Monthly Archives: December 2010

WIRTH HOUSE BECOMES A HOME

The following article by Jake Weyer was published in the December 27, 2010 issue of the Southwest Journal:

WIRTH HOUSE BECOMES A HOME

The historic Theodore Wirth house at 3954 Bryant Ave. S. is occupied for the first time in 15 years.

Ann Arbor, Mich., transplant Jayne Miller, hired in October as superintendent of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, moved in just before Christmas. She signed a six-month lease, agreeing to pay $640 a month for the first-floor kitchen and two second-floor bedrooms.

“It’s a wonderful house,” Miller said. “It’s gorgeous, beautiful. I think it’s a wonderful place to live.”

Miller said she decided to live in the home, which has served as a residence for several park leaders since it was built for Superintendent Theodore Wirth in 1910, while she gets acquainted with the city. When the lease is up, she&rsqu o;ll decide whether to stay or buy elsewhere.

“If I do decide to move, it gives me a chance to get to know the city a little better,” she said.

Miller is the first superintendent to live on the property since David Fisher moved out in 1995. Fisher’s successors, Mary Merrill Anderson and Jon Gurban, opted not to use the house. More recently, the building was used as office space for the Minneapolis Parks Foundation.

To make it livable again, Park Board spokeswoman Dawn Sommers said the board planned to spend about $1,500 on a stove and fridge and make some cosmetic repairs. She said the Park Board and Miller plan to use some of the un-leased rooms for community events.

“Our board and Jayne really like the idea of making it so the public has more access to that main floor for meetings and things,” Sommers said. “How those details work out I don’t think anybody knows at this ti me.”

Miller said the living and dining rooms and porch could all be used for public activities. She also plans to open a common area in the basement, so children sledding on the hills surrounding the house can take a break, warm up and have some hot chocolate.

She wants to continue house tours in some form, too. The Minneapolis Park Legacy Society used to organize those, but Joan Berthiaume, co-founder of that organization, said no further tours are planned.

“For a superintendent to live in [the house] is a very good use,” Berthiaume said. “It’s probably and certainly just as good of a use as we were going to do with our programming of the Wirth house and tours, however it’s not compatible with what we’re doing, because [Miller’s] needs for security prevent us from proceeding any longer with this project.”

But the region’s park commissioner, Brad Bourn (District 6) , wants to work with the Legacy Society to find a compromise.

“I’m personally still interested in having the legacy society do those tours,” Bourn said. “The model would have to change a little bit. Having the house be a residency was not planned.”

Bourn said he was glad to see the house occupied again.

“I think it’s exciting,” he said. “I think Jayne is definitely interested in doing it and it’s kind of nice to have a superintendent live in the district.”

Formally called the Theodore Wirth Home and Administration Building, the house was built specifically to recruit Wirth to Minneapolis from Connecticut. Once here, Wirth spent two decades growing and modernizing the Minneapolis park system, added more than 3,000 acres of public park space during his tenure.

The tan stucco house, built in colonial revival style, sits in Lyndale Farmstead Park.

PARK BOARD APPROVES BUDGET AND TAX LEVY

The following article by Jake Weyer was published in the December 27, 2010 issue of the Southwest Journal:

PARK BOARD APPROVES BUDGET AND TAX LEVY

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board approved a roughly $60 million budget and a 3.8-percent increase in property tax collections Dec. 13 in City Hall.

The tax bump is a small fraction of the overall tax increase Minneapolis property owners will see next year. Many will receive double-digit hikes, a result of the city’s pension obligations, cuts to state aid, the recertification of Tax Increment Financing districts and commercial property values that are slumping lower than residential values.

The City Council made some last-minute budget revisions to reduce the increase, which required the Park Board to lower its portion of the levy.

The Park Board’s budget is more than 1-percent smaller than last year’s and calls for a two-year pay freeze to improve the organization’s financial condition.

DESIGN TEAMS GET FIRST LOOK AT RIVERFRONT

The following article by Jake Weyer was published in the December 13, 2010 issue of the Southwest Journal:

DESIGN TEAMS GET FIRST LOOK AT RIVERFRONT

Four teams competing to redesign a 5-mile stretch of the Mississippi River share their first impressions and visions for the site after a late November visit.

Design teams from New York, Boston, Berkley and Beijing visited Minneapolis during the last week in November to get an up-close look at the Mississippi riverfront they’re competing to design.

The teams are all participating in the Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition, an event organized by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Minneapolis Parks Foundation, University of Minnesota College of Design and Walker Art Center. The teams, selected in November from a pool of 16 finalists from throughout the globe, are developing designs for a 5-mile section of riverfront stretching from the Stone Arch Bridge to the city’s northern limits.

