The ammonia stench of unbalanced compost fades from memory, dust from one remaining lessee’s operations still troubles those who care. Industrial hulks sport green weed fringes and intricate, even intellectual graffiti.
This urban photographers’ paradise known as the former Upper Harbor Terminal (UHT) awaits a vision that may keep some of the old structures intact, playing upon them as revenue-generating enterprises of a different sort or as backdrops for activities with a street-art vibe.
In fact, in a few years Northeast residents used to looking across the Mississippi River by the Xcel Energy plant and the heron island may not only continue to see the aging domes, but also occasionally hear concert music wafting from an amphitheater.
That music venue could either sit on the shore and serve as a soccer field when not otherwise in use…or it could somehow float, tethered, on the river to aim sound at the Mississippi River’s west shore. A more traditional concrete structure is also possible.
The approximately mile-long stretch from 33rd Ave. N. to Dowling Ave. N, on the river’s West bank, came available when the St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam closed to stop the spread of Asian Carp, and barge shipping ceased. The city of Minneapolis was already planning to get out of the landlord business, and now with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), has entered into a two year exclusive development agreement with United Properties to redevelop this land. United Properties is master developer, THOR Development and First Avenue Productions have joined them and are using various consultants.
Kate Lamers is representing MPRB. Ann Calvert represents the Minneapolis department of Community Planning and Economic Development. They’ve held various meetings for public input into how to parcel out the site, starting with the assumption that a lot of the long, thin site will be “park” but with a different twist from what’s typically seen in the MPRB system. The rest, under Calvert’s watch, would become development of some sort, “better answered with private market insight.”
One night, the public meeting was heavy on presentations and feedback on the amphitheater idea. June 27, we were treated to images of unique parks and programming in public spaces which the consultants found and in many cases, had visited.
At that time they anticipated progress that would have the developers presenting new information at the end of July, but a July 25 meeting was scrapped. It is still hoped that a preliminary concept plan could be drafted by end of August and a draft coordinated plan be available by the end of September for approval by the end of 2017.
For updates, go to upperharbormpls.com/.
The June 27 presentations started with some history of the Minneapolis parks around our lakes where “we don’t own [allow private ownership of] lakefront.” The public will have access to the riverfront through the new park.
Examples presented, of public parks throughout the world: Gas Works Park in Seattle, a park in China that acts as the front lawn for a city and cleans the water for the entire city, Sloss Furnace in Birmingham, Alabama and an area in New Zealand which is still a functioning waterfront with its “urban gritty mess…they let it be messy.” Brooklyn Bridge Park gives access to the water and puts people out to look back at the shore. Pier 55 in New York is a multi-level venue with a restaurant tucked between levels.
One consultant brought images of a rainbow made by shooting reclaimed water over a building in Omaha, raising awareness of water issues.
There was some discussion of connection to the existing neighborhoods (which because of the freeway are physically quite separated now) and someone concluded that this will be a new neighborhood. Housing is still not anticipated as part of the site. Most of the preliminary research was done in the down housing market, but those assumptions might be revisited. “The site needs to feel accessible as well as being accessible,” said one of the consultants, answering a comment by a man representing disabled veterans.
The discussion of keeping some of the industrial relics (the domes mentioned above, just one example) came about because the district is eligible for historic designation as “significant,” needing city Heritage Preservation Commission approval to tear down. “But we’re not blocked,” an official said. The site includes warehouses, an office building and a scale building. There are remains of a barge wall with bollards and cleats that the barges were tied to.
Lamers said “we probably can’t maintain them as art pieces, so we thought ‘how about private enterprise?’” Like restaurants (Tin Fish at Calhoun, Sea Salt Eatery at Minnehaha Falls, et al) that operate as concessions renting from the park board, these industrial buildings might be re-purposed as home bases for tours, recreation equipment rentals, games…and other uses not now obvious.
There was talk of daily users and use for events that would bring in lots of people. Some images were shown, of adapting the space in winter for skating or a Lutsen-style slide.
Juxtaposition Arts, Roger Cummings one of its founders, is the development partner responsible for “activating” the space, or “social programming.” The organization works with youth ages 10 to 22, operating four art-related microbusinesses employing 77 young people and 22 instructors.
In his travels, Cummings was fascinated with SESCSP Pompeia, an old drum factory that focuses on intergenerational experiences, https://www.sescsp.org.br/unidades/11_POMPEIA. He mentioned that there is already a lot of street art on the Upper Harbor site, referring to posters, spray paint, stencils and graffiti (Juxtaposition and Intermedia Arts are two Minneapolis organizations that encourage the graffiti type of art containing it on their own properties).
Cummings talked about permanent pop ups, places for kids to climb and take risks, and skate-park-esque features that make a space “more dynamic and relevant,” pointing to the success of Familia, and City of Skate. He summed up the scene as “imagine space for (little) kids with their parents watching (from a comfortable distance) and brooding teens, and adult classes going on.”
Back to reality, at the Above the Falls Advisory Committee meeting July 25, Calvert gave the group some background on the concrete crushing operation that is the last tenant at the UHT site, Thomas & Sons, due to move out at the end of the year. They’re taking measures to keep dust down. A lot of the discussion was about particulate matter pollution readings being unacceptably high along the river.
Huge projects like the Upper Harbor re-set simultaneously have to involve raising the funds to put them all together. Calvert told AFCAC they have found a grant to apply for. Offered by Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Department of Employment and Economic Development, it supports transportation projects that spur development. It’s not guaranteed, but if received, four years and counting after the RiverFirst Initiative inspired and collected the creative thinking for the upper river, it would be a start.
Consultants, city and park staff are holding various meetings to get people’s views on whether to incorporate some of the old structures into the park experience.
There will be a meeting geared to businesses Thursday, August 24 in the morning, 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the EMERGE Career & Technology Center, Phillips Room, 1834 Emerson Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55411.
To learn more about the site and planning process and/or sign up for ongoing email updates, visit www.upperharbormpls.com.
Below: Street artists, photographers and adventurers of various sorts aren’t waiting for the former Upper Harbor Terminal’s mile-long property to be redeveloped into a park, but their activities suggest possibilities for the future. Ann Calvert of Community Planning and Economic Development, Kate Lamers, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board staff. An aerial view of the project area. Remnants of road salt storage and handling that took place on the site. The two most common types of road salt used on streets are sodium chloride (halite) and potassium chloride (potash). The domes were also used as storage for fertilizer components, and mixed on site. The cat graffiti is on the side of the potash building. Plants grow in the cracks of the domes. The future is indeed a mystery. (Photos by Mark Peterson)