sustainability : Development News

This week, local residents will have several opportunities to weigh in on the redesign of Webber Park in North Minneapolis.

Landform, a Minneapolis-based landscape architecture firm, is leading the master-planning process with the Minneapolis park board.

As a part of an early information-gathering process, it'll host a public meeting, studio time, and open house between Sept. 29 and Oct. 1, along with an online survey.

The 22-acre Webber Park is a wooded facility that has a pond, swimming pool, wading pool, playing field, tennis and basketball courts, and a playground and recreation center, according to park board information.

Roberta Englund, who heads the nearby Folwell and Webber-Camden neighborhood groups, describes the park as a comfortable and pretty urban area that’s “an important community attribute [that] hasn’t had the attention it deserves."

A big draw at the popular park is the annual Victory Labor Day Races and Community Picnic, according to Englund.

The well known “woodchopper statue” and Webber Park Library are also on the grounds, she says. 

But the park has a number of issues that need to be addressed, including a lack of parking.

Also, the swimming pool needs to be replaced. “We don’t have enough water features here. The priority is making it considerably more accessible,” she says.     

Other issues at the site center on reforestation, tornado damage, and inadequate lighting, she adds.

Whether the library should stay put, expand, or relocate, is also up in the air.

While ideas for the park are still in an early stage, the idea of enhancing the park's connection to the nearby Shingle Creek and Mississippi River in some way has come up, she says.

Englund hopes that people will take the time to voice their opinions about how the park should be configured. “It’s a major project that has a great deal to do with the visioning of parks and [their] role in recreation in North Minneapolis neighborhoods,” she says, adding, “It’ll be a careful look at how the land is used.”

Construction will begin next summer, while the park’s grand re-opening is planned for the summer of 2013, according to park board information.

Source: Roberta Englund, leader for Folwell and Webber-Camden neighborhood groups
Writer: Anna Pratt

At its Sept. 21 meeting, the Minneapolis park board initiated a 45-day public comment period on the RiverFIRST proposal to revitalize some key parts of the Upper Mississippi riverfront.

It's the next step toward making the plan a reality.

The proposal lays out various design concepts and an implementation plan for “problem-solving” parks, walking trails and other amenities for the river area, mainly between North and Northeast Minneapolis, according to information from the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative (MRDI), which is leading the charge.

RiverFIRST is the product of a collaboration between MRDI project manager Mary deLaittre, the Tom Leader Studio in Berkeley, Calif., Kennedy & Violich Architecture (TLS/KVA) in Boston and New York financing consultants HR&A.

For months, the proposal has undergone an extensive editing and community engagement process, fleshing out an earlier version that won MRDI’s international design competition, according to project information.

In the proposal, five priority projects, all of which are doable over the next handful of years “exemplify ‘re-sourcing’ the river, while eliminating as many barriers as possible,” to help lay the foundation for future riverfront development, deLaittre says in a prepared statement.

For starters, a riverfront trail system that would go through Farview Park in North Minneapolis would join other existing city and regional parks and trails to form a “user-friendly network of commuter and recreational connections, most notably across the Interstate 94 trench cutting off Northsiders from the river,” a prepared statement reads.   

A number of floating BioHaven Islands on the river could help improve water quality while also providing habitat for plants and animals.   

The plan also calls for a new Scherer Park that would take advantage of park-owned property along the river in Northeast.

Separately, the Northside Wetlands Park “transforms significant acreage from the existing Port of Minneapolis.”  

Finally, an historic park that leads into the downtown area could be restored, according to MRDI information.

Going beyond the five-year projects, “The Draft RiverFIRST Proposal has the potential to create the largest expanse of new public and green space since the Minneapolis Parks system was first created over 100 years ago,” a prepared statement about the project reads.


Source: Information from the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative
Writer: Anna Pratt

In the coming weeks, local residents will help decide what metro-area historic landmarks should receive a portion of a $1 million preservation grant.

The contest is part of a program called Partners in Preservation from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. On Sept. 20, the program will announce the 25 competing sites, according to contest information.

From there, people can start to weigh in on Facebook, where they’ll be able to vote once daily through Oct. 12.

Royce Yeater, who heads the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Midwest office, says that the contest moved to Facebook this year as a way to connect with younger audiences. Traditionally the Trust has had an older demographic, he says.

