creative leadership : Development News

Soon, a memorial honoring veterans will have a spot on the south end of Sheridan Memorial Park in Northeast Minneapolis, which has views of the Mississippi River.  
 
The $400,000 public art installation has been in the works for five years, according to Deborah Bartels, a project manager from the Park Board.
 
Local veterans collaborated with the Sheridan Neighborhood Organization (SNO) to enhance the new park, which eventually will hook up with the regional trail system along the river, with various amenities, including picnic areas, playgrounds, and more, she says.
 
University of Minnesota designers came up with a concept for the site. The plan for the memorial was presented at a Feb. 21 open house at Park Board headquarters. Soon, the board will select an artist for the sculpture through a competitive application process.   
 
A sculpture that speaks to “memorial and sacrifice” will go into the middle of a circular plaza, the Park Board’s website states.
 
Surrounding the sculpture will be vertical markers that speak to the nine conflicts that Minnesotans have fought in. They’ll give some background on the wars, including personal anecdotes.  
 
An “empty” marker will “represent the precarious nature of peace,” according to Park Board information.   
 All along the way will be paths, benches, and green space; trees will ring the outer edge. 
 
As for the sculpture, “We’d like to see what people come up with,” says Bartels. “We don’t want it to be representational.” The idea is to do something that’s “contemplative in nature,” she says.
 
Site work will wrap up by Veterans Day this year, while the main sculpture will be finished in time for Memorial Day in 2013.
 
Source: Deborah Bartels, project manager, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
Writer: Anna Pratt
 

A project launched last week, entitled "We are Sabathani," will document the impact of the longstanding Sabathani Community Center in South Minneapolis through words and art.

The Council on Black Minnesotans and the Minnesota Humanities Center have partnered in the project, with funding from the state Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Sabathani, which brings together everything from a food shelf to after-school youth programs, has long been a community gathering place, according to Anika Robbins, who is leading the project along with retired Judge LaJune Thomas Lange.

Already Robbins and Lange have started collecting oral histories and artifacts, such as newspaper clippings and other writings related to Sabathani, all of which will end up in a traveling exhibit. They're also cataloging the center's extensive art collection.

In the 1960s, Sabathani originated as a church. Back then, churches were often a “pivotal point for bringing communities together,” Robbins says. Before present-day types of nonprofit organizations and community centers were created, "Churches were activism-involved and they helped push social change,” she adds.

Later Sabathani evolved into a community center at its current location, which was formerly a junior high school. It became “an avenue for children, to keep them engaged,” Robbins says, adding that she has fond youthful memories of the place herself.

These days, it’s also a hangout for seniors, and some of its original founders participate in events; this, she says, “is a story in and of itself.”

Robbins is excited about the opportunity to capture these stories, which she hopes will help people to “understand the fabric of the community they come from.” The place has hosted “so many people from different walks of life, who grew up in the area or came through the doors for various reasons,” she says, adding, “It continues to be a beacon in the city.”  
 

Source: Anika Robbins, "We are Sabathani"
Writer: Anna Pratt

Videotect 2, the second annual video competition from Architecture Minnesota magazine, got people thinking in many different directions about sustainable transportation.
 
The 39 submissions included everything from an old-timey PSA about the benefits of walking to a Super Bowl-commercial-inspired video about getting around in the future.
 
The grand prizewinner, "SaddleBag," which won a $2,000 prize, was announced at the competition’s March 1 screening at the Walker Art Center. (Watch it below.)
 
Gaardhouse and Shelter Architecture teamed up on the video, which was tongue-in-cheek yet informative. “I hope more outfits take a cue from it,” Hudson says. “It had a great story line with lots of facts and it was easy to read and understand the diagrams.”   
  
The most popular video among viewers, which also received a $2,000 check, was “Twin Cities Trails,” by Steven Gamache, Matt Herzog, Ben Lindau, Chris Lyner, and Mike Oertel. It showed a 1980s hair band that sang about the Twin Cities’ unmatched trail system. “It spoofed Queen amazingly,” he says, adding, “It was inventive and funny.”   
 