Teams will present designs in January and a winner will be announced in February. The top design will be used to guide a major revamp of the riverfront that the Park Board hopes to make the “crown jewel” of the Minneapolis park system.

The Southwest Journal caught up with leaders of each of the teams after their visits to the site last month. Here’s what they had to say about they’re first impressions and their thoughts on the competition’s efforts to produce a “21st century” park.

Southwest Journal: What was your first impression of the project site?

Dr. KJ Yu, principal, Turenscape (Beijing): “I was in Minneapolis four years ago, so I know the site quite well… On this trip, we spent four days in Minneapolis. I actually took three trips along the river walking back and forth.

“It’s very challenging, but at the same time there are opportunities. It’s challenging because the river has been destroyed, basically. It’s so different from what I imagined, what I heard about, the stories of the Mississippi, from my dream of what the Mississippi should look like.

You virtually see all of these industry sites, it’s totally a brownfield (a term for underused or abandoned industrial land). You simply cannot imagine, because I live in China and the U.S. is supposed to be the most advanced society in the world, that you still have these very primitive industrial sites like that.

“I think this riverfront has to be changed. There are many challenges. We face not only the waterfront, but we also face each individual site of industries… We got excited because they can be transformed into a magnificent landscape. The river can be reclaimed, it can be recovered, it can become a real exciting river.”

Tom Leader, princip al, Tom Leader Studio (Berkeley): “We were stunned by the river itself, the beauty of it… It’s not easy. I think what’s happened over time, is people have turned their back doors to the river for a lot of reasons. But the river itself is such a beautiful thing. It’s really alive. It’s not just a pond, not just a pool. And all the communities up and down it are great. We spent a lot of time visiting places, Psycho Suzi’s and Marshall Street…

“The Mississippi is not a living room, but it’s more than that. It’s the lifeblood and circulation of the whole city and state really. We kind of see it as our job here to help with restoring that in areas where it’s a little tougher. In the same way, you’re excited about working with people that have a civic-side approach and helping people from the private side.”

Chris Reed, principal, Stoss Landscape Urbanism (Boston): “The river itself is stunning in its scale and scope and as the city has kind of refocused its energy on the central riverfront, the river has a presence within the city and you can see these new areas emerging, building up around Downtown and around the Guthrie and around the river that really start to look back at the river as a source of community, as a source of civic pride. That isn’t present as you move up beyond the falls. You have this amazing wildlife up there, where the river almost denies its suburban context…

“What’s most interesting about the competition, though, is that you have this amazing ecological resource, the river, that is wrapped with all these working landscapes, these industrial areas and this infrastructure. And all of that has had an impact on the land and the river itself. So it’s a bit messy, it’s a bit complex, we have issues of contamination and then of course it’s very much disconnected from the surrounding urban fabric.

“In many ways it’s an overlay of a bunch of different, but interrelated issues that create something that is complex and rich… So in a way, it bridges scales in a way that the project bridges disciplines. It’s very much of interest to us and very much at the core of the interest of our team.”

Ken Smith, principal, Ken Smith Workshop (New York): “I’m a native Midwesterner, I grew up in Iowa and I used to go to Minneapolis because it was the big city… It’s a fabulous project with a lot of factors. This is a part of the city I didn’t know very well, the upper part of the river. I walked around those neighborhoods and it’s very different…

“Minneapolis is known as the city of lakes, but the fact is that it’s a city of a really great river. It wouldn’t be a city without the river.”

What is your vision for a 21st century park?

Dr. KJ Yu, principal, Turenscape (Beijing): “We have to understand the 21st century challenges… Global warming, which is very 21st century. We have the issue of cultural, social conflict and tension, we walk into the communities and we feel that we still have the problem of social equity, social justice and how can you pull these cultural varieties into a harmonious society…

“How can we blend new lifestyles, technology and green technology… If we can address these challenges, we’re likely to design a 21st century landscape or 21st century city.

“Getting to know the community and the history of the city is very important, that’s why I’ve made three trips to the site in the past five days. And we are really getting excited because we saw the opportunity here.”

Tom Leader, principal, Tom Leader Studio (Berkeley): “This comes up a lot, on many, many projects we’ve worked on. This is the goal.

‘I don’t really think of 20 or 21st century. First, you kind of read and know a situation, then you bring an understanding to it where things are not laid on top, overlaid or fought down. It builds up into kind of an armature for growth and it has a tendency to structure and to promote and stimulate growth over time…

“It’s not about the gadgets, it’s not necessarily about being digital. It’s about the structuring and organization of all that to both in special terms and in visual terms, to create space for people that brings the river and the people together. It’s really about the river. The river is very 21st century, it’s very 5 million years ago, too.