The whole idea is to “raise the visibility and engage the citizenry of the U.S. in taking care of the cultural heritage and built environment,” he says.

Over the past five years, the program has delivered $5.5 million to 56 national historic sites, according to contest information. In 2010, American Express agreed to provide $10 million for another five-year run of the program.

It's a natural partnership, as American Express has long championed heritage sites around the world, including the Statue of Liberty, which it helped to get refurbished in the 1980s, he says. The company has also maintained ties to the Trust and the World Monuments Fund for many years.

This year, the partners decided to bring the program to the Twin Cities because “The feeling is that it’s an area that has a significant appreciation of heritage and it has great cultural resources and architecture,” he says, adding, “It also needs this kind of moral support."

He says it helps to have national organizations reach out to local-level places.

Further, the contest has provided an economic stimulus everywhere it has gone, he says. In some cases, even when projects failed to win the grant money, the publicity helped preservation groups leverage additional financial support.

In Chicago, the Pui Tak Center, which received $110,000 to restore vintage tile work in 2007, was able to launch a major capital campaign. “The program helped get it beyond emergency repair to major restoration,” he says.  

Further, the program has a jobs benefit. “We have been making the case that historic preservation is labor-intensive,” he says. “It continues to generate good, highly-skilled jobs at the local level.”  

Source: Royce Yeater, director, National Trust for Historic Preservation's Midwest office
Writer: Anna Pratt

When the city of St. Paul got a chance to pilot a green initiative in its swimming pools a couple years ago, it jumped at it.

Since then, the city has become an international leader in the technology that uses moss to reduce chlorine and save water and money.

Recently, the project was also one of three to nab a Governor’s Award for Pollution Prevention, the Pioneer Press reports.

It started when a local company, Creative Water Solutions, approached the city about trying the moss technology at the Highland Park Aquatic Center, at no charge.

Brad Meyer, a spokesperson for the Parks and Recreation department, explains via email that at the time, “The technology worked in smaller settings, but hadn’t been tried yet in large settings like a municipal pool,” he says.

The city’s pools get a lot of use, so water quality is a constant concern, according to Meyer.

To stay on top of it, more chemicals were being used, which is costlier and has environmental repercussions, he says.

In 2009, the city experimented with sphagnum moss at the Highland Park Aquatic Center. It fully rolled out the technology at the pool in 2010. At that time it also expanded it at the Great River Water Park. Como Pool will use the technology when it reopens in 2012, according to Meyer.  

Now, besides the regular chemical treatment that the water gets as it goes through various pipes in the mechanical room, it also gets filtered by the moss, which “re-conditions" it.

As a result of the technology, chemical use at the pools has been cut in half. Also, the moss doesn’t leave any residue, making cleanup at the end of the season easier, he says.

The renewable resource also benefits swimmers in that it “allows users to not experience the burning/itchy eyes and green hair that often come with normal municipal pools,” he says.   

Further, since the city adopted the technology, Creative Water Solutions has brought it to more than 50 municipal pools, according to Meyer.

Source: Brad Meyer, spokesperson, St. Paul Parks
Writer: Anna Pratt

At a public meeting on Sept. 20, some residents of St. Paul’s East Side will float an idea for a natural foods coop.

Beth Butterfield, one of the meeting's organizers, says that she's wanted to see a coop close to home ever since she moved to the area seven years ago.

About the East Side, which is the city's largest and most diverse neighborhood, she says, “I love it. I have friends here and I want to stay. But there are things that it could have to be more attractive," such as a natural foods coop.

Earlier this summer, she started talking it over with others who share her enthusiasm. Looking at other successful examples, such as the Mississippi Market on Selby and Dale avenues in St. Paul and The Wedge in Minneapolis, they wondered, “What would it take to open one?”  

Butterfield hopes the meeting will help to provide a sense for the level of support for such a “completely grassroots undertaking,” she says.

She says the timing makes sense because more and more people are interested in local organic foods and where they come from. A local coop would also help keep dollars in the community, which is especially needed on the East Side, she says. 

A coop could include a cafe and meeting space and feature items from local youth farmers.

However, to become a reality, the coop needs a committed group of volunteers. “A coop is about member-ownership. It’s not owned by one person,” which, she says, is what makes it a challenge to organize.

From the planning to the running of such a place, “It’s not just about food. It’s about bringing people together,” she says, adding, “That really is our grander goal in this.”

