HPC Votes Unanimously Against DeLaSalle
The Minneapolis Historic Preservation Commission unanimously voted to deny the application by DeLaSalle for a Certificate of Appropriateness for their football stadium project. The testimony from both sides was extensive and last nearly 4 hours. The most interesting testimony came from Judith Martin regarding DeLaSalle's past acquisitions of land for football. According to old newspapers and various overhead photos throughout the history of the island, DeLaSalle has closed 2 alleys and one other street over the years to create fields which they then expanded the buildings onto thus needing more land for fields (much like the recent gymnasium addition). This pattern has been ongoing since 1942 when, during WWII, they demolished 300 units of affordable housing to expand the campus. No doubt this was easy to do since the men and boys were probably overseas at the time. It's also probably not a unit that DeLaSalle teaches in the "History of the Island" class they touted as teaching to all incoming students to the school. Then again as the old adage goes, the "History is Written by the Victors."