Three Rivers Park District: Silverwood Park programming will not be touched

Not all stories have a happy ending, but the future of Silverwood Park in St. Anthony Village appears to be a lot brighter following a Three Rivers Park District board meeting on March 21.

Over a hundred people turned out at the meeting and more than 30 people testified, some of them tearfully, about the park’s deep impact on their lives.

In the end, the board accepted the report, which recommended continuing programming at Silverwood while seeking additional funding outside the district. There were no more threats by board members to curtail programming. 

In November, the district’s board asked staff to come up with a report on the park, and several board members indicated they were considering cutting or eliminating programming at the park, and perhaps even moving the park’s large sculptures — a signature feature of the park — to other district parks.

The major problem, as the board saw it, was that Three Rivers is supported by taxes from suburban Hennepin County, while most of the park’s users were from outside that taxing area. In fact, the park, on the shores of Silver Lake, resides in Ramsey County.

The report, crafted by Three Rivers Superintendent Boe Carlson and his staff, said the park, consisting of 120 acres and 2,300 feet of shoreline, has been operating since 2009. It was previously a Salvation Army Camp.

The report’s recommendations and findings included:

• Try to work with other local governments, both city and county, to provide programming at the park. It was also suggested that Silverwood staff offer programming at other Three Rivers parks beginning with Fish Lake and French regional parks. Also, residents in suburban Hennepin County would have priority for registering for Silverwood camps.

• Focus the group programming, which is often offered to senior, school or library audiences, within suburban Hennepin County.

• Over 40 events were held at the park last year drawing in about 10,000 people. Explore having other cities and counties co-produce these events, such as the summer concert series.

• Over 70% of the park’s use is walking and picnicking. Seek grants to support the infrastructure of the park, and develop partnerships to offer more recreational programs.

• The Great Hall at Silverwood is the only large venue of its kind in the park system and was rented 115 times last year. Pricing at the hall should be studied to make sure it’s competitive.

• While only 11% of the park’s users are from suburban Hennepin County, 79% of the park’s expenses are paid from those taxpayers. State law requires that 40% of the district’s funding come from the state, but in actuality, only 13.5% isfrom state funding. The report urges advocating legislators for more funding.

• The summary calls the park “successful, much loved and important to our broader community” and urges the district to engage other partners to keep the park flourishing. It also said arts and nature programming need to be expanded to other Three Rivers sites.

The “much-loved” description of the park was borne out as resident after resident came to the microphone to tell the board members what the park meant to them. 

The first two speakers were the mayors of Columbia Heights and St. Anthony Village. Wendy Webster, St. Anthony, said her constituents would be grieving any loss of programs at the park. 

Amáda Márquez Simula, Columbia Heights, said her city has put effort and money into improving Silver Lake’s quality, and she said the park provides equity for the area, providing programming for low-income people and people of color.

The letter the two read quoted a 2023 Three Rivers budget document, “The park district serves 44 municipalities and has long identified the need to provide services in the communities lacking regional parks.” The mayors said, “Our communities of St. Anthony Village and Columbia Heights fit that express goal.

“Environmental stewardship through recreation and education is more important than ever.”

Nearly every speaker told the Three Rivers board what the park meant to them personally.

Colin Silver of Minneapolis said any cutbacks on Silverwood’s services would be “devastating and tragic” for his family and friends. Tony Balster of St. Anthony said the county’s investment in Silverwood was “a drop in the bucket” but it was good to see his tax dollars at work.

David Baker of St. Paul said Silverwood was a gateway to the entire Three Rivers park system. “Any action that hampers programming would be borderline irresponsible.”

Dave Johnson, St. Anthony, who helped organize the effort to maintain programming at the park, quoted figures that said 28% of the visitors to Silverwood were from suburban Hennepin, 27% were from Ramsey, 21% from Minneapolis, and 16% from Anoka. “It is serving who it supposed to serve.”

Keely Schultz, St. Paul, acknowledged that the park was a “jurisdictional oddity” but said, “That’s really the strength of the park.”

After the public comment, which took over an hour, the Three Rivers board members had a chance to react to both the staff report and the 35 or so testimonies. 

Jesse Winkler held up a thick sheaf of email printouts the district had received since last November’s discussion of curtailing Silverwood programming. He said the board needs to be more cognizant of how it “brings these issues forward” and called November’s action “half-baked.”

Marge Beard called the public reaction “unprecented,” and said the park was a place of peace, joy and welcome, and was a model for all the district’s parks. She also said finding partners to financially support the programming was a good path to pursue.

Jennifer DeJournett said she appreciated how thoughtful and respectful the comments were. Louise Segreto said the heartfelt support for the park showed how much it means to the people who use it. “This park is a dramatic success and is unique. We must be careful, we must be sure that programming is not diminished.” 

Jan Guenther said, “Parks matter. Boundaries don’t matter.” Erin Kolb said, “I’m confident the existing level of programs can be continued.”

Chairman John Gibbs said the report and comments open up an opportunity to work with other governmental agencies to support Silverwood. He said conversations are underway with Ramsey and Anoka counties.