urbanMSP

http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/259824531.html

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I think this is the way to go. While I there are many things I think the Park Board does right, they obviously are more focused on buying up land to build new parks and maintaining/improving parks outside downtown proper (Chain of Lakes, Minnehaha, etc.) Even the Mill Ruins Park and Sculpture Garden could be better maintained. Many other major cities who have recently or are in the process of building new urban parks also are funded/managed by conservatories.

i don't really get this. it's a squrare block and a half. it's not this huge space. isn't this why we have a park board with it's own taxing authority.

I'm also wondering if we're maybe overthinking this. We're not talking about adding another Loring Park or Powderhorn Park here. It's another Washburn Fair Oaks, at most. I get that this park will need significant programming and maintenance than a neighborhood park, regardless of its size. It just seems like there should a little more public dialogue about this before jumping in head first.

I agree with Council President Johnson's assessment that downtown parks are a different animal- “Because they’re very expensive to maintain and you are able to produce revenue off of them by having events,” Johnson said. “But somebody’s got to take care of that booking, promoting active use, all that sort of thing, and that isn’t necessarily the expertise of people in government.”

But CM Frey's comments freak me out a little: Frey said the agreement could come in the next few weeks because the park is on a “tight timeline.“It’s important that we have an end decision so that we have an entity that is able to fundraise.”

I'm keen on the idea, as the best option we have on the table. For public perception and proper governance, it would go a long ways to ensure there's proper separation between a park conservancy and the Wilf/Vikings organizations. If they're going to rent it out all day on gamedays, it should be the same process/fees/etc as any other organizer would have.

I'm keen on the idea, as the best option we have on the table. For public perception and proper governance, it would go a long ways to ensure there's proper separation between a park conservancy and the Wilf/Vikings organizations. If they're going to rent it out all day on gamedays, it should be the same process/fees/etc as any other organizer would have.

The Vikings already get exclusive use of the park fifty-some days a year thanks to their million dollar "donation". Do you think we're all the sudden gonna treat the Vikings like any other organization?

I am strongly against giving any private stakeholders any more say in the operation of the park than a typical neighbour would receive. The idea of having Ryan, Wells, or the Vikings as board members of a third-party management team for the park reeks like Millennium Park or the All-Star game "clean zone". I really don't enjoy having the priorities of connected private parties commandeer supposedly public space from us. Build a public park, and let the Park Board own and operate it.

I am strongly against giving any private stakeholders any more say in the operation of the park than a typical neighbour would receive. The idea of having Ryan, Wells, or the Vikings as board members of a third-party management team for the park reeks like Millennium Park or the All-Star game "clean zone". I really don't enjoy having the priorities of connected private parties commandeer supposedly public space from us. Build a public park, and let the Park Board own and operate it.

I understand this comment but the difficult bit comes when you see the checks that they can write for maintenance, programming, etc. It becomes hard to turn down checks with a lot of zeros over principle. Unfortunately money is probably going to win out over principle.

Also, the Park Board in recent history has been a badly managed, parochial organization that's been coasting on the good work done a century ago. I really don't trust them to be the lead on this park.

Also, the Park Board in recent history has been a badly managed, parochial organization that's been coasting on the good work done a century ago. I really don't trust them to be the lead on this park.

Sadly I agree. With the exception of a few projects - Mills Ruins and RiverFirst. But RiverFirst seems to highly ambitious considering costs, etc.

Webcam: http://oxblue.com/open/ryanco/downtowneast

Judging by the angle and the presence of the Hennepin County building in the foreground, that camera is mounted on the Capella Tower. Sweet.

new york times piece with emphasis on downtown east.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/28/reale ... polis&_r=0

You can also see this project on from the aerial view webcam of the Vikings stadium.

The two new Wells Fargo buildings are ugly. This is 2014. Can't they build something that looks like 2014 and beyond? At least, the new Vikings stadium looks nice. I was afraid it would look like the one in Indianapolis.

I'm pretty sure that's KSTP's "illustration" of the air rights development slapped onto an old rendering.

To my knowledge, there aren't any updated renderings of the entire DTE area that include the parking ramp development. Heck, they haven't even updated the renderings to include the streets that will be cutting up the park.

It's also important to remember that the air rights development is essentially a separate project from the Wells Fargo blocks. The proposed hotel/apartment tower hasn't even sought approval by the city yet. Only the sale of the air rights was approved.

Sure there were updated renderings, KSTP is just awful about this kind of thing.


But none of the renderings illustrate the Wells buildings at 17 floors, that I am interested to see.

The park looks grand in the picture, but it'll occupy only two city blocks, so it's even smaller than Gold Medal Park by the Guthrie. Talking about Gold Medal Park, I still don't understand it. Can't they put a sculpture, a fountain or some interesting benches on it to make it look a little bit more interesting??

It looked like the base of a tower crane was going up on the west block this morning.

The park looks grand in the picture, but it'll occupy only two city blocks, so it's even smaller than Gold Medal Park by the Guthrie. Talking about Gold Medal Park, I still don't understand it. Can't they put a sculpture, a fountain or some interesting benches on it to make it look a little bit more interesting??

Actually, no. The park will be three city blocks - including the LRT stop running through the first block and what seems like it'll be a small, narrow development at the north end of the park. I'm guessing it'll come out to 2 1/2 blocks of park space or so, which should be a bit bigger or comparable to Gold Medal.

(And Gold Medal Park is beautiful, in my opinion. Walking up the spiral to eat lunch or chill with a gorgeous view of the city or falls? Perfect on a nice day.?)

Yeah no need for a sculpture. Sometimes bright green grass in the city next to a river is all you need

The park looks grand in the picture, but it'll occupy only two city blocks, so it's even smaller than Gold Medal Park by the Guthrie. Talking about Gold Medal Park, I still don't understand it. Can't they put a sculpture, a fountain or some interesting benches on it to make it look a little bit more interesting??

Actually, no. The park will be three city blocks - including the LRT stop running through the first block and what seems like it'll be a small, narrow development at the north end of the park. I'm guessing it'll come out to 2 1/2 blocks of park space or so, which should be a bit bigger or comparable to Gold Medal.

(And Gold Medal Park is beautiful, in my opinion. Walking up the spiral to eat lunch or chill with a gorgeous view of the city or falls? Perfect on a nice day.?)

I really wish that the apartment building wasnt there and this was a full 3 blocks