Elizabeth Wielinski wrote:Gosh! The MPRB embroiled in another stadium scandal within 2 days. How do they manage? I agree with Emily that there are enough football fields in this town that the DeLaSalle team should be able to manage 4 games per year without any trouble. I grew up in Roseville and back in my day they had 2 high schools, Ramsey and Kellogg (I graduated in 1981 and by 1987 my younger sister was at Roseville Senior High). The district had one football field with lights, and it was at Kellogg. So unless we played during the day all of our games were away, either at the other school or at Kellogg. I was a band geek and was at the games and it never once occurred to me to feel sorry for us because we didn't play outside of our school building. DeLa Salle has managed for many years without their own field and I would hate to see the state of the island be changed so drastically because the school has some well connected alumni and an ex-teacher on the MPRB (What was it Commissioner Dziedzic, one year of social studies and probably the assistant football coach?)
wroteChris Johnson Fulton
DeLaSalle High School has an enviable reputation as a quality school which has made a big difference in our community and the lives of many of its students. It is part of the Minneapolis historic community fabric. A lot more information about the school can be found at their web site: http://www.delasalle.com/
Part of DeLaSalle's history is an incredible inter-scholastic athletic record, with many state championships. There are some significant benefits to some students from being involved in such an athletic program.
Founded in 1900, DeLaSalle has been administered by the Christian Brothers throughout its 104-year history. DeLaSalle is the only Catholic high school within the city limits of Minneapolis (and one of 12 in the Twin Cities area).
Deciding what the greater public good is between supporting a private high school with deep ties to the community, and keeping park space open to the general public could be a difficult decision.
However, despite my family being Catholic, and a very long-time dear friend of my wife's actually being a Christian Brother from Minneapolis, I think the arguments against leasing or selling any public Nicollet Island land to DeLaSalle are clearly superior.
It's unfortunate that DeLaSalle won't be able to have an athletic field adjacent to the school in the traditional style of high schools of years gone by. But times have changed, and many schools are not afforded such an opportunity, often because of real estate costs and space issues.
Other solutions need to be sought. Shared facilities need to be considered when part of a dense urban environment.
That some members of the Park Board seem to have been secretly working on pushing this deal forward out of the public view just makes things worse. I hope the lack of ethics at the Park Board does not taint DeLaSalle's sterling reputation.
Excellent points! But there is something else that bothers me about the overhead image of the layout and that is TRAFFIC and PARKING. There are lots off of Hennepin Av but that would be a bit of a walk for many folks. Maybe we could enlist the aid of those horse carriages as shuttles?
Steven M Nelson
Willard Hay
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