180 Degrees, Inc., in St. Paul, which has a mission to turn lives around, has big plans to establish a youth development campus on East Seventh Street.
To pull it off, the organization is trying to raise $2.8 million. It invested $1 million into acquiring the W.B. Martin Lumber Company site in 2011, developing a parking lot and converting one building into space for offices and programming, according to Richard Gardell, the president and CEO of 180 Degrees.
The 1.5-acre lumberyard, which dates back to the early 1900s, had been pretty rundown, and it was vacant for several years, he says.
Where there were “quite a bit of old buildings and dilapidation, we saw a vision for a youth development campus,” he says. The organization had outgrown its former site on the East Side at that point.
To carry out the plan, the organization needs to remove a building, once a barbershop, on Seventh to make way for a youth crisis center. The new building will be in keeping with the area’s architectural style, Gardell says.
A pole barn on the site will stay intact for recreational purposes while another building will provide for various entrepreneurial activities for youth, including several related to construction trades.
180 Degrees also plans to turn the old English Street, a dirt road, into green space, with community gardens, to connect the properties on the site.
The organization is working with neighbors to “make sure to address concerns related to access on Seventh Street,” he says. “We hope it’s a win-win,” especially as that relates to improving the lot’s appearance.
The green space will help reduce dust and traffic and improve the quality of life in the area. “We’re planning on the community garden being a space to gather and grow together,” Gardell says, adding, “We hope the rest of campus provides services to neighbors” and the larger community.
The organization hopes to break ground in the spring, he says.
Source: Richard Gardell, 180 Degrees
Writer: Anna Pratt