The $500 honorable mention awards went to the “Church of Automobility,” by Michael Heller and Ryan O’Malley, “A Fistful of Asphalt,” by John Akre, “Over/Under,” by Daniel Green, and “Sustainable Transportation,” by Ryan Yang. 
 
In general, guidelines for the 30- to 120-second videos were pretty open-ended. The pieces just had to “present a point of view on transportation choices, their impact on the environment and human health, and the role that design can play in enhancing them,” according to a statement about the competition.
 
Why is the magazine doing it? “The crux of it is, trying to bring more voices and creativity into urban design debates. It can be dry stuff, but it’s so important to the quality of our lives and how we design cities,” Hudson says. Videotect is a “great way to have fun with it, to make it entertaining to get at some of these issues that we keep debating as citizens.”

That's evident in the fact that the contest drew more submissions this year, and online voting spiked by 250 percent, he says.
 
Source: Chris Hudson, editor, Architecture Minnesota
Writer: Anna Pratt

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Videotect 2: SaddleBag from Architecture Minnesota on Vimeo.

Minneapolis' Colossal Café, a popular stop for breakfast and breads, opened a larger second location in St. Paul’s St. Anthony Park neighborhood late last year.

There weren’t any restaurant spaces available in the area when Colossal was scouting out locations, so it went for a 2,200-square-foot space that had housed a doctor’s office for over 40 years, according to Colossal’s co-owner, John Tinucci.  

Within the same building, there’s also a salon, an eye doctor, an architectural office, and more.

The $400,000 project involved gutting the place and bringing in all new mechanical systems. “We really chose the neighborhood,” he says, adding, “We could’ve done a build-out elsewhere for a lot less money.”

Inside, Colossal has a modern café feel, with glass block windows, tall ceilings that are partially exposed, a multi-colored floor made out of sustainable materials, and an open kitchen. “Our place in Minneapolis is very open by necessity and that’s something that we wanted to carry through again,” he says.

The place is furnished with a mix of tables, including some that were crafted by Big Wood Timber Frames Inc. out of reclaimed wood from the old Pedro Luggage store in downtown St. Paul. “They lead to a lot of good conversations,” he says. “It’s another piece of St. Paul.”   

He was drawn to the neighborhood that’s sandwiched between Luther Seminary and the University of Minnesota because “People here take ownership.”

“They support local businesses,” he says, adding that many people can be seen out and about. The neighborhood has a "mini-downtown" feel, with plenty of shops. “You wouldn’t have to leave the area if you didn’t want to.”
 
With food that’s made from scratch using many local products, and that tries to be as sustainable as possible, “This is the type of operation that fits in here so well.”

In the future, the restaurant might add nighttime hours and beer and wine, he says.

Source: John Tinucci, co-owner, Colossal Café
Writer: Anna Pratt

Recently, the Minneapolis Convention Center unveiled an exhibit that highlights various sustainable projects around the city, including its own.

The interactive two-sided display, which has touch screens, includes a map that features everything from the Nice Ride Minnesota bike-sharing program to the Downtown Improvement District.

The convention center itself has become more eco-focused in recent years, according to convention spokesperson Kristen Montag.

Although it has been working for years to improve its green profile, it’s now amping up its effort, with goals to reduce water consumption by 50 percent; slash energy use by 10 percent, and increase recycling by 75 percent by 2015.  

To do so, bathrooms will be retrofitted with energy-efficient systems to help conserve water, while light fixtures throughout the building will also be upgraded. Lights in rooms that aren’t being used will be kept off.

Further, the center plans to recycle 1.4 million pounds of its 1.8 million pounds of waste every year--which involves more sorting, Montag says. “When you think about how much waste the convention center recycles and what it’ll do, it changes the way it disposes of waste,” she says. “It’s about increasing recycling in a way that it hasn’t done if before.”

The center is also looking into the possibilities for managing stormwater.   

It wants to be a role model in this area throughout the city and nationally, she says.

