When the Park Board leased the land where the Nieman fields are located at Fort Snelling they also leased a building on the property which a developer proposed to turn into an indoor skate park. This developer contracted with other tradesmen such as electricians and carpenters and then failed to come up with the funding. Since the Park Board is ostensibly the deed holder on the property, these groups have filed liens to recoup their losses. Now other options are being looked at to settle the problem.
Steven M Nelson Willard Hay http://citizenshipchronicles.blogspot.com/ Get UP! Get OUT! & GET INVOLVED!!!
Steve,
Thanks for your answer. I still don't understand this project. Which building is it and what work was done? Who was the developer and why is this project a failure? How much money have we (MP&RB) spent on this project and and what are the future liabilities. What do we have for all this mess!?
Didn't the contractor have a performance and payment bond? I thought these were required on all developments concerning public land to prevent liens against public property. Why aren't we going after the bond?
If the contractor didn't post a bond, why not? How did the developer get this contract? How did the contractors get the work? Who was in charge of the letting process? Who was superintendent? Who was on the board at the time?
You know, when they started building the deluxe ball fields out at Fort Snelling, I looked at our soggy fields at Powderhorn (built over a lake) and I just couldn't believe that the Park & Rec Board would bypass our kids and build deluxe fields at Fort Snelling so suburbanites would be comfortable playing our city teams. Hey, if the suburbanites wouldn't come into town, why play them?
I thought of Beltrami Park where I was active for several years. We didn't have the money to turn on the lights at night. With intensive lobbying, our soccer team got to play one home game - we got the lights turned on one night (in about three years). Our kids were so poor that they were running track in borrowed shoes held together by super glue - when they got a chance to go to city, we had to have a fundraiser for shoes. (They won at city and went on to state.) It's wasn't just Beltrami - every park I knew about desperately needed funds to keep going.
At Powderhorn, a group of citizens spent years trying to get cleanup money for the lake. I joined the group at the end of this effort - we spent a summer sending small groups to the Park Board meetings to make our case. We finally got MPRB money - well under $200,000 - because without it, they would have lost a $550,000 matching grant. At the same time, the MPRB embarked on an $11 million Lake of the Isles project which will include a new island. (Pardon me but I spent 11 years in NE and I am still waiting for the return of Lake Sandy). That was also the year the MPRB widened trails along Minnehaha Creek and built baseball fields with dugouts at Ft. Snelling.
What is the status of the ball fields at Fort Snelling? How many of our park kids play there? Are they fostering competition between Minneapolis and suburban teams? Are they making any money?
I still want to know more about the 201 Building project. What was it, how much has and will it cost, and who is responsible?
Thanks, Shawne FitzGerald Powderhorn
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