Source: Beth Butterfield, East Side natural foods coop organizer
Writer: Anna Pratt

On Spring Lake in Minneapolis, seven floating islands that were fashioned from everyday recyclables are serving as wildlife habitat. At the same time, they’re helping to remediate the lake’s impaired waters.

The islands, which come from the St. Paul-based company Midwest Floating Islands, feature native plants for a “concentrated wetland effect," according to a prepared statement about the project.

They were launched on the lake last week.

It’s the most significant example of this kind of technology at work in Minnesota, according to Craig Wilson, who serves on the board for the Lowry Hill neighborhood group.

Wilson is also a landscape architect who is the principal of the local green business, Sustology. He was instrumental in getting the islands set up.

The $50,000 Spring Lake project resulted from a collaboration between the Lowry Hill Neighborhood Association (LHNA) and the American Society of Landscape Architects Minnesota Chapter, along with numerous other partners.

This project was also featured on a national scale as a part of the Society’s “8/17/11” campaign to build awareness of its work.

The idea is to restore the historic bird and wildlife sanctuary, according to Wilson.

Birds and other animals hang out at the surface of the islands. Less visible are the microbes the islands attract beneath the surface, which are “responsible for breaking down water-borne pollutants,” according to a prepared statement about the project. 

Wilson says that the floating islands were originally part of the RiverFIRST proposal to transform a portion of the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities.  

RiverFIRST, which is still in early phases from TLS/KVA landscape architects and designers, is “a multifaceted and multidimensional vision for a renewed and revitalized Upper Riverfront," the website reads.

But as a result of the state government shutdown earlier this summer, the floating islands had to be relocated. That’s when Wilson thought about the close-to-home Spring Lake, which many people don’t even know exists, he says.

The Lowry Hill neighborhood group had previously helped with species removal in the lake but hadn’t yet tackled its water quality issues. “We realized that if we upgraded the number of islands, we’d be able to clean up the lake,” he says.

It was then that the project became more than a demonstration, something that “could benefit the whole lake,” he says, adding, “It’s also a great educational opportunity.”


Source: Craig Wilson, principal, Sustology
Writer: Anna Pratt



 
 

The locally based commercial real estate company, Java Properties, is already starting to fill up the spaces of its Suburban Avenue Town Center, which is still in planning stages.

The “destination center” will replace a former car dealership at 1891 Suburban Avenue in St. Paul, a site that’s long been underused, according to Betsy Leach, executive director of the District 1 Community Council.

She says that the developer has expressed interest in working with the neighborhood group on the project.  

The developer has “committed to working with us and the city on the Come Clean! litter reduction program and has committed to support of the public planters along Suburban Avenue,” she says via email.   

The four-building town center will include a chiropractor, salon, automotive repair, pet foods store, restaurants, and more, according to Mark Krogh, who works for Java Properties. “We have some strong prospects,” he says, adding, “We’re still looking for the best use.”  

On the whole, the idea is to recreate a kind of small town, he says.

The project preserves part of the old car dealership. “We’ll remodel the existing building to make it retail-friendly,” Krogh says.

“Right now it looks like a car dealership,” he says, explaining that windows and other features will be added to change its aesthetic.

Rain gardens that will help with stormwater management are a prominent part of the site plan.

Krogh says that details such as the project’s cost and timeline are still coming together.

“It’ll be a good development,” he says, adding, “We’re turning a bunch of asphalt into a thriving center.”

But besides the redevelopment aspect, he says the town center will be a boon for the area because, “It’ll create a lot of jobs.”

Source: Mark Krogh, Java Properties  
Writer: Anna Pratt  
 

The Garden of Feed'em, a community endeavor on St. Paul's East Side, has thrived in its first year. 

From the spring of 2010 to today, the garden, which sits on a two-acre piece of land near the Conway Recreation Center, has produced eggplants, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, cilantro, and other vegetables and herbs, thanks in part to donations, according to Barb Winter, who is one of the community members leading the charge. 

In return, lots of vegetables have gone to local food shelves, churches, and rec center seniors, Winter says.

The garden has also become a community gathering place.

It came together after she and some other garden organizers, with the support of the District 1 Community Council, got the go-ahead from the St. Paul parks and rec department. The department had called for community garden proposals for the parcel.

