Mintahoe Catering has worked at Nicollet Island Pavilion since 2003. Its contract is set to expire next year. (Mark Peterson)
An Aug. 25 public meeting at the Nicollet Island Pavilion brought out 50 interested residents to hear Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board’s (MPRB) Shane Stenzel, its manager of permits and events and enterprise development manager, talk about the building’s future.
The facility, which has undergone $10 million in investments, hosts 150-200 private events annually. MPRB seeks to balance public and private use, and to consider “neighborhood values and potential impacts on parking, noise and security.”
For more than two decades, Mintahoe Catering and Events has operated as the exclusive in-house caterer and manager for events at the historic venue. Their current contract expires next year, offering an opportunity, Stenzel said, to explore additional uses for the venue. The process will involve a request for interest (RFI) to gauge community and potential operator interest. The building currently generates $500,000 in revenue annually, but maintaining it as a public facility would incur an estimated $1.2 million in additional costs.
Stenzel recalled that in 2003, MPRB issued a request for proposal (RFP) and hired Mintahoe, adding, “They have done a great job, booking 150 to 200 hundred events per year and investing millions, but a lot of the bookings are for private events, such as wedding and corporate events. Most of the time, the doors are locked. Before we develop plans for the future of this building, our goal is to understand the neighborhood value.”
If MPRB makes a change in the building’s use, the department would require the venue to still be profitable as an enterprise. Taking over the Pavilion would require money from the MPRB, taxpayers and the neighborhood. MPRB does not pay for utilities, cleaning and other maintenance — that’s all part of Mintahoe’s current contract.
Also, depending on future use, parking has to be considered, as well as possible improvements in the adjacent outdoor amphitheater. Stenzel noted that he would no doubt want to continue the relationship with Minahoe, but, “If we’re ever going to do a change, now is the time. Their contract runs through next year, and already people are inquiring about wedding dates in 2028 and 2029.”
Janna King, president of Economic Development Services, whois consulting with MPRB on this project, asked the audience about the concerns they have as well as what limitations or boundaries they would want to establish for the building and for the amphitheater. King also asked about traffic, parking and noise. “Think of one or two things that you’d like to see us do while we’re still in the planning process, and what opportunities do you see for this building? Are there other organizations or people that should be involved in this process? What questions have we not asked? And what about particular community needs?”
Audience members put their concerns on paper and posted them on the wall. King read a number of comments out loud: No noise after 10 pm; no overflow parking in residential areas; access for non-profits to hold fundraisers; community meetings and festivals; public space for concerts; available sporting equipment; a food court.
Stenzel stressed that MPRB has no concrete plans yet. “Oh, we think it could be this, or we think it could be that. We’re not even there. We’re not even close (to) specific. We want to hear about impacts and what you value in a park system. So also consider the trails that go around this park. Consider the ambiance of the building. It is historical, so (we) can assure you the building is not going to change in the sense of color or definitions or anything like that, it’s historical.”
Stenzel said MPRB will create an RFI, and after gathering information from the meeting, they will start formulating that document and get it to the public. Stenzel added, “If you know anybody that might be interested in the space, by all means, we want you to share this with them. Typically the RFI is sent out, there will be some walkthroughs so people can see the space, and then we’ll close. We’ll form a committee, including a representative from the neighborhood.”
The building now known as the Nicollet Island Pavilion was built in 1893 to house the William Bros. Boiler Works. It was built shortly after a large fire destroyed several manufacturing sites on the south end of Nicollet Island. The boiler works was taken over in 1923 by the Durkee-Atwood company, a rubber manufacturer.
In 1971 the National Park Service added the land around St. Anthony Falls to its list of National Historic Districts, and a year later the City of Minneapolis proposed redevelopment of the former industrial and railroad land on the island. By 1976, MPRB set its sights on the Nicollet Island property for the creation of a new park, and in 1981 purchased the former Boiler Works building and its property for $6.5 million.
At the time, it was the MPRB’s most expensive land purchase. Along with the physical development of the pavilion, the only other remaining south-of-Hennepin-Avenue manufacturing building was the former home of the Island Sash and Door Company, which later became the Nicollet Island Inn.