urbanMSP

For my Sustainability class this semester, I will be researching and presenting on Scherer Field, also (I think) called Hall Island. This is the open grassy area north of Boom Island between Sibley St and the river.

According to my instructor, there are already finalized plans for a park here, but there is not yet funding. Does anyone know more about this? Or does anyone know where I might find more information, or know anyone involved, etc?

Thanks!

Googling "Hall's Island restoration" should get you what you're after. The park board wants to dredge the river and restore the island. Feds aren't stoked about the idea though. I think it's part of the River North master plan.

I'm curious if anyone has any connection to a person who worked/is working on the project. I know it is an element of RiverFirst. Ideally, someone to interview about it would be cool.

Did we really somehow miss all of the excitement with Graco and the Park Board re: Hall's Island?

Looks like there's some movement which could lead to a nice compromise.

Is that really much of a compromise? It seems like Graco gets pretty much everything it wants to including a rinkydink concession stand in their building.

They talk about the lease being part of this, but wasn't that kind of already something that would have happened if Graco had developed over there anyway?

Here is the proposal that is too suburban even for the Park Board (starts on page 253):

http://minneapolisparksmn.iqm2.com/Citi ... nline=True

This is the only rendering I could find, although there are a lot of more schematic views in the packet:



I also would have thought the Park Board would have been impressed by a proposal to build a giant parking ramp to loom over their new showpiece park.

Edit: this area isn't really downtown. Would you say Elsie's is downtown?

Oh man. Also, I was scrolling through that link and saw schematics showing a recreated Hall's Island. I thought the DNR (I think it was them) laughed the Parks Board under the table about that, saying no way in hell are they going to be dumping fill and messing around with the river.

Gotta keep that shipping channel open. Oh wait...

Can someone please clear things up about this project for me? Is it funded? Is there a start date? Is Graco required to be in the mix?

Is it funded?

It's Minneapolis parks, take a wild guess...

But really, the best deal by far for the park system is if Graco stays put, builds here and pays rent for the land to cover the operating costs. It's amazing they're still here anyways considering how they've been treated like shit throughout this by the almighty MPB, god's gift to Minnesota.

Well, lets see. They let them expand on parkland and vacate two public streets. Totally treated like shit. Then they want more parkland to build on instead of using one of their numerous river adjacent surface lots. Must be tough.

Well, lets see. They let them expand on parkland and vacate two public streets. Totally treated like shit. Then they want more parkland to build on instead of using one of their numerous river adjacent surface lots. Must be tough.

-1

http://finance-commerce.com/2016/11/par ... ite-again/ (locked, sorry)

To save others from clicking the link, if you don't have a subscription this is what it says: "Park Board seeks developer for Scherer Bros. site – again."

I plan to testify in favor of this at Wednesday's meeting. When work began on Halls Island in earnest last year, they hadn't planned to pitch for a second round of funding to complete the park (I assume so they could continue on upriver). Happened to be at an event yesterday just across the street from here with the mayor and NE park commissioner. To answer Grant's question from twitter - Chris said the Graco foundation donation will pay to complete the park, including the trail under the bridge to boom island, and (I think also) that staircase from the plymouth bridge down to halls island. Their purchase of 2/3 of parcel D will pay for the park board's development of its remaining 1/3 adjacent to 8th Ave NE.

Jacob is ***really*** excited about this, likely because this is the first thing he can point to building as mayor (I mean, duh, building stuff is the best part of being mayor). The best part about this deal in my mind is that the park comes before the buildings. My biggest fear about this area has always been massive underutilization of public riverfront land, so putting off development until the park is complete in 2022 assuages that in my mind.

We need to make a STRONG connection from Plymouth Bridge to the Grain Belt neighborhood. Lots of new units over there with a growing retail and employment center. We almost need like a greenway that diagonals from Marshall/Broadway down to the new park and development. Lined with more housing, a new building for the teachers union, etc.

The diagram in the Biz Journal article helped me understand a bit better how the land was being sorted out.

So does "MPRB Parcel D" become an extension of Graco Park, or is the MPRB going to sell it for private development?

Because of the way the land was financed, Parcel D could ever become a "park" but had to be redeveloped. The intention was always for the development to finance the park so MPRB put out an RFP in 2016 for mixed use but got no interest, except from Graco to build offices. Developers were more interested in 15x larger Upper Harbor Terminal.

As part of Graco's Parcel D purchase, they will mitigate all 3 developable acres for flood control purposes (unsure how, maybe a basin?). This will leave it buildable for the future. Park Board intends to keep their 1 acre for park building development. The original 3 acre idea was a boathouse and maybe restaurant, but I think this is good because it increases development pressure on the land for the park board to make it extra good. Boom Island is a big draw for regional events but really lacks the occupied park building it deserves.