[Mpls] "For the kids" or another K-Mart?

[Barry Clegg]

"For the kids" is the refrain we keep hearing from those who support
giving away a piece of Nicollet Island Park to DeLaSalle High School.
 
Is this really "for the kids?"  Does ANYONE believe that if North High
School wanted to build a stadium for the kids in North Commons Park that
the Park Board would be so cooperative?  
 
It's not about "the kids."  Its all about politics, as even the most
fervent "for the kids" Park Board members admit in private.  It's about
many of DeLaSalle's Board and alumni being powerful people in our City,
many Park Commissioners are alumni, former employees or beholden to
those who are.  
 
It's embarassing and shameful that some of the Park Board's current
majority are actively trumpeting their support of this project in
targeted campaigning to Catholic voters while turning a blind eye to the
bad public policy implications of this proposal and similar projects
which seek to privatize our parks.
 
Today, when we look back at the closing of Nicollet Avenue to build a
K-Mart (?!), we all wonder, " who were the bozos who decided to do
that?"  Twenty years from now, we'll be asking the same question about
this stadium (and yes - even DeLaSalle's hired architechts call it a
stadium).  If you want to know the answer, watch the Park Board meeting
on TV this Wednesday.
 
Barry Clegg
Nicollet Island