[Mpls] (no subject)Park land at the U of M

[WJKAHN at aol.com]

Liz Wielinski writes:

"The land for the boathouse  at the old Riverboat site has come up at
Park Board meetings and I think they are still negotiating.  The last I
had heard was that it would include some " staff hours"  from the U of
M to address some gardening needs for the MPRB.  I think this would be
a good sharing of resources.  I think that Commissioner Erwin may be
able to speak to this issue in more detail than I can on this subject.

"And on another tack, Boom Island will be home to a paddleboat again in
the spring. ( So unavailable for a football field ) According to
Commissioner Olson (who toured it as it winter's at King's Cove in
Hastings) it is very, very nice."

Bill Kahn moans:

Perhaps synergy is over rated, or just over used when it comes to the 
University. As an earlier post last month, Chuck Holtman I think, points out, there 
is nothing very green about that park except the color of the grass in season. 
If the U can counteract all the stuff they've done to degrade water quality 
through landscaping East River Flats, perhaps that is a bargain worth making. 
I'm afraid that the park is just a walk through for me as well as a popular 
route for bicycles heading down river when things are snow and ice free; other 
than that it is used mostly by U students, staff, and faculty. I look forward to 
clarification from Commissioner Erwin.

The Boom Island paddleboat suggests a DeLeSalle football solution to me: they 
could build and moor a special "field barge" down river of Nicolette Island 
above the falls for the team to play on while folks watched from the river 
banks. That should serve to spread out the parking and provide entrepreneurial 
opportunities as well.

Bill Kahn
freezing in Prospect Park