Dayton's Bluff : Development News

The City of St. Paul recently revealed the latest draft of the comprehensive St. Paul Bicycle Plan, which proposes adding more than 200 miles of bikeways to the city. Incorporating public input on a previous draft of the plan, the latest manifestation takes a wider look at bicycling in the city. The plan now addresses bicycle parking, traffic signals, bicycle counting programs and other topics.
 
“This is a very significant effort,” says Reuben Collins, transportation planner and engineer, St. Paul Department of Public Works. “This is the first time the city has had a stand-alone vision for bicycling across all the city departments and the first time that we’ve really looked at the neighborhood level to ask what are the bicycle connections.”
 
St. Paul residents voiced feedback on the plan at a series of open house events and through Open St. Paul, as well as in personal emails and letters. Much of the community input called for addressing questions around wayfinding, trail lighting and zoning codes that would require bike parking in new developments, and encourage the incorporation of locker rooms and shower facilities to better accommodate bike commuters. The plan was revised to include much of that community feedback, according to Collins.
 
In development since 2011, the plan’s major aim is to complete the Grand Round trail system originally envisioned in the late-1880s as a figure-eight loop encircling both Minneapolis and St. Paul. The plan would also add a 1.7-mile loop in downtown St. Paul, which has been a notable void in the city’s bicycling infrastructure.
 
There is currently a recognizable disparity in the geographical layout of bikeways throughout the city, as well. While bicycling facilities are relatively abundant in the western half of the city, historically, there has not been equal investment in bicycling infrastructure on the East Side of St. Paul, according to Collins.
 
“I think there are a lot of reasons for that (disparity), but it’s something we are very aware of and looking to change,” he says. “We are looking to address that and reach some sort of geographical equity throughout the city.”
 
While city-specific numbers are hard to come by—something the plan seeks to address with bike counting protocol and programs—regional studies show a steady incline in the number of people riding bikes throughout the Twin Cities.
 
Bicycling rates increased 78 percent in the metro area from 2007 to 2013, according to a report from Bike Walk Twin Cities, a program of Transit for Livable Communities.
 
While Minneapolis is consistently ranked amongst the top bicycling cities in the country, St. Paul has struggled to keep up with its bike-friendly sibling to the West. “Certainly we can say anecdotally we know there are a lot more people riding bicycles [in St. Paul],” Collins says.
 
The St. Paul Bicycle Plan looks to solidify that growth in ridership by cementing an official citywide vision for bicycling. Planners hope to have the plan incorporated into the St. Paul Comprehensive Plan; one of the plan’s goals is St. Paul becoming a world-class bicycling city.
 
Sources of funding for the long-range plan will be “many and various,” Collins says. One significant potential source is the 8-80 Vitality Fund proposed by Mayor Chris Coleman. In his budget address this summer, Coleman earmarked $17.5 million to rebuild “key portions of our streets,” including completing Phase One of the downtown bike loop as laid out in the Bicycle Plan. He dedicated another $13.2 million towards completion of the Grand Rounds.
 
“It will be a very sizable investment to really get the ball rolling to implement the recommendations in the plan,” Collins said of the Mayor’s funding priorities with the 8-80 Vitality Fund.
 
The plan will next go before the Saint Paul Planning Commission October 17 where another public hearing will likely be set. After that, it goes back to the transportation committee, back to the Planning Commission, then on to the City Council for a final vote and hopefully adoption. Collins says the earliest he expects the plan to be put up for a vote is February of 2015.
 
 
 
 

Hidden in the urban jungle of concrete and steel is a whole natural world waiting to be rediscovered and explored, says local artist and botanist Sarah Nassif. The new Green Line light-rail stations, she adds, are a great place to start.

Nassif’s new project, The Other Green Line, supported by Irrigate Arts, asks participants to start thinking of Green Line stations as not only jumping off points to previously unexplored businesses and restaurants, but also as trailheads leading to underappreciated natural beauty and history.

“The more you look, the more you see, and it happens really fast,” Nassif says of taking time to notice the natural world along the Central Corridor.

The Other Green Line is a field guide for amateur urban naturalists. Nassif organized the book into eight, themed nature “forays” along the Green Line.

One follows the path of a wayward black bear that took itself on a walk through the Frogtown neighborhood in 2012. Another explores the Kasota Wetlands near the Raymond Station, which are a remnant of a 1,000-acre backwater once fed by the free-flowing Mississippi.

The forays take participants through several different biomes—less identifiable today than they were 100 years ago. Lowertown was once dense forest, for instance. The area around the Victoria Station used to be prairie.

Tower Hill in Prospect Park is one of many glacial hills that once dotted the Minneapolis landscape before most were mined for gravel. Tower Hill still stands because neighbors bought the site and turned it into a park to keep it from being mined.

Tower Hill, Nassif says, “speaks volumes [about] how much the landscape changes because we’re here, and how people coming together and being aware together about nature can have a powerful effect on what’s here for future generations.”