“In our minds, if we do it right and if we bring the river to a healthier state and we find a way to connect people a cross it and up and down it and make that the lifeblood of communities on both sides, that’s very 21st century.

Chris Reed, principal, Stoss Landscape Urbanism (Boston): “In many ways, open space needs to do many things these days. It needs to perform many roles. I think the park system needs to be thought of as a piece of infrastructure, as a set of interrelated and dynamic ecological systems. In needs to be thought of as those urban design frameworks and a social catalyst and it needs to fulfill the basic needs for open space, recreation, bodily health, those sorts of things. So in many ways, the 21st century park needs to do more.

“Minneapolis has a great park system from the 19th century built around its lake system and in many ways provides environmental benefits and in the way it links, forms a circuit and links different parts of the city. It performs an urban design function, sets up an urban design function, sets up a framework for the city. I think those things need to be pushed and extrapolated, but I think this idea of a working park or the role that open space or landscape may play as infrastructure is very important here.”

Ken Smith, principal, Ken Smith Workshop (New York): “Increasingly, parkland is converted from old industrial land. There are brownfield issues and ecology restoration…

“Our society has changed from the 19th century, from a culture that did mostly manual labor. Parks were a place for respite, to take a stroll. Our recreation needs have changed. Today, we need physical exercise; we need to get people active. The importance of programming is more important…

“Parks also should be a focal point and connection for communities and neighborhoods, a place to gather and meet people.”

PARK BOARD APPROVES 2011 BUDGET

PARK BOARD APPROVES 2011 BUDGET

The following article by Jake Weyer was published in the December 13, 2010 issue of the Southwest Journal:

PARK BOARD APPROVES 2011 BUDGET

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board on Dec. 1 approved its 2011 budget, which will go to the City Council Dec. 13 for a public hearing and final approval.

The budget, just shy of $60 million, includes cuts to many departments and a reduction in personnel expenses following the Park Board’s first-ever layoffs last fall. It also plans for $7.6 million in local government aid (LGA), which is $2.7 million short of what the state certified. LGA has been reduced mid-year during the past three years and the future of state allocations is increasingly unclear.

Park Board President John Erwin said the budget is not perfect and doesn’t include everything commissioners want, but he thought as a whole it reflected the majority input of the board. He said the board would review the budget again when the LGA numbers are in.

Several commissioners expressed concerns about this year’s proposed property tax increase and whether the board was being as frugal as possible in light of the jump, which would range from 10 percent to 20 percent for many residents.

Staff pointed out that the Park Board’s proposed 4.9 percent levy increase would account for a small portion of the hike. The board would receive 7 cents of every dollar paid by Minneapolis residents, compared to 36 cents for the city, 25 cents for schools, 28 cents for the county and 4 cents for other agencies, staff said. On a $229,000 home with a bill of $3,733, for example, $269 would be paid to the Park Board.

At-Large Commissioner Bob Fine said it’s not the actual number that matters, but the perception it creates. Despite the tight budget and bleak economic outlook, the board is still planning several new initiatives next year. He was uneasy about how those additions would look given the tax burden residents might have to deal with.

“All of this sort of doesn’t fit together real well, that’s the problem,” said Fine, who was the only commissioner to vote against the budget.

Commissioner Jon Olson (District 2) abstained from the vote after failing to gain a budget allocation for two additional park police officers. He was not alone in his push for more police, but the board ultimately seemed to agree that the budget outlook made long-term hiring decisions difficult.

“I hesitate to hire people that we might be strapped to let go at some point,” Erwin said.

A point of contention between Erwin and Olson was whether the existing police force would be able to cover a new late-night program for teens Erwin proposed for next year. Park Police Chief Linda Bergstrom said it would be tight, but she thought the existing officers would be able to get it done.

The board plans to shift $155,000 of its recreation budget to operate the new late-night program, which will keep certain recreation centers open on some evenings for a variety of teen-oriented activities. A few other allocations for new initiatives include:

$32,000 for a new Southwest dog park and the same amount to revamp a memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. at King Park;

$150,000 for the planting of 1,500 additional trees;

$50,000 for the planting of ornamental shrubs and hardy perennials to reduce costs related to mowing;

$50,000 more for lifeguards, so hours can be increased at park beaches.

A public hearing to discuss the city’s budget and tax levy, including the Park Board’s share of those issues, is set for Dec. 13 at 6:05 p.m. in room 317 of City Hall, 350 South 5th Street. The City Council will vote on the budget and tax levy after the hearing.