Already, it’s reduced its energy use by 24 percent since 2008, which has amounted to $1 million in savings to taxpayers, according to Montag.

Right now, “Employees are working to figure out how to do it personally. It’ll be an on-the-ground team effort,” which brings together people from different parts of the workforce. “It’ll change the way they do their jobs and the way the building is run--and it’s something they’ll own.”  


Source: Kristen Montag, spokesperson, Minneapolis Convention Center
Writer: Anna Pratt

St. Paul’s Summit Brewing Company, which pioneered the local craft beer scene when it started in 1986, announced this week that it’s embarking on a $6 million project to expand its brewery.

It’ll likely begin the six-to-eight-month construction process in 2014, according to Carey Matthews, a company spokesperson.

Last year the brewery hit near capacity, producing just over 100,000 beer barrels, she says, adding that it was a milestone for the company.

The expansion will allow Summit, which grows 10 percent annually, to double its capacity. “It’s a necessity,” she says. “We’ll run out of space to make beer in the next few years.”

It’s something that the company planned for when it built its current home in 1998; it set aside space on the premises for future growth.

This follows $3 million in capital investments that the company has made in the brewery over the last couple of years, according to the Star Tribune.

The current project will include expansion in various areas, including the cellar, office, and warehouse. “The cellar is where we hit capacity issues,” Matthews says, adding that it’s where the fermentation processes take place.

Beer sits for weeks at a time in stainless steel vessels that are multiple stories high. “Right now we can’t add any more tanks,” she says.

Naturally, with more beer comes a need for additional space to package the product and do many other things. The company also plans to add to its quality assurance lab.

Matthews says that the project will also benefit the local economy by providing additional jobs at the brewery.  

In general, the expansion “is a response to our consumers and deepening our relationships with existing customers,” she says.

Source: Carey Matthews, spokesperson, Summit
Writer: Anna Pratt

The Starling Project is a sort of matchmaking service for University Avenue landlords and potential temporary renters.

It’s about filling vacant storefronts in the short term, many of which have been left empty as a result of the recession or other hardships connected to Central Corridor light-rail construction, according to Kristen Murray, who is a group leader.

In December, an eight-person team of graduate students from a neighborhood revitalization course at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs launched the project as a creative way to help businesses that are struggling amid construction.

Murray says that the vacancies can be taken advantage of for “temporary or meanwhile uses, to bring extra energy into the corridor.”  

To do so, the group is hosting a series of informal open house events at various storefront spaces, which run through May.

The Starling Project is targeting areas where there’s a cluster of storefronts.
 
The group’s goal is “to figure out how this model can work longer-term for the Central Corridor and others in transition, where there are vacancies.”

Recently, a group of art students and their instructor from the university rented 2401 University for a temporary gallery, while other matches are in the works.  

“There’s a lot of visioning happening along the Central Corridor,” she says, adding that the group is trying to help neighborhood organizations “think about how vacant spaces can be used to express some of those visions for the future.”

“The temporary uses and events can really bolster business,” she says, adding, “We’re trying to [help] small locally-owned businesses survive and thrive.”  

Although other cities have worked on initiatives to enliven vacant storefronts, “There haven’t been any programs looking at how pop-up efforts can be a strategy to use during a disruptive period,” such as construction, says Murray.


Source: Kristen Murray, Starling Project
Writer: Anna Pratt

A new digital mapping tool encourages community members to offer feedback on Minneapolis’s redistricting process in a hands-on way.

Common Cause Minnesota and the League of Women Voters worked together to present the web-based map following a similar project at the state level.  

Besides attending public meetings about the implications of U.S. Census changes, people can go to the website to redraw their ward and park boundaries as they see fit, according to Mike Dean, who heads Common Cause Minnesota.

The deadline for doing so is April 2.  

In contrast to how the process has been done in the past, the map “lets people have more of a voice,” he says, adding, “It’s much more transparent.”

