAPOLIS «
See original article on the Star Tribune web site.