Winners of The Park Board's 2010 Photo Contest

Winners of The Park Board’s 2010 Photo Contest

See the winners of the Park Board’s 2010 Photo Contest at http://minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=1227

All images were judged on the basis of creativity, photographic quality, and how an image expresses the selected category. First, second and third place were determined in age and subject categories. Best of Show awards were also given to overall winners by age division.

Sponsored by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), People for Parks (PFP) and National Camera, Picture a Park was designed to highlight the life and times in Minneapolis parks year round.

December 15, 2010 Park Board Meeting

HEADS-UP FOR THE DECEMBER 15, 2010 PARK BOARD MEETING

5:00 P.M. REGULAR BOARD MEETING. Committee meetings to follow. The meetings will be held in the boardroom at Park Board headquarters, 2117 West River Road, just north of Broadway Pizza.

5:30 P.M. OPEN TIME. Speakers need to sign up before 3:00 p.m. the day of the meeting.

Some highlights of the meetings that will be discussed or voted on:

• U.S. Pond Hockey Championships on Lake Nokomis.
• Construction permit to Hennepin County for Construction of the Lyndale Avenue Bridge.
• Amending MPRB Ordinances to add Chaper 13.5 temporary access permits for non-park or construction related use of Parkways or Park Land.
• Adopting the 2011 Legislative Agenda.
• Reuse of the Phillips Community Center.
• Formation and charge of an appointed 6th Park District off-leash recreation area Citizen Advisory Committee.

The following is the link to the complete agenda, with staff reports, for the MPRB Board of Commissioners’ meeting of Wednesday, December 15:
minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=37&calid=683

MPRB meetings are broadcast live from 5-9 p.m. on the City of Minneapolis Government Meeting Channel 79 on Comcast cable and online at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/webcasts.

The regular meetings are rebroadcast on Channel 79 at 1 p.m. Saturdays and 5 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. Webcasts for the recent two months are posted two to five business days after the meeting and are available for viewing under “Webcast Archives” at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/webcasts.

The Park Board’s website is minneapolisparks.org.

Arlene Fried, Co-founder of Park Watch

HEADS-UP FOR THE DECEMBER 15, 2010 PARK BOARD MEETING

HEADS-UP FOR THE DECEMBER 15, 2010 PARK BOARD MEETING

5:00 P.M. REGULAR BOARD MEETING. Committee meetings to follow. The meetings will be held in the boardroom at Park Board headquarters, 2117 West River Road, just north of Broadway Pizza.

5:30 P.M. OPEN TIME. Speakers need to sign up before 3:00 p.m. the day of the meeting.

Some highlights of the meetings that will be discussed or voted on:

• U.S. Pond Hockey Championships on Lake Nokomis.
• Construction permit to Hennepin County for Construction of the Lyndale Avenue Bridge.
• Amending MPRB Ordinances to add Chaper 13.5 temporary access permits for non-park or construction related use of Parkways or Park Land.
• Adopting the 2011 Legislative Agenda.
• Reuse of the Phillips Community Center.
• Formation and charge of an appointed 6th Park District off-leash recreation area Citizen Advisory Committee.

The following is the link to the complete agenda, with staff reports, for the MPRB Board of Commissioners’ meeting of Wednesday, December 15:
minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=37&calid=683

MPRB meetings are broadcast live from 5-9 p.m. on the City of Minneapolis Government Meeting Channel 79 on Comcast cable and online at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/webcasts.

The regular meetings are rebroadcast on Channel 79 at 1 p.m. Saturdays and 5 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. Webcasts for the recent two months are posted two to five business days after the meeting and are available for viewing under “Webcast Archives” at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/webcasts.

The Park Board’s website is minneapolisparks.org.

Arlene Fried, Co-founder of Park Watch

A 19TH CENTURY IDEA FLOWS AGAIN

The following article by Tom Meersman was published in the December 9, 2010 issue of the Star Tribune:


Cordelia Pierson, executive director of the Minneapolis Riverfront Corp., left, and David Wiggins, manager for the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, gave a tour of the area where St. Anthony Falls once tumbled between Hennepin Island and the Mississippi River’s east bank.

A 19TH CENTURY IDEA FLOWS AGAIN

A pair of natural Mississippi River waterfalls could be re-created where they once flowed around an island near historic Main Street in downtown Minneapolis.

St. Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis seems impressive, but it’s only half what it used to be.

Before the 1880s, the falls extended all the way across the Mississippi River, tumbling over huge limestone blocks.

But part of the river was diverted and impounded to power sawmills, flour mills and electric plants, especially on the east bank near historic Main Street.

