Friends of the Riverfront

Hopkins map of Nicollet Island, 1885: Grove Street is part of the original 1865 plat of Nicollet Island. This map shows the residential neighborhood extending from the north tip (at left) to Hennepin Avenue (then called Bridge Street).The Minneapolis Heritage Preservation voted unanimously Aug. 8 to reject a private developer's plan to build a football stadium on public parkland and over a public street on Nicollet Island. At the end of a 4-1/2 hour meeting, commissioners voted 7-0 that DeLaSalle High School's plan would damage the St. Anthony Falls Historic District.

The commission also made significant changes to the proposed Findings (or facts) on which it based its rejection of the stadium plan (emphasis added):

- "Closure of a portion of Grove Street will constitute an adverse effect on the District." (instead of only an "adverse visual effect" as proposed)

- "Many aspects of the project including siting, height and materials are incompatible with the Nicollet Island Sub-District guidelines and would have a lasting adverse effect on the district. Incompatible aspects include height of light mass, night time illumination levels, stucco siding, imitation stone, height of the retaining walls and location of the stadium on the historic street." (Instead of this proposed sentence: "The siting, height, massing, materials (type and color), and windows and openings of the construction aspects of the Project are generally compatible with the Nicollet Island Sub-District Guidelines and will not have a significant adverse effect on the District.")

- "Potential off-site effects due to traffic, congestion, parking, lighting, and noise, including loudspeaker noise, will have a significant adverse effect on the District." (Instead of "will not have a significant effect.")

- "The measures proposed by DeLaSalle are not sufficient to mitigate fully the adverse effects to the district of closing a portion of Grove Street." (Instead of simply "adverse effects.")

- "The measures proposed by DeLaSalle are not sufficient to mitigate fully the potential adverse archeological effects posed by the Project." (The commission rejected this added sentence: "However, an Archeological Resources Assessment and Mitigation Plan (as described above in the Analysis section of this report) could provide sufficient mitigation of any potential adverse archeological resources effects posed by the Project." But the commission left intact this finding: "There is a high potential for the area to contain intact pre-contact (pre-Anglo-European) and historical archaeological resources that may be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.")

- The commission rejected one proposed Finding altogether, refusing to include it as a fact: "Reasonable alternatives: The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) and the Community Advisory Committee examined alternative sites on and off the island and they concluded that there are no reasonable alternative sites that allow the Project to meet the siting, design, and programmatic criteria adopted by the MPRB and DeLaSalle High School."

- "The analysis in the Environmental Worksheet (EAW) prepared by the City for the Project identified adverse effects on the Historic Resources in the St. Anthony Falls Historic District." (Instead of "The EAW ... identified a single potential significant adverse effect; namely, the closure of the Grove Street alignment.")