Volunteers brought in compost and then tilled the land a couple of times, she says. Fortunately, they were able to get the equipment needed to draw water from an area fire hydrant.  

Soon after, the volunteers spread the word about the garden at various neighborhood meetings. It's attracted plenty of interest ever since, she says.

As proof of that, the garden has grown from a handful of 5-foot by 30-foot plots last year to the current five communal plots, along with a dozen rentable plots that run 10 feet by 30 feet.

One thing that makes the garden unique is that a diverse group grows food there, including representatives from a handful of local immigrant communities plus rec center youth. "I'm really glad to see all of the participation," Winter says, adding, "It's a nice melting pot."   

Everyone takes turns watering the garden, she says.

At monthly meetings, the gardeners discuss issues such as a Japanese beetle infestation and slow-to-ripen tomatoes, and they share tips and recipes.

In the coming months, Winter is hoping the Garden will be able to host a fall festival.

She says it's been a boon for the neighborhood. "It was a lot of work in the beginning to see the harvest and growth, and now everyone's caught on," she says. "It's a beautiful thing."


Source: Barb Winter, organizer, Garden of Feed'em  
Writer: Anna Pratt

Plans for bike-ability on the east side of Minneapolis are coming together in 'bits and pieces,' says Michael Rainville, a bike enthusiast who lives in the St. Anthony West neighborhood.

He helped organize the recent Eastside Bike Summit, which drew nearly 80 people to the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis.

Getting bike trails on this part of the city is tough because so many different levels of government have to sign off on things, he says.

But Rainville is hopeful about the area's future bike-friendliness.

The 5th Street/2nd Avenue Northeast bike boulevard is a highly anticipated project that Rainville estimates will be completed within the next couple of months. 

"It's been talked about for years," he says, adding that with several traffic circles and a stoplight, "it'll be a nice safe place for people to ride their bikes going south through the east side of town," all the way to Columbia Heights.

Also, a bike lane is slated for Main Street and Marshall Avenue Northeast, from 1st Avenue Northeast to Broadway, though the segment that would go to Lowry is on hold.

Also proposed are bike lanes for Central and 37th avenues Northeast to the Mississippi River and on 18th Avenue Northeast from Monroe Street Northeast to the Quarry Shopping Center.

To help bicyclists safely cross the busy East Hennepin and 1st avenues northeast, which are part of a city streetcar study, a meeting-goer suggested that a bike lane go on the bridges and continue down the street. "All it would take is a couple gallons of paint," Rainville says.    

It's a good example of "the purpose of these summits, to get new creative ideas and talk about them out loud," he adds.

Rainville hopes that another bike summit will happen this winter. "Passion is all spread out. It's coming from all over the east side," he says.


Source: Michael Rainville, Eastside Bike Summit organizer
Writer: Anna Pratt

The 12-year-old Mississippi Market Natural Foods Cooperative store on Selby Avenue in St. Paul is due for some upgrades, according to company general manager Gail Graham.

It's about the overall maintenance of the place while also keeping pace with customer demands. "All stores need to be freshened up and it's time for that to happen to this one," she says.

As one part of the $400,000 remodeling project, new energy-efficient refrigerators are on the way. "We're improving some coolers. That won't be visible to customers but it'll help us manage the flow of goods more efficiently," she says.  

Further, the checkout stands will be rearranged to "make better use of space," with an additional express lane. Other cosmetic improvements involve a fresh coat of paint, flooring upgrades and new lighting fixtures.

The coop is also introducing a new salad bar and deli. 

Right now, the market is in the process of getting equipment bids and it hopes to begin work on the place in the fall, she says. During that time, the store will stay open. 

Separately, in the future, the coop is hoping to add another dozen parking spots to its existing 66.

Last month the coop acquired a nearby house that had long been vacant. "Our intention is to get the property rezoned to allow for business use, demolish the house and expand our parking," the website reads.

Considering that the store sees 145 employees and nearly 1,000 customers daily, expanding its parking even that much is a big deal, she says.

Graham says the coop is trying to build community support for the idea.

Although she admits that the economy is rough, she says, "That doesn't stop us from continuing to move forward and improving the buildings so we can continue to provide the level of service that customers expect and deserve," she says. 