“Too often, it’s the politicians drawing lines,” he says. “For the first time, citizens can bring their own ideas.” Community members “do a good job of protecting the neighborhoods,” and more ethnic communities are weighing in this time, as well, he says.

So far, over 40 maps have been submitted, while at least 130 people have registered to use the tool.

The website includes a video tutorial along with information about terminology and factors to keep in mind while using the tool.

In the first year that this technology has been available, “We’re revolutionizing the way redistricting works,” Dean says, adding, “I think we’ll see, in the future, citizens be significantly more engaged.”

“It helps move the process along much more quickly,” he says, and he hopes it’ll result in a better map, too.

The application comes from DistrictBuilder, which is an initiative from PublicMapping.org.

Source: Mike Dean
Writer: Anna Pratt

A new concert venue called The Brick is preparing to open next month in downtown Minneapolis’s Warehouse District.

The band Jane’s Addiction created a buzz about the club when it announced its March 19 show would be held at The Brick, according to a City Pages story.

The club is going into the space that once housed Club 3 Degrees, a Christian, youth-oriented rock club that continues to host occasional shows elsewhere.   

The Brick's developer and owner, AEG Live, which is the live entertainment division of the Los Angeles-based AEG, is renovating the building that dates back to the early 1900s, according to its website.

The place will have a section for reserved and cabaret-style seating while its “multi-level floor plan allows for incredible sight lines,” according to the site. Also, the club will have a capacity of 2,000 people, along with a basement-level bar that will be able to accommodate a crowd of up to 400.

Although the venue's interior will be similar to the former club, it'll get a new paint job, carpeting, and signage, according to Joe Litvag, senior vice president of AEG Live.

"Obviously a big difference will be the 'vibe' of the space, which will be based on the staff we’re hiring and the artists performing on stage," he says via email. "The previous tenant really did a good job of building a first-class, flexible space, so much of the look will be the same."

"Our goal is to grow the 'live entertainment pie' in the Twin Cities," he says. "Another venue ideally means more shows in downtown Minneapolis, and more shows means more foot traffic for local businesses downtown."

In a blog posting from The Current, The Brick's general manager Jeff Kahr, adds that the club’s offerings will be diverse: “The venue itself will lend itself well to all types of touring artists, from rock, country and pop to R&B, jazz, comedy and more."


Source: Joe Litvag, Senior Vice President, AEG Live; Brick information; The Current  
Writer: Anna Pratt

Fulton Beer is adding a taproom to its brewery in downtown Minneapolis's Warehouse District. 

Ryan Petz, president and co-founder of Fulton Beer, explains that although the taproom will be similar to a bar, it'll be more of an extension of the brewery. 

For starters, its menu will be limited to the varieties of beer that are made on the premises. “It’s not a brewpub,” he says. “The purpose is to get people to try and buy locally-brewed beers.”   

Referencing the company’s humble beginnings in a garage in Southwest Minneapolis, the taproom will have an industrial, “garage-esque” look, he says.

The space will be characterized by sealed concrete floors, an exposed ceiling, vintage lighting, and a dark-stained oak bar with a concrete top. Shades of gray, black, white, and green will run throughout, which will also help set it apart from the building's production-related functions.

From the taproom, visitors will also get a view into the brewery. “That’s the fun thing. You get to see what’s going on in there,” he says.

It connects with a growing local food movement in which “A lot of people are really interested in being closer to food or beverages and where they come from," says Petz.

Although he couldn’t disclose an exact dollar amount, Petz says that the taproom's build-out ranges in the six figures. “We really transformed 40 percent of the building into a gathering space," he adds. 

The taproom is slated to open in March.


Source: Ryan Petz, president and co-founder, Fulton Beer
Writer: Anna Pratt

RiverFIRST, a plan that would re-imagine a 5.5-mile stretch of the Mississippi riverfront in Minneapolis with new parks and trails, is entering into an early design phase.

The proposal, which will go before the full park board for approval in March, includes a riverfront trail system and a number of neighborhood-accessible parks that are being referred to as the Farview Park extension, Scherer Park District, North Side Wetlands Park, and Downtown Gateway Park, according to project spokesperson Janette Law.