In addition to the eight self-guided forays in the book, Nassif is leading a series of three tours. The first began at Bedlam Theater last Saturday and explored the white sandstone cliffs along the Mississippi River once used as natural refrigeration for kegs of beer, as well as pirate safe keeps and hideouts. Tour goers also noticed stones mined from area quarries and used in the Endicott Building at 141 E. 4th Street.

“It’s just interesting to stand there and realize you’re standing on what used be an ocean, that’s why the sandstone exists—it used to be the bottom of a sea,” Nassif says.

Also in the field guide are lists of area businesses for excursion supplies, and suggestions for where to cozy up to a beer and a meal when you’re finished. “There are tons of new places to explore both in the landscape and in the humanscape,” Nassif says.

Nassif’s field guide contains blank pages to draw and record what you find. You can also share your findings, sketches and stories on The Other Green Line website, where there is a list of area businesses carrying the book and information on upcoming guided tours.

 

The St. Paul site where the Margaret Recreation Center once stood is now a pile of rubble. But many community members who live or work close to the center are optimistic about the site’s future.

Brad Meyer, a spokesperson for the city’s parks and recreation department, says, “Margaret is one of those unique sites that has a very active immediate neighborhood surrounding it.” That being said, the center “hasn’t received a lot of use beyond its tot-lot for many years.”

It probably didn't help that the building was in bad shape. A system-wide parks planning process, which the department undertook last fall, found that if the building’s partner left, it would need to be torn down. In this case, a partnership with the Hmong Youth Education Services didn’t work out.

Because resources are limited, a timeline for redevelopment at the site is yet to be determined. “At the very least, the site will receive new grass immediately this spring and access to the popular play area/tot lot will continue,” he says.

Part of the site could stay open for athletics while renovations are underway. “We are very optimistic we can find a solution that the neighborhood will be happy with, and are looking forward to working with them as part of the next steps for the site,” he says.

A group called the Stewards of Margaret Park (STOMP) is getting organized to help guide the site’s redevelopment. The preliminary plan calls for a walking path, ice skating rink, grading of the park’s hill for sledding, bathrooms, picnic pavilions, and a basketball court, according to a story from Lillie News.  

Also, a sort of “truck stop” might be set up to park and host mobile programs like the Artmobile or Bookmobile, the story states.

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

180 Degrees, Inc., in St. Paul, which has a mission to turn lives around, has big plans to establish a youth development campus on East Seventh Street.    

To pull it off, the organization is trying to raise $2.8 million. It invested $1 million into acquiring the W.B. Martin Lumber Company site in 2011, developing a parking lot and converting one building into space for offices and programming, according to Richard Gardell, the president and CEO of 180 Degrees.

The 1.5-acre lumberyard, which dates back to the early 1900s, had been pretty rundown, and it was vacant for several years, he says.  

Where there were “quite a bit of old buildings and dilapidation, we saw a vision for a youth development campus,” he says. The organization had outgrown its former site on the East Side at that point.

To carry out the plan, the organization needs to remove a building, once a barbershop, on Seventh to make way for a youth crisis center. The new building will be in keeping with the area’s architectural style, Gardell says.

A pole barn on the site will stay intact for recreational purposes while another building will provide for various entrepreneurial activities for youth, including several related to construction trades.  

180 Degrees also plans to turn the old English Street, a dirt road, into green space, with community gardens, to connect the properties on the site.  

The organization is working with neighbors to “make sure to address concerns related to access on Seventh Street,” he says. “We hope it’s a win-win,” especially as that relates to improving the lot’s appearance.

The green space will help reduce dust and traffic and improve the quality of life in the area. “We’re planning on the community garden being a space to gather and grow together,” Gardell says, adding, “We hope the rest of campus provides services to neighbors” and the larger community.

The organization hopes to break ground in the spring, he says.

Source: Richard Gardell, 180 Degrees
Writer: Anna Pratt

A century-old building on Saint Paul's East Seventh Street, which has sat empty for nearly a decade, could soon be redeveloped to include office and retail space along with loft-style apartments.

Covenant Capital, a local developer that specializes in residential properties, plans to renovate the two-story brick building, which previously housed a cigar factory, a bowling shoe manufacturer, and a police station.

Ben Hosfield, a spokesperson for Covenant, says, “It’s kind of a property that’s been unnoticeable over the years,” explaining that a couple of other buildings, including a former discount tire store, covered it up.   

However, the tire store building will soon be torn down. “That will open up the space to the property,” he says. “Something could be done with that large space further down the road. It’s a big lot.”   

Although the project’s details, including the cost, are still coming together, it’ll likely take $340,000 to make the building meet modern code requirements, the Pioneer Press reports.   

To fit the building’s historic character, Covenant wants to add an exterior awning to the entryway. That will be subject to approval by the city’s heritage preservation commission, as the building belongs to the Dayton’s Bluff historic district, Hosfield says.

Potentially, there could be a restaurant on the main level, or some other type of storefront retail. Office suites, which will be built to suit, and apartments will go on the second floor, while a basement level, which the police had used for a gym, could become storage space or some other type of amenity. “’It’s a matter of how do we use that space?’” Hosfield says. “It’s still in question.”
 
Construction will probably start next year.

