urbanMSP

Secondly: the stairs down to the lower trail from the foot of the Stone Arch bridge have been broken all summer and chained off, but there was no signage directing visitors to use the other set of stairs (closer to the A Mill) that are not blocked off. This MPRB complaint is valid all the time, not just during this event. Closing a popular park feature and not directing people to a safer alternative is just willful disregard for safety. People are naturally going to hop the barrier and use the dangerous broken stairs. Government needs to be smarter. Also, MPRB could have been fundraising for fixing the damn stairs. Thousands (tens of thousands?) visited over 3 days. Surely enough money could have been raised.

but damn it would have been nice to see food trucks lined up along Main Street and at each end of the Stone Arch Bridge.

This also brings into question why there's no convenience store in St. Anthony Main. Rent too high? 7/11 where you at?

Those stairs have been closed (and broken) for half a dozen years. It is nothing new this year.

Those stairs have been closed (and broken) for half a dozen years. It is nothing new this year.

Having just taken those stairs this past Wednesday, they’re not even in that bad of shape. Mostly just need to replace some missing boards. I wonder why they’ve decided to ignore them instead of repairing them.

We are just wrapping up the preliminary project now. We will have a cost estimate and virtual walkthrough movie of the concept in the coming weeks. That’ll be posted to the website too. This project was only funded through preliminary design, and will need more funding in the future to incorporate interpretive elements and of course to construct it. This preliminary work will be a catalyst to get more funding and it’ll likely be a few years before funding is secured.

The project would be a big win for the park and for the Mill City Museum. It’d bring some life to the hillside and offer a place to stop and relax and check out some interpretive displays or stop during a museum tour of the ruins.

Those round things in the river lock system generally don't look round from most angles. I'd like to see them painted in various colors, put masts and sails on them, light them up at night, perhaps even synchronize them for various things like the 4th of July fireworks. Something to jazz up the river. This city just doesn't have enough things that capture the mind and spirit. Not to mention sailboats are part of the city logo.