Which way should riverfront development go?

Article by: TASNIM SHAMMA , Star Tribune
Updated: July 27, 2011 - 11:45 PM

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A design team spent nearly a month revising its vision for the Mississippi River waterfront after a 10-week critique by the community and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

Photo: TLS/KVA,

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The second of three public meetings this summer to discuss redevelopment of the Mississippi River riverfront will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Minneapolis Bottineau Park Recreation Center.

Why you should care

Taxpayer-approved Legacy Amendment funding is paying for you to speak up. The first meeting for public input on the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative (MRDI) was July 19. The third meeting is Aug. 4 at Farview Park. The meetings offers the public a chance to share how they think the Mississippi riverfront can be improved and which areas should be prioritized and developed first.

Who's behind it?

In February, a 13-person jury of elected officials and design professionals announced that the teams of Tom Leader Studio of Berkeley, Calif., and Kennedy & Violich Architecture of Boston had won the Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition and would guide future development along 5 1/2 miles of river corridor from the Stone Arch Bridge north to the city limits.

The vision so far

The team spent nearly a month revising its vision after a 10-week critique process by the community and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. The team identified eight sites for possible parks, green corridors and open spaces. It advocates creating a system of storm water tributaries, a series of walking and biking trails connecting both sides of the river, and adding a "clean shuttle bus" to connect north and northeast Minneapolis with the river.

After the meetings?

In September, the design team will identify priority sites to be developed within the next three to five years and submit recommendations to the Park Board on how to get it done. MRDI is also gathering information through an online survey on its website -- minneapolisriverfrontdevelopmentinitiative.com -- and at the Park Board's 47 recreation centers.

Tasnim Shamma • 612-673-7603 Twitter: @TasnimS