HELP SAVE OPEN SPACE ON NICOLLET ISLAND
Friends of the Riverfront has filed three lawsuits challenging the plan to build a football stadium on Nicollet Island and the process by which local government has approved it. The first case ended when the Minnesota Supreme Court declined FOR's petition to appeal a ruling by the state Court of Appeals, but two more cases are still pending at the Court of Appeals. Friends of the Riverfront was joined in the first two cases by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota. The three citizen groups are asking that the City of Minneapolis and DeLaSalle be made to comply with state law and explore alternatives before destroying natural or historic resources. Donate to the legal fund online or send a check to Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, 219 Landmark Center, 75 W. Fifth St., St. Paul, MN 55102-1406 (put "Nicollet Island" on the memo line).
Preservation magazine features stadium threat to Nicollet Island
The National Trust for Historic Preservation publication highlights development threats to the St. Anthony Falls Historic District. Click here to read more.
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Trust for Public Land says Minneapolis is tops among densest cities in soccer fields per capita
In a new report, the Trust for Public Land found that Minneapolis, among all of America's highest density cities, has the most soccer fields per capita, with 1.5 soccer fields for every 10,000 residents.
That contradicts claims that Minneapolis is so lacking in soccer fields that it should allow a private institution, DeLaSalle High School, to build a football stadium on open space parkland so park board teams could play soccer on Nicollet Island.
Just a month after the stadium plan became public, that was the reason Park Board Superintendent Jon Gurban gave for wanting to let the private school build on public parkland. According to the Skyway News, Gurban was "eager to see another soccer field in the city," because, in his words, "We're deficient with the number of soccer fields that we have in this community. The idea that we could get access to what will be a very nice field excites us. At least on the surface, it looks real good to us."
Yet public use and soccer have appeared to be after-thoughts throughout the private institution's campaign to construct a football stadium over a public road and park. As the city's DeLaSalle Environmental Assessment Worksheet put it, "The new field, when not used for football, will provide one regulation size soccer field or three junior soccer fields."