Source: Gail Graham, general manager, Mississippi Market Natural Foods Cooperative
Writer: Anna Pratt

The Bachelor Farmer restaurant is introducing the first rooftop urban farm to Minneapolis, while also fully renovating an historic warehouse space in the North Loop neighborhood.

The Nordic-themed restaurant, which recently hosted a series of "soft openings," is part of a larger effort from brothers Andrew and Eric Dayton to turn around the 1881 brick-and-timber warehouse, according to restaurant information.

In 2008, the Daytons acquired the property, which once housed McMillan Fur and Wool, Northwestern Grease Wool Co., and Marvel Rack.

The restaurant has an 85-seat main dining room and a 15-seat bar, while the second floor has some additional dining and private space. 

Throughout the renovation process, the Daytons, who are the sons of Governor Mark Dayton, were "careful to preserve as much of the original character of the building as possible," a prepared statement about the restaurant  reads. 

In keeping with the building's history, the restaurant dubbed one section the Marvel Bar. A men's clothing store is planned for next door, according to Heavy Table.  

Cydney Wuerffel, a spokesperson for the restaurant, says that it's still a work in progress. "While they've quietly opened the doors to The Bachelor Farmer, the team is still in the process of transforming the space," she states in an email.   

In a recent Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine story, Stephanie March describes the space, which has a fireplace, skylight, and lounge, as one that "celebrates the inherent beauty of the old aesthetics, while bringing in a new, cool vibe. The old floorboards will be preserved, but there might be a cutting-edge mural on the wall."

Source: Cydney Wuerffel, media contact for The Bachelor Farmer
Writer: Anna Pratt

At an August 4 community meeting at Farview Park Recreation Center in Minneapolis, people got a chance to learn more about the RiverFirst proposal for redeveloping a 5.5-mile stretch of the Mississippi River. It starts at the Stone Arch Bridge and goes north. 

The meeting focused on benefits for the city's North and Northeast areas, which are largely cut off from the river, along with the idea of "problem-solving" parks that would be destinations, according to a prepared statement about the event.

It's part of a broadly based community engagement effort to gather feedback about the RiverFirst proposal--under the umbrella of the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative--for re-imagining this portion of the riverfront. The TLS/KVA team of landscape architects and designers won a design competition earlier this year to bring its proposal to fruition.

RiverFirst is a multifaceted plan for revitalizing the riverfront. It includes everything from riverfront trails to a "biohaven" that would use recycled materials to form a riparian habitat for endangered species and migratory birds, according to project information.
   
Right now the design team is working to refine its proposal, studying its feasibility and gathering public input, according to project manager Mary deLaittre. On Sept. 21, the team will present its recommendations and implementation plans to the city's park board.

HR&A Advisors from New York is working closely with the design team to come up with a strategic plan "that will shape the priority projects and financing approaches," she says.  

Six youth ambassadors are also working to help spread the word about the project and collect feedback at various community events.

One idea that has been well received, deLaittre says, is for a green land bridge over I-94 to link Farview Park to the river. It's a creative solution for reconnecting this part of the city with the river and other parks and trails.

DeLaittre underscores the need for community input, for which people can fill out an online survey. All along the way, comments and images from people are being featured on the website under the heading, "River Is."

"This is a big civic project and it's imperative that people weigh in," she says.

That being said, "The level of support has been tremendous," she says, adding, "People are very interested in making sure it happens."

The project has also attracted the attention of a delegation from Seattle who are  running a civic design competition. In coming to the Twin Cities, the delegation "wanted to emulate the innovative community engagement and coalition-building," she says. 


Source: Mary deLaittre, project manager for Mississippi Riverfront Development Initiative and founder and principal of Groundwork City Building
Writer: Anna Pratt

This summer, several wind turbines have been welded to the rooftop of the building at 1010 Dale Street North in St. Paul. Soon, a fourth one will go on a separate pole in the parking lot.

The installation will be the first urban wind farm in the country, according to building owner Tony Magnotta, who also heads several companies, including Minnesota Wind Technology, which is housed in the building.

Macalester College also has a wind turbine-system, but wind as a main power source is a new phenomenon in the city, St. Paul's Monitor reports. As such, getting the proper city approvals was a challenge.

Magnotta's building will be a kind of test that will help inform more detailed city policies on the subject further down the line, the Monitor reports.

Additionally, solar panels will also make the building "totally self-sufficient," energy-wise, Magnotta says.

