Phillips : Development News

In the news business' current economic climate, it's hard to imagine a newspaperman with enough cash to put up a castle.

But the castle-like mansion that Swan Turnblad built in Minneapolis a century ago stands as proof that it once was possible. And as if to repeat the stunt, the mansion's current owner, the American Swedish Institute, has announced mid-recession plans for an addition to the Park Avenue icon.

It's an effort that, as with other cultural institutions' recent expansion plans, has seen a course correction. But it wasn't a scaling-back due to donations drying up. Instead, a neighbor, Ebenezer, offered for sale its seven-story nursing facility next door.  ASI bought the property and its plans for a bulky addition with parking structure sidling up close to the historic mansion went by the wayside.

Instead, the Institute re-evaluated its needs and asked HGA Architects to design an addition that while still connected to the mansion would itself be less imposing, giving the Turnblad's landmark what Scandinavians might consider a more appropriate amount of personal space.

"A slightly smaller building," says Bruce Karstadt, ASI's president and CEO, "that doesn't need to be nestled up" quite so close to the old castle. It will house an event space, offices, and a crafts studio, among other things.

Karstadt says the ASI expects to break ground next year on the $21.5 million project, which now includes more restoration of the house (now museum) that typesetter-turned-publisher Turnblad built from his labors on the Swedish-language, Minneapolis-based newspaper Svenska Amerikanska Posten.

Source: Bruce Karstadt, American Swedish Institute
Writer: Chris Steller

With installation of its citywide wi-fi system now complete, Minneapolis last week turned on more than 100 free outdoor wi-fi hot spots.

The idea is for city government to provide "good internet access to as many people as possible," says Mayor R.T. Rybak. "Some can't afford it." Many of the free hot spots are located in areas where people have fewer resources. (See a map of locations here.)

A credit card is required to use the free hot spots, a requirement insisted upon by local law enforcement agencies, who wanted to be able to track down lawbreakers using the system.

The free hot spots are part of the city's 10-year contract with USI Wireless--an arrangement that Rybak, who has a background with internet-based business, credits with helping Minneapolis lead the way nationally on internet access for its citizens.

"In a lot of cities, [wi-fi systems] are either totally city or totally private. We thought the best way would be a hybrid, requiring the private sector to deliver community benefit."

Other community benefits are a digital inclusion fund and the Civic Garden--free access to Minneapolis government and other public-service websites throughout the city's public wi-fi system.

Rybak says this isn't the end to the innovations for wireless users in Minneapolis. "I love the image of a city where in the new information age, people can move seamlessly from office to home," he says. Rybak vows that Minneapolis will "continue pushing the envelope," testing out concepts at the cutting edge of technology.

Source: Mayor R.T. Rybak, City of Minneapolis
Writer: Chris Steller

Sanden Totten looks at the Twin Cities from his home in Minneapolis' Phillips neighborhood and his workplace in downtown St. Paul and sees infrastructure needs. Not the usual infrastructure tasks like filling last winter's crop of potholes or repairing bridges.

Totten is seeking ways to connect people with the cities' sizable inventory of murals, using technology and public input. He envisions something like bike routes criss-crossing the urban landscape that take riders from one mural to the next, via "place casting"--place-based podcasts that tell the stories behind the Cities' painted walls.  

Totten, a producer at Minnesota Public Radio's Public Insight Network, is bringing that organization's resources to bear on the challenge of mapping urban murals, first in Minneapolis, with St. Paul in the wings. He is currently soliciting ideas and mural recommendations at MPR's website and says the project will launch in July. The form it takes is still up in the air and will be determined in part by the contributions from the public.

The urge to map local murals isn't completely new or limited to Totten. Several years ago Kevin D. Hendricks set up a searchable catalog of nearly 150 Twin Cities murals, among other forms of public art, at his Start Seeing Art website. And Minneapolis City Council Member Gary Schiff has taken to posting on Facebook photos of delightful garage-door murals he encounters on his morning graffiti patrols of alleys in his South Minneapolis ward.

Source: Sanden Totten, Public Insight Network, Minnesota Public Radio
Writer: Chris Steller

This will be remembered as the year the City of Minneapolis got serious about community gardening.
 
In previous years, City Hall had an ad hoc system for entertaining occasional requests from groups who wanted to start gardens on city-owned property. Now an initiative called Homegrown Minneapolis is taking that to the streets, with a pilot program soliciting groups to lease space at 20 sites around the city.
 
These aren't just any 20 pieces of unused urban property. In a kind of "American Idol" for local vacant lots, city staff winnowed down a list of about 60 potential garden spots, ranking each on factors such as sun, safety, and access to water. An initial list of 22 properties included two that soil tests showed weren't safe for growing food. Of the remaining 20, two are spoken for: 1213 Spring St. NE, in the Beltrami neighborhood, and 3427 15th Ave. S. in Powderhorn.
 
One of the most critical criteria was whether the properties would tempt developers as the economy turns around. It wouldn't be fair to seek groups committed to gardening for sites likely to sell soon, says Karin Berkholtz, community planning manager. The city will take applications through the summer, with one-year leases for those new to gardening and multi-year leases for experienced groups.
 
Community gardens have gone in and out of fashion over the decades, appearing in city plans as far back as 1917. But this time, Berkholtz asks, "Is it a fashion or is it a paradigm shift?"
 
Source: Karin Berkholtz, City of Minneapolis
Writer: Chris Steller