Video - Minneapolis Water Works Project - Meeting One

The ideas were flowing Thursday, December 15, when the Minneapolis Parks Foundation and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board held a "designer-ask" community meeting about a potential new park along the city's Central Riverfront.

Dubbed "Water Works" (former Fuji-Ya Restaurant site) because the city's first water supply and fire fighting pumping stations were located there in the 19th Century, the site encompasses Minneapolis Park Board owned land between Portland Avenue South and the Third Avenue Bridge, and between First Street South and the Mississippi River. The community meeting was the first step in a preliminary feasibility study that will explore options for what could be a significant new park destination in downtown Minneapolis.

The Minneapolis Parks Foundation is leading the project in partnership with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, for which it is also a forerunner to the Central Riverfront Regional Park Update master planning process. Mill City based architects Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle (MS&R) are the lead designers on the project.

Together with financing consultants HR&A Advisors, they will produce design and program options and financial analysis by February 2012.

"The Water Works site and riverfront area are important for the convergence of Central Riverfront destinations, including the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, St. Anthony Falls, the Stone Arch Bridge, lock and dam, and the Mill City Museum," says Mary deLaicre, President of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, which is funding the project through a private donation.

"Because of the site's historic and national significance, it's important that we complete an interdisciplinary study of the site and area within the current social, economic and environmental context, and its compelling geography and history, including ruins of long razed flour mills."

The public will be invited to a second community meeting in late February, to critique options and review the team's findings. The Minneapolis Parks Foundation will announce details about that meeting in January 2012.

Momentum Building to Close St. Anthony Falls Lock & Dam

From KARE 11:

"We are here to call upon the Congress, to call upon the Minnesota state legislature to take immediate action to address the infestation of Asian carp that are moving up the Minnesota, Mississippi and St. Croix rivers," said Gary Botzek, Minnesota Conservation Federation Executive Director.

Botzek called for the installation of electronic barriers and eventually a "chemical solution" to kill the invading carp. "Including the possible closing of a lock and dam, particularly Lock and Dam #1 in Minneapolis, to create that natural barrier that we need to stop the northern movement," said Botzek.

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Tonight - A Park Where Fuji-Ya Once Stood? Meeting at Mill City Museum

Date:  Thursday, December 15

Time:  6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Place:  Mill City Museum, ADM Room, 710 Second Street South, Minneapolis MN 55401

The Carp Are Coming! The Carp Are Coming! (And they may already be here)

From River Talk:

Big news, perhaps historic news (although it’s being downplayed to some extent) today is that genetic testing of waters in the Mississippi River north of downtown Minneapolis has found DNA evidence of the presence of silver carp.

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A 360 Degree View Near the Hennepin Avenue Suspension Bridge

Six Books that May Shape Water Future Debate

From the River Talk:

American environmental thinking has a strong tie to ideas that have been published in book form.  Where, for example, would we be without Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring or Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac?

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A 360 Degree View from the Stone Arch Bridge

Mark Your Calendars - December 14, 2011, Wednesday - A SIP OF SCIENCE at Aster Cafe

Time: 5:30pm

Location: Aster Cafe, 125 SE Main Street
 
Future Earth: Thriving on a Human-dominated Planet

Collectively all seven billion of us now rival natural processes in modifying the Earth.  We live in a world being thoroughly reconfigured by human activity.  As humans we have set in motion global changes that will reverberate for thousands of years.  A diverse portfolio of technologic, economic, social and political innovations is needed for people to thrive on a human-dominated planet.  Earth fortunately now is home to the wealthiest, healthiest, best educated, and most innovative, creative and interconnected cohort of humans in history.

What is the future we wish to create and live in?  Join Patrick Hamilton in an interactive exploration of the challenges and opportunities of living on a human-dominated planet.

About Pat:

Currently, Patrick serves as the Director of Global Change Initiatives at the Science Museum of Minnesota and principle investigator for the museum's Future Earth exhibit.  He started at the Science Museum of Minnesota soon after graduating with his masters in geography in the early 1980s.  He is the lead on several initiatives, including the Science on a Sphere Solutions exhibit, the Big Back Yard, and Earthscapes, working and partnering with groups such as University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment, Columbia University, NCED, and NASA.  
 
A SIP OF SCIENCE bridges the gap between science and culture in a setting that bridges the gap between brain and belly. Food, beer, and learning are on the menu in a happy hour forum in which researchers pair with musicians, artists and storytellers to put science in context through storytelling.

Mississippi Morning [Video]

View the beauty of nature on a morning ride to St. Cloud State University along the historic Mississippi River.

Protecting the Mississippi River Above Minneapolis is Important Too!

With all of the focus on the Minneapolis Riverfront, it's worth noting that work is being done north of the Twin Cities to preserve and revitalize the Mississippi.  With St. Cloud being a large population and industrial center, improvements there will have an impact downstream in Minneapolis.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and its partners have launched the Mississippi River-St. Cloud Watershed Project. Watch the video above to hear what living, working, and playing in this area means to some of the partners involved in this project, and enjoy nature's beauty throughout the watershed.