Now the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and other partners are considering a $1 million plan to restore two waterfalls as part of a larger effort to improve surrounding parkland. They will present a consultant’s plan for the project at a public meeting Thursday evening at Mill City Museum.

“It’ll bring back some of what was there naturally, and it would add an extra attraction and enhancement for visitors to the park,” said Park Board project manager Nick Eoloff.

He’s talking about picturesque Pillsbury Park, marked by bridges and trails tucked along the river’s edge. It’s most visible from the east end of the Stone Arch Bridge.

The park’s entrance is a steep wooden stairway across from the historic Pillsbury A Mill on Main Street. With limited access, the park has few visitors. The stairs are closed in winter for safety reasons.

That could change if the falls are partly restored and the park gets a makeover.

TWO FALLS IN A POCKET OF NATURE

The idea is to pipe river water to a pair of holding pools, and allow the water to cascade over two limestone cliffs where it once flowed naturally but at greater volumes.

“Having water coming over natural limestone, this would be more like a Minnehaha Falls feeling,” said Cordelia Pierson, executive director of the Minneapolis Riverfront Corp. The falls would drop 25 to 30 feet, she said, and flow through channels that now carry storm water, water from natural springs and overflow from the nearby Xcel Energy hydroelectric plant.

“It’s an exceptional pocket of nature in the city,” said Pierson. She pointed out fox and rabbit tracks in the snow on a recent visit. She said visitors can see beaver, ducks, otter, muskrat, eagles and other wildlife. The water already supports crayfish, mussels and various fish, she said, and restoring waterfalls would add oxygen to the water and improve the environment even more.

It also would restore an appreciation of the area’s history, said National Park Service Ranger David Wiggins.

The area once was a portage area for Indians to get around the falls, Wiggins said, and a major tourist attraction for European settlers.

The settlers and tourists came to see the falls, as well as numerous caves and natural springs that honeycomb the bluffs. The area is loaded with man-made tunnels, pipes and tailraces that routed water through the city’s first mills and power plants, then back out to the river.

Businesses spread from the bluff onto Hennepin Island, impounding water and blocking channels that once flowed around the island.

Today the upper island hosts Xcel Energy’s hydropower plant and the University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls Lab. Pillsbury Park is on the lower part of the island.

“Over the years the origin of why all this was here was sort of lost to memory,” Wiggins said. “Restoring the area will give a boost to the idea that the city is here because of the river and because of the waterfall.”

BIGGER PARK REDESIGN AFOOT?

Moving forward will not necessarily be easy. Separately, the park board is hosting a design competition for future development of the upper river. Eoloff said the board will likely want to see those ideas in early February before it takes up the waterfalls restoration proposal. Any re-creation of waterfalls, if approved by the board, would face questions about the area’s geology and historic preservation of ruins, Eoloff said.

Pierson said restoring the falls could be a springboard to redesign of the park. That would involve cleaning out invasive overgrowth, rebuilding eroded trails, improving access, and possibly connecting trails on the lower and upper parts of the island.

Financing would likely require a mix of public and private funds and cooperation of several agencies, she said. This approach has been successful before with other important riverfront projects, she said.

“This would let people get down to touch the water, and would be one of the few places you can do that in the central riverfront area,” she said. “This is a gem.”

Thursday’s public information meeting also includes a screening of a new film showing historic tunnels beneath Main Street. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at Mill City Museum, 704 2nd Street S. in Minneapolis.

INPUT SOUGHT FOR LAKE HARRIET PLAYGROUND REMODEL

The following article by Jake Weyer was published in the November 29, 2010 issue of the Southwest Journal:

INPUT SOUGHT FOR LAKE HARRIET PLAYGROUND REMODEL

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is looking for community input on a planned remodel of William Berry Park and Beard’s Plaisance.

The Park Board on Nov. 3 approved the formation of a Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) to provide input on the designs. Because the CAC is not appointed, the Park Board will take feedback from whoever attends four public meetings scheduled to discuss the projects. If a vote is needed, CAC members who have attended the majority of meetings will be able to do so.

Meetings will run from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Dec. 9, Jan. 11, Jan. 25 and possibly Feb. 8 at Linden Hills Recreation Center, 3100 43rd St. W.

Minneapolis-based Close Landscape Architecture was chosen as a consultant on the project. Construction is tentatively scheduled to start in the summer of 2011 and wrap up in the spring of 2012. A grant of more than $1 million from the Parks and Trails fund, part of the Legacy Amendment, will pay for the projects.

William Berry Park is located in Linden Hills between Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun, Beard’s Plaisance is at 45th Street and Upton Avenue on the west side of Lake Harriet.
For more information on the playground remodels, go to the project page at http://www.minneapolisparks.org.