(To see a description of each of these parks, go here.) 

The plan, which has a $174 million price tag, spaces out the projects over the next five years, with construction starting in 2013.

It also lays out a broader 20-year vision for the area along with a number of guiding principles, she says.

The planning committee is “asking for authorization of the completion of next steps,” which center mainly on the Scherer Park site and the 26th and 28th avenues North greenways, Law says. “The major news is that the park board is moving ahead on getting schematic designs."

RiverFIRST may also help lay the groundwork for the city’s Above the Falls master plan, which includes a "rich mix of land uses," including recreation along the Mississippi's east and west banks above St. Anthony Falls, according to park information.

RiverFIRST originated as the winning proposal from the design team Tom Leader Studio and Kennedy & Violich Architecture (TLS/KVA) as a part of the international Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition, which the park board and the Minneapolis Parks Foundation jointly held in late 2010.   

The proposal stood out for the way it speaks to such contemporary challenges as dealing with water, the “green economy,” community health, and mobility, according to a prepared statement about the project.

After the contest wrapped up, the effort became known as the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative.

“It’s an exciting vision for the Upper Riverfront, with the potential to bring the same water amenities to North and Northeast that South currently enjoys,” says Law, adding, “that area is significant locally and nationally. It presents the prospect of creating the most new park land in the city since the parks were founded over 100 years ago.”   

Source: Janette Law, RiverFIRST spokesperson
Writer: Anna Pratt

The Mill is a kind of coworking space for "makers" in the industrial arts. 

It includes a woodworking and metal shop, classroom, laser cutting and three-dimensional printing equipment, and a gallery space in its Northeast Minneapolis building, according to its website.

Previously, the 6,000-square-foot warehouse space was occupied by the Land O’Lakes company and later, a company called Hillcrest Development, according to The Mill’s founder, Brian Boyle.

Most recently, the warehouse had been used to manufacture washers and dryers before it sat vacant for some time, he adds.

When Boyle started to build out The Mill, which officially opened on Jan. 21, the space had an open floor plan, “with no walls or phone. It was just a big box,” he says.

That being said, “It’s a great location with great light,” he says, adding, “One wall is all windows.”

Right now, Boyle is still in the process of dividing the space to accommodate different kinds of maker-related activities, including an area for large assembly projects. 

“Making” is a new term that literally describes making things, "something that has been going on forever," he says. Boyle, who took inspiration from similar places in San Francisco, wants to “add the capabilities that this equipment affords for whoever wants to do it.” 

In this setting, “Anyone who wants to fabricate something can collaborate with others.”

“One of the great benefits is the idea of shared resources,” he says. “It’s hard to justify the purchase of this equipment for individuals.” It’s also a way to train people to use the equipment safely and responsibly.

Further, with people who have different areas of expertise to turn to, “It expands people’s creativity and what they can do.”
 

Source: Brian Boyle, The Mill
Writer: Anna Pratt

In St. Paul’s Como Park neighborhood, some neighbors are putting their heads together to identify the ideal spot for a new community garden.

Como Park already has a number of community flower gardens, but over the past year, some residents have expressed interest in planting vegetables somewhere, too, according to Jessie Bronk, the administrator and coordinator for the District 10 Como Community Council.

Recently, the neighborhood group formed a planning committee to help nail down the details. The eight-member committee, which had its first meeting earlier this month, involves both renters and homeowners in the neighborhood. “All are avid gardeners,” she says, adding, “It’s helpful to have all of that experience.”  

Since it’s so early in the process, the project’s budget and scope, along with the garden's location, have yet to be determined. “We’re aiming for a space that can accommodate at least 15 plots,” she says.

At this point, the group has narrowed its list to seven possible locations, which it plans to look into over the next month. For starters, in the case of each piece of land, “We need to find out who owns the land and whether there’s a water source nearby,” she says. 

It's a lot of work, but community gardens have plenty of benefits.

