Uniform skyway hours in St. Paul: A must or pie in the sky?

In St. Paul, there's a growing concern about a lack of consistency in the hours that parts of the skyway system are open.

The City Council is considering a proposed ordinance that would require all parts of the system to be open from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day. Those hours also would apply to entrances into the system, with some exceptions.

The idea is popular with the CapitolRiver Council, the district council that represents downtown, many of its residents and some building owners and managers. People want convenient access from one side of downtown to the other and don't want to be locked out of their route, they say.

Other building owners are concerned about added security costs and being told to keep hours that many have already volunteered to keep.

"You need to balance financial aspects with perceived social needs," said Jim Crockarell, whose family has an ownership interest in three downtown buildings.

Council Member Dave Thune, who sponsored the proposed ordinance and whose ward includes downtown, said people who live, work and visit downtown depend on the skyway system. Indeed, more people are living downtown, and the city now has 8,000 housing units there.

The bulk of the system, which connects more than 30 downtown blocks, was built in the 1970s and '80s. The city has spent millions of dollars over the decades to build the bridges and get easements through the buildings.

More than 70 different contracts have been negotiated between the city and building owners, and many have differing requirements for open hours.

Over the years, most buildings have kept 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. hours, but others close anywhere between 7 p.m. and midnight.

Susan Kimberly, vice president of economic development for the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, recalled that she had her first skyway conversation in 1974. "The issues haven't changed all that much," she said.

"We really believe that it's essential that the system has a uniform set of hours. If it doesn't have that, it can be very frustrating for residents and visitors and employees and building owners," Kimberly said.

If approved, the ordinance would allow building owners to apply for an exemption to have different hours, which would need council approval.

Reasons for pause

There are financial, legal, security and social issues that need to be addressed, Crockarell said. The three buildings his family has an interest in don't stay open until 2 a.m., but most are open until 11 p.m. Legally, he said, the buildings could shut down at 8 p.m.

"We're working with the city and trying to work something out that's acceptable to everyone," Crockarell said. "We're not finished working through the process."

Members of another association, the Greater St. Paul Building Owners and Managers Association, or BOMA, simply don't want a law telling them to do something they currently agree to do.

"I want to make very clear that we're not intending to close down skyways," said Bill Buth, past president and consultant for BOMA. It's also an issue of security, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Sgt. Paul Paulos, who supervises the Police Department's downtown beat, said his officers respond to relatively few calls in the skyway system and spend a lot more time on the streets below. As he has observed, there are about twice as many people going through the skyway during the day as there are at night.

A plus for St. Paul

And the skyways are a boon to the buildings.

Buildings connected to the skyway system generally have a better chance of having a higher occupancy rate and charging more for the space, said Eric Rapp, vice president of NAI Welsh Companies, a commercial real estate brokerage firm. Tenants see easy indoor access to shops, services and parking as a benefit, he added.

"As more people choose to live downtown, the skyway is very important to their getting around the city safely," said Kathryn Severance, who lives in a building on the skyway system and also owns a small business, the European Table, in the system. As a resident, she's concerned about moving freely from one end of downtown to another. As a business owner, she thinks uniform hours in the skyway might encourage more people to set up small shops or boutiques.

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. March 19 in the Council Chambers, 15 W. Kellogg Blvd.