The wind turbines that Magnotta is using are the product of a Taiwanese company that will soon be setting up shop in St. Paul, he says. "These are the only ones that are viable in an urban environment."

In fact, they're built to withstand wind speeds of up to 134 miles per hour, the Monitor reports. They move with the wind, not against it, and they shut down when the wind becomes too powerful, the story explains.  

At $20,000 for each wind turbine and $50,000 for the solar panels, it's a big investment. But between federal government incentives and long-term energy savings, he says, it's a good deal.

And, rising utility costs coupled with growing environmental concerns mean that soon enough "we'll all have to do this," he says.


Source: Tony Magnotta, CEO, Minnesota Wind Technology, LLC  
Writer: Anna Pratt

Earlier this month, a group of transportation and policy leaders from Pittsburgh, Penn., and Columbus, Ohio, came to Minneapolis to check out its growing bicycle network as a part of a Bikes Belong Foundation workshop.

Gary Sjoquist, government affairs director for Bikes Belong, a national organization that works to increase bicycling, says that it has led similar workshops in Boulder, Colo. and Portland, Ore., "places where there've been significant changes to increase bicycling." 

The group, which is planning another get-together in New York City in the fall, also hosts international tours in cities such as Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Munster, Germany, where 40 percent of all trips are taken by bicycle.

When people attend the workshops, "they get to experience it, ride it, and philosophically understand what's going on," he says.

Often a city official will think that developing bicycling infrastructure is a low priority because participation won't be high enough. By coming to Minneapolis or another city, "they can see how bicycling has been integrated and implement what they've seen," he says.  

Those who visited Minneapolis got to see that "what it's like when there are more vehicles on a bike trail than cars on a street nearby, like on certain parts of the greenway," he says.

By the Walker Art Center, where 15th Street intersects with Hennepin Avenue South near Loring Park, the bike lane goes from the street to the sidewalk. "Cyclists can do a left turn on a busy intersection to reach the bike trail," he says. "It's unique to move the bike lane to the sidewalk. I don't think there's any other treatment like it in the U.S."    

Only blocks away, near First Avenue, the bike lane is placed between the line of parked cars and the curb. "That's a lesson from Amsterdam, to move the bike lane to where there are fewer doors opening. It makes for smoother riding for the cyclist," he explains.

Additionally, Minneapolis's bicycle network will grow by 40 percent over the next couple of years, as a related $25 million federal grant continues to be spent. "That's another thing that really struck people who came," he says. "Minneapolis is pretty good in this area, but it will get a lot better once [more] is built." 


Source: Gary Sjoquist, government affairs director, Bikes Belong
Writer: Anna Pratt

For its second project since it started just over three years ago, the St. Paul Parks Conservancy will tackle the outdoor ballfields--the last round of facility improvements at the Oxford Community Center (Jimmy Lee). 

(As a part of its initial project, the conservancy was instrumental in getting various landscape-related enhancements for Lilydale Regional Park. )

Leslie Cook, the nonprofit's interim executive director, describes the center, which was a training ground for baseball greats Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor and Joe Mauer, as the "crown jewel of recreational centers in the city."
 
In 2008, the $15 million new building at the Oxford Community Center, which is centrally located in the Rondo neighborhood, opened with a new water park, meeting rooms, "teaching kitchen" for healthy eating, two multi-sports courts, sprung dance floor, and exercise room. "It's a great resource for that area," she says.

But during field construction on the facility's north side, heavy metals were found in the soil, which led to its closure in March 2010. The site's contamination was an unexpected stumbling block.

As a result, children who play on teams that would use the field have to be bused to other locations. "We're adding this energy element the longer we put it off," she says.

Despite the momentum around it, the project likely would've been postponed for some time by the city, but the board thought it was important. "It was close to be being a completed amenity and the board thought it should step up and make it happen."

The MPCA and EPA began remediation work earlier this month while the conservancy is trying to raise $361,000�the gap left in the $1 million project by the contamination�for the field lighting, multi-sport synthetic turf markings, goal posts, backstops, and drinking fountains, according to the website.

It will accommodate football, soccer, baseball, softball, and more. The synthetic turf field will have a drainage system that will make the fields usable even after it rains, she says.


Source: Leslie Cook, interim executive director, St. Paul Parks Conservancy 
Writer: Anna Pratt