“[They're] a great way to connect neighbors, build community and beautify the neighborhood,” Bronk says, adding that they can help reduce crime as well.

She also sees community gardening as a good opportunity to reach out to diverse groups in the neighborhood. “It’s a way to make our district stronger,” she says.

Additionally, community gardens encourage local food production, healthy eating, and physical fitness.  

The group hopes to begin gardening this spring. The fact that it's been such a mild winter has made it “fun to dream and plan for spring,” Bronk says.  


Source: Jessie Bronk, administrator and coordinator, District 10 Como Community Council
Writer: Anna Pratt

Soon, a portion of the commercial corridor in Minneapolis’s Whittier neighborhood will become a temporary outdoor gallery space.

Original artwork from local artists will dress up a number of vacant storefront windows on Eat Street (Nicollet Avenue) in April, and will stay up for about six weeks.

It’s a creative way to showcase art and to advertise spaces that need to be leased, according to Joan Vorderbruggen, who is coordinating the project through the Whittier Business Association.

Vorderbruggen, who is a Whittier resident, says that local photographer Wing Young Huie, whose community-minded work has graced various storefronts in Minneapolis and St. Paul, inspired her.

After doing some digging, Vorderbruggen, who designs window displays for businesses professionally, stumbled upon similar programs in other cities across the country that had been successful. “The spaces have been leased a lot faster when they’ve participated in this,” she says.  

Seeing that, she approached the Whittier Business Association, which was supportive.

Right now, the Business Association is applying for grant money to help offset the pilot program's costs, but it'll mainly be a do-it-yourself-kind of thing, she says.

Separately, the Longfellow neighborhood has a similar project underway, which The Line covered here.

This week, the group is putting out a call for artists; artists who live, work, or go to school in the neighborhood can apply to submit work to the project. It can include paintings, sculpture, fashion, yarn bombing, and murals, or just about anything else that’s doable as a window display, she says.  

The neighborhood group will also be lining up a number of business and property owners who are willing to participate, with a goal of getting at least 6 to 10 storefronts in the mix.  

Besides giving artists a venue to show their work, it’s about revitalizing and beautifying the corridor. “It’s kind of a free staging service to property owners,” she says. “It brings foot traffic to the space.”   

When the exhibit opens up in April, the group will host walking tours of the storefront displays. “The hope is that you’ll be walking down Eat Street and there’ll be art everywhere,” Vorderbruggen says.  


Source: Joan Vorderbruggen, artist, Whittier
Writer: Anna Pratt

Soon, a building in Minneapolis's Northeast Arts District that sat vacant for a year will become a hub for beer, art, and solar power.

It's been dubbed the Solar Arts Building, according to Nathan Berndt, a cofounder of Indeed Brewing Company, which will be its anchor tenant on the first floor.

In the past, the 1914 building had various uses, including housing a Sears Roebuck distribution center and more recently, an electrical transformer company, before it went through foreclosure stages, according to Indeed Brewing information.

Besides the brewery, artist-geared spaces, some of which have already been snatched up, will fill the building's remaining two floors.

It’s an ideal location for the new brewing company, which recently signed a lease for the space with building owner Duane Arens, Berndt says. “We’re involved in the community and we support being in a place for people to come together,” especially artists, he says. “We like being around creative people.”

Another dimension of the brewing company will be a public taproom, for which the design is still being developed.

A strong visual feature will be the building’s original wood columns, which lend a turn-of-the-last-century warehouse feel, he says.

Sustainability is also an important aspect of the building’s overall rehab. On the building’s rooftop a sizable solar array will be installed. It’s also getting new energy-efficient windows and mechanical systems, Berndt says.  

The effort to go green is something that’s important to the brewing company, as well, he adds.

“This sleepy dead-end adjacent to the Northstar Commuter Rail tracks will be a bustling intersection of art, craft beer, solar power, and urban revitalization,” the brewing company’s website states.

Indeed plans to open this summer.

Source: Nathan Berndt, cofounder, Indeed Brewing Company
Writer: Anna Pratt