With other projects underway nearby, “We’ve seen the neighborhood start to redevelop,” he says, adding, “We hope we’re part of the neighborhood coming back.”

Source: Ben Hosfield, Covenant Capital
Writer: Anna Pratt  

Metropolitan State University is working with the local architecture firm BWBR to design a new $25 million science center for its St. Paul campus.

The 59,000-square-foot facility includes laboratories, lecture and demonstration classrooms, seminar rooms, offices, and support spaces--all in one place, according to BWBR information.

Beyond its biology and life science tracks, the school will be able to add chemistry and physics minors along with earth, space, and environment courses.
 
John Strachota, a vice president at BWBR who is a principal on the project, says that the school's existing science facilities are limiting.

Right now, the school has to "triple up students and it has to schedule things so everyone gets a chance. It's hard to deliver their programs that way because there are so few resources."

Although the design is still coming together, he says he envisions an open, flexible style of lab design that brings together experimentation and discussion.

On a broader level, one goal of the project is to design the center so that "The moment you see the building, it will express and teach science."

Passersby might be able to catch a glimpse of what's happening inside the labs through windows, while technological tools could display the building's real-time energy use.

The building will also have gathering spaces for students to continue learning in informal ways.

Metropolitan State wants to pursue a high level of LEED certification, which recognizes green building accomplishments.  

At this time, the school hopes to open the center in the summer of 2014.

Source: John Strachota, AIA, LEED AP, vice president, BWBR
Writer: Anna Pratt

St. Paul city officials, community members, and other stakeholders are mulling over ideas to help preserve, restore, and improve Indian Mounds Regional Park. A 20-member task force will present plans at an open house this week. 

The century-old Indian Mounds Regional Park, in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood, is a segment of the Battle Creek Regional Park, according to city information.

Indian Mounds Park has a history as a sacred Indian burial ground going back 2,000 years, starting with the Hopewell culture. Later the area was sacred to the Dakota Indians. Only six of at least 37 original mounds still exist today.

The park hasn't been updated much since the 1970s, according to parks spokesperson Brad Meyer.  

Meyer says the planning process dovetails with a larger visioning effort that's underway, including the Great River Park Plan, which is about making the St. Paul riverfront more natural, more urban, and more connected, project materials state.  

The Great River plan will outline where the city's parks will be in 25 years, Meyer says. In the future,Indian Mounds Park could have volleyball and bocce ball courts, gateway features, and a garden, for instance.

Other ideas are for a dog park, tennis courts, exercise stations, and a revamped amphitheater, according to project materials. Some mounds may be relocated, while native plantings would help restore the prairie.  

The core idea is that Indian Mounds is a destination park, with a lot of potential for becoming a unique place, Meyer says, adding that it's "a significant step into the future of what could be another premium park."  
    
The plan will move to the City Council in February before heading to the Metropolitan Council.
 

Source: Brad Meyer, St. Paul parks public information officer
Writer: Anna Pratt

It was the way the last rays of the setting sun lit up the red brick of the old Hamm's brewery that struck Murph Dawkins one evening six years ago. "It glowed like a ruby," she recalls. As she stood agape in Swede Hollow, a ravine park on St. Paul's near East Side, Dawkins said to herself, "Wow, I've got to share this."

Dawkins called Karin DuPaul, hoping to spark interest in the wondrous if fleeting sight she'd just beheld. DuPaul, who heads the Friends of Swede Hollow group and is a longtime organizer for the Dayton's Bluff Community Council, is quick to recognize a good idea and handy with a phone tree. "She doesn't need any extreme encouragement," Dawkins says.

The pair dreamed up a community gathering, dubbed simply "Watch the Glow," to be centered on viewing the sun's spectacular lighting of the brewery. The first "Watch the Glow," on a late October day in 2005, drew about 50 people who took in the transitory sight of the glowing brewery then shared a picnic dinner.

Saving the vacant brewery complex was a not-so-hidden item on the revelers' agenda. When brewing ceased in the mid-1990s, private developer Everest LLC took over the property, successfully renovating buildings on the north side of Minnehaha Avenue for artists' lofts and other uses.

But the discovery that the brewery land included part of Swede Hollow itself led the City of St. Paul to purchase the parcels south of Minnehaha that also hold the historic buildings neighbors hold dear. "Watch the Glow" invitations went out to city leaders who then were considering demolition--a threat that has now passed, DuPaul says. The buildings are safely mothballed, and three are poised to house an Asian Pacific Cultural Center when funding is found.

Some years, cloud cover or uncooperative weather mutes the event's eponymous effect. DuPaul recalls one year when the assembled were resigned to the show having been a bust--before the sun burst through at precisely the right moment to set the vacant Hamm's brewhouse ablaze.

This year's Watch the Glow was held last Saturday, preceded by a performance of the operetta "Tales of Hoffmann" in the Hollow. DuPaul was ready to document the glow, should it happen. She snapped a photo from the back of the crowd as they watched the sunset's sudden appearance. By the time they turned to face her for another picture, the show was over.  

Sources: Murph Dawkins, Friends of Swede Hollow; Karin DuPaul, Dayton's Bluff Community Council
Writer: Chris Steller