Robert Lilligren wrote to Mpls Issues a while back describing how he likes to stop by Nicollet Island as a place of spiritual substance. Well he might, given his Native American heritage. I don't think it's accidental, parenthetically, that religious folks of a contemplative bent built an edifice that looks out over Lake Calhoun or that first the Unitarians and later the French immigrants established Our Lady of Lourdes church to look out over St. Anthony Falls. We are a busy people, we Americans, and we have few enough opportunities to grasp the majesty of the Mississippi as it passes through our settlements on a natural scale far surpassing mere human activity.
>From Boom Island to the James J. Hill limestone railroad bridge, with Nicollet Island squarely in media res (in the middle of the place, literally), we have achieved remarkable recognition of the centrality of this physical geography. Not to be taken lightly because here lies the heartbeat of our city. Minneapolis would not have come to be were it not for this riverine environment. I submit that Minneapolis has turned its collective attention to the Mississippi in many major ways over the past forty years. I am intensely pleased that we have been able to keep the essential qualities of the riverfront available to all and this is a great statement of egalitarian reality. The early movers and shakers accepted the value of heterogeneous settlement on the Island while sketching out far grander visions for parks and lakes and a greenbelt surrounding the city. No one paid much heed as multi-story walkups proliferated along the downtown side of the river, spilling over onto Hennepin Ave. and the East Bank; and here today, gone tomorrow, the Gateway Project in the 1960s and subsequent radical transformations of the Island settlement area swept away buildings and people alike, leaving something of a tabula rasa, a blank slate, on which we have been crafting our awareness of our past and our preparations for our future. No small task and something compelling enough to warrant slow, reflective, thoughtful process. Fred Markus, Ward 6, Phillips West REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
