Three St. Paul nonprofits are launching a campaign to raise $1.35 million for a project to renovate Rice Park in downtown St. Paul.
The groups — the St. Paul Garden Club, the Rice Park Association and the St. Paul Parks Conservancy — will hold a campaign kickoff on Nov. 23 in Rice Park, the square across from the Ordway Center that is considered one of the most attractive urban spaces in the country.
The project, expected to cost $2.4 million, would include new lighting and paving, movable chairs and tables, and new plants while clearing some old trees. The fountain and statue of native F. Scott Fitzgerald would remain.
"The hope is that the city will partner with us for the balance" of the cost, said Colleen FitzPatrick, a garden club member who serves on the park revitalization committee.
The garden club, which helps maintain Rice Park, kicked off planning for the project last year with a $46,000 grant. FitzPatrick said they hope that funding will be secured by the end of 2016.
KEVIN DUCHSCHERE
MINNETONKA
Groundbreaking held for new Ridgedale mid-rise
A groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday to celebrate a new six-story building in Minnetonka's Ridgedale area.
The Shops at 1700 and the Residences at 1700 will be a 155,000-square-foot, mixed-use project replacing the three-story Highland Bank off Cartway Lane and Plymouth Road. The City Council approved plans last December for the project, pegged as precedent-setting for a wave of redevelopment expected in the area over the next two decades to draw people for more than just shopping like St. Louis Park's West End.
The council initially denied plans after nearby residents opposed it, saying it was too tall and dense for Minnetonka. The council later approved slightly scaled back plans by Paster Properties and Bader Development.
