Minneapolis Park Watch

The following commentary by Shawn FitzGerald appeared on the e-democracy forums on Setember 21, 2008:

NICOLLET ISLAND PAVILION, MPRB FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Regarding Scott Russell's story about the private use of the Nicollet Island Pavilion at the TC Daily Planet.

Nicollet Island: Cash cow or public park?

T C Daily Planet

I posted a comment to Mr. Russell's article that I would like to share with this list (below.) Park Board staff proclaims that the contract with the private vendor, Mintahoe, is a good deal for the public because Mintahoe has spent over $1 million for remodeling and furnishing the Pavilion. The million dollars may be true - but there is no way for citizens to verify this for what Mintahoe, a private for-profit corporation, has spent is not public information. Knowing the building, I couldn't see where $1 million in permanent improvements could have been spent. Public funds were used to rehab the Pavilion, a historic building, in the 1980s. So, I put in a data practices request to the Park Board and learned that the book value of the 2002-2003 rehab was about $408,000.

Posted by Liz Wielinski on Wed, 09/24/2008 - 10:19pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

The following article by reporter Scott Russell appeared in the September 18th, 2008, on-line TC Daily Planet.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Fri, 09/19/2008 - 9:18am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

BOAT FOR SALE....

This want-ad was discovered on the Skipperliner Website.  So what's going on here?  The Park Board has a contract with SkipperLiner and the Minneapolis Queen. 

Posted by Liz Wielinski on Tue, 09/02/2008 - 10:37pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

Both MPRB Superintendent Jon Gurban and General Manager Don Siggelkow have for sometime been out of compliance with the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MGDPA) by failing to respond to numerous requests for public information from members of the public. And now they are out of compliance with the $440,000 exclusive 5-year contract that the Park Board signed with Coke in 2003.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Tue, 08/12/2008 - 10:19pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

This week the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board will celebrate Sunshine Week* (www.sunshineweek.org) by retreating from transparency and public oversight. In a move that boggles the mind, the Park Board, after its regular meeting this Wednesday, will hold a Committee of the Whole meeting off-camera.

Posted by Liz Wielinski on Sun, 03/16/2008 - 4:37am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

KSTP Channel 5 is also reporting on the Park Board's proposed fee increases. Their website article opens with the following:

Posted by webmaster on Fri, 12/07/2007 - 4:04pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

Since the Planning Commission denied DeLaSalle, they are once again pursuing an appeal to the city council. Seems that even though the knowledgeable staff of both the HPC and the Planning Commission say "bad idea," the political will says "they gotta have it." One item that DeLaSalle managed to quash was the issue of parking. Their consultants claim they have the requisite number of spaces. The problem is that some of these spaces are no longer viable for parking or they are triple booked. Without being subject to city review, the MPRB can come in and pave over as much park as they like.

DeLaSalle has submitted 6 Eastman, 100-220-224 E Island, and the block at 9 Merriam as DeLaSalle Athletic Facility parking, as well as its own parking lot. It won't be required as a condition on the conditional use permit -- that would mean DLS would have to yield its parking to the public for Athletic Facility use. 6 Eastman and the E Island parcels were part of the EAW. Their traffic consultant added 9 Merriam in a letter to the Planning Commission.

The MPRB turned over 6 Eastman to DeLaSalle in 1999 -- this was politely called an encroachment in the Planning report. The East Island lots were supposed to be a trail along the top of the bluff but MPRB never did the work. It's parkland, not a real parking lot. DeLaSalle is the primary user for both event and daily student parking, though the Pavilion and MPRB also use this lot. Closed to the public. The 9 Merriam block was paved in 2003 for the Pavilion tenant and this gated lot was closed to the public. The MPRB took down the event-only parking sign in May 2007. They didn't take down the gate and no signs are posted so it still looks off limits.

The public should know that it is a lot more than one parcel, that we are promising DeLaSalle parking for 70 years.

Posted by Liz Wielinski on Thu, 08/02/2007 - 1:00am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | 1 attachment

Linda Mack writes on the Star Tribune website about the opening of a new public-private park in downtown Minneapolis:

»Gold Medal Park, Minneapolis' newest, opened on the Minneapolis riverfront to a snappy wind and rave reviews.«

Posted by News junky on Thu, 05/17/2007 - 5:32am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

Posted by News junky on Sun, 04/22/2007 - 8:04am. | Permalink | Login to post comments

In a story subtitled "Minneapolis pushes ahead on shaping a comprehensive document as national experts gather here to discuss public-private partnerships," Linda Mack writes about a variety of park-planning and building activities going on this month.

Posted by News junky on Tue, 09/19/2006 - 9:25am. | Permalink | 1 comment | Read more

One of the next major issues that will be coming before the Minneapolis Park Board--and bears watching--is the resolution of the $945,000 lien against the Park Board. This was one of two topics that were presented to the Park Board commissioners at a Park Board study session on August 2 prior to the regular board meeting. The other topic was the Parade Stadium. (This study session was not televised or recorded; so there is no official record of what transpired at this meeting. But Park Watch was there and taking notes.)

Posted by Arlene Fried on Wed, 08/16/2006 - 12:01am. | Permalink | 1 comment | Read more

Posted by Chris Johnson on Thu, 07/27/2006 - 3:12pm. | Permalink | 1 comment

Chris Steller, editor at The Bridge brightly illustrates the problems with the continuing park privatization going on in Minneapolis in his editorial:

Posted by News junky on Tue, 06/27/2006 - 11:43pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

» Minneapolis Park Board officials have agreed in principle to acquire the cash-strapped Edison Civic Arena from the city.

Posted by News junky on Wed, 03/08/2006 - 12:06pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more