PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Christine Viken ([EMAIL PROTECTED] or
612-874-1900)
FRIENDS OF THE RIVERFRONT SAY "KEEP IT PUBLIC"
MINNEAPOLIS PARK AND RECREATION BOARD WILL HOLD A
PUBLIC FORUM JULY 20 ON DELASALLE HIGH SCHOOL'S PLAN
TO BUILD A STADIUM ON PUBLIC PARKLAND
A new nonprofit group, Friends of the Riverfront
(F.O.R.), will urge the Minneapolis Park and
Recreation Board to keep Nicollet Island Park public
at a forum July 20, 6:30 p.m. at park board
headquarters, 2117 W. River Rd.
This is the only opportunity for public comment before
an Aug. 3 park committee vote on DeLaSalle High
School's plan to build a suburban-style, 750-seat
athletic complex over a city street and on public
parkland, including paving adjacent riverbank land for
parking. It would be at the heart of the St. Anthony
Falls National Historic District and Central
Riverfront Regional Park.
Supporters of F.O.R. will ask the park board to
preserve dedicated public open space rather than let a
private institution take over two acres of parkland
for which the public paid more than $1 million.
Friends of the Riverfront will also deliver
hand-signed petitions from more than 1,000 park
visitors who oppose the stadium plan.
Nicollet Island is a 46-acre island in the Mississippi
River between downtown Minneapolis on the west bank
and the city's birthplace on the east bank. The island
neighborhood dates to the 1860s, with some of the
city's oldest houses and streets (including Grove
Street, over which DeLaSalle would build its football
field). Nicollet Island is at the heart of the St.
Anthony Falls National Historic District, which the
Preservation Alliance of Minnesota called one of the
state's Ten Most Endangered Historic Properties of
2005, in part due to DeLaSalle's proposed athletic
complex.
Formed by Central Riverfront Regional Park visitors
and residents, Friends of the Riverfront advocates for
public access and environmental protection on parkland
along Minneapolis' riverfront. A website will be up
soon; in the meantime, http://www. nicolletisland.org
and http://www.mplsparkwatch.org have more
information.
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