Updated Aldi opens

by Tesha M. Christensen

Tesha M. Christensen
Despite opening a second Aldi in the neighborhood along Lake St., the company does not plan to close the Aldi a few blocks away at the Hi-Lake Shopping Center, according to the owner of both buildings.

The former Rainbow Foods at 2912 28th Ave. S. has been transformed into a brand new Aldi with wider aisles, more refrigerated items and a wider selection of fresh foods.
“We are thrilled,” stated site developer David Wellington of Wellington Management, Inc. “Aldi is a world class grocer that is unparalleled in delivering high-quality food at a premier value. Their new, bigger store looks great in the space, and we think this updated format and layout is going to be great for the retail center and the neighborhood.”
According to Wellington, Aldi plans to continue operating the store nearby at the Hi-Lake Shopping Center in another building managed by Wellington. “We know of no plans to close it,” he said. 
Aldi is in the process of revamping its stores, but was not able to redo the store at 2100 E. Lake St. because “the building footprint, access, and layout were not conducive to the significant modification that was required,” stated Wellington.
Aldi is part of a second phase for redeveloping the site. There is additional retail space for lease next to the grocery store.
The first phase was the 19,600-square-foot, second-story addition built on the back side of the building for the K-8 Universal Academy Charter School.
The third phase will include 110 units of affordable housing for seniors and 15,000 square feet of retail space on the ground level. The construction of this mixed-use building on the northwest corner of the parking lot is behind schedule as Wellington Management works to put the financial pieces together to make it affordable. 
The Rainbow site, Cub land and Target property together represent the second largest piece of continuous asphalt in the city of Minneapolis, pointed out Wellington. They have worked to align their project with the the city’s plans for greater density in the area due to the nearby lightrail line.
“We appreciate the neighborhold’s collective patience as we’ve worked through the challenging redevelopment,” stated Wellington. “We are excited about the next few years for the site and think the future is bright for the area.”

Article printed in the February 2019 edition of The Alley newspaper.

What’s possible for HOTB, MayDay?

by TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN

Bruce Silcox
HOTB has been a offering after-school and summer programs for kids at Little Earth, the Waite House, and Collaborative Village (a PPL project) for several years. About 150 kids are part of this year-round program that focuses on telling the stories of the Phillips neighborhoods and participants’ cultures. Along the way, children learn shadow puppeting, stilts, storytelling and more.

In the Heart of the Beast Theater (HOTB) has already said farewell to two staff members, and by June 2019 it won’t have any full-time staff left.
But it isn’t disappearing. 
Executive Director Corrie Zoll is hopeful about the organization’s future and believes it is full of exciting possibilities.
“This is an extremely painful moment,” Zoll admitted. “At the same time, I’m really looking forward to conversations with people about what is possible.”
WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM?
HOTB announced in January its plans to significantly reduce its operations in 2019 and cut staff. Grants it had been counting on when the budget was made in August did not materialize.
 HOTB relies on a variety of funding sources, including foundations, donations, and grants. Complicating things is that most of the funding available for arts is given to new projects. Programs that are ongoing are not typically given the grants that are available, Zoll noted. While Minnesota is lucky to have so much money available for the arts courtesy of the Legacy Amendment, it is not given to fund ongoing projects either. HOTB does receive some operating support through the Legacy Amendment, so it is ineligible for the festival support program for MayDay.
Last year, HOTB had expected to receive a $30,000 foundation grant that it did not get, which meant that MayDay operated at a loss of over $50,000. This was covered by reserve funds but HOTB can’t continue to do that. For about the last 10 years, MayDay has operated at a loss of between $20-30,000, according to Zoll. 
After the 2016 election and through 2017, HOTB saw an increase in individual donations, which Zoll feels was from a desire to invest in what people believed in.  In 2018, there was a significant drop in donations. “Now it seems that people are much more scared of where the economy is going and being more cautious in their investments,” Zoll observed.
Prior to the cut, HOTB had 15 permanent staff members; nine were full-time and six were part-time. By June, there will be half as many staff members and no one will be full-time, not even Executive Director Zoll who expects to work three days a week. 

Max Haynes
A central ritual of the Mayday Ceremony in Powderhorn Park is the raising of the Tree of Life puppet as a yearly commitment: of  human communities to be in right reciprocal relationship with each other and the whole of creation,” wrote organizer Sandy Spieler in a letter annoucning that organizaing MayDay 2019 will be her last year. “Remembering insight from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., my prayer is that MayDay  be a promise to uphold and nourish the whole ecosystem, our Beloved Community,  with Power that is wedded to Love. Thank you for all that has been, and thank you for all that will be!” Spieler is one of the founders of MayDay (1975), and has midwifed the artistic part of MayDay since this beginning.

Staff members will leave as grants for their programs run out. 
HOBT will present Puppet Lab performances as planned March 15-16 and March 21-22. This will close out a project that began last June courtesy of a Jerome Foundation grant that focuses on providing support for early career artists.
Puppet Cabaret (an evening of short, experimental puppet acts) will still be presented on Feb. 14, and HOTB will continue to share the Avalon Theater as a rental venue for events and performances.
Many people in Phillips don’t know that HOTB has been a offering after-school and summer programs for kids at Little Earth, the Waite House, and Collaborative Village, pointed out Zoll. About 150 kids are part of this year-round program that focuses on telling the stories of the Phillips neighborhoods and participants’ cultures. Along the way, children learn shadow puppeting, stilts, storytelling and more.
For seven of the last eight years, this program has been funded by the State Arts Board, but it has not been funded for this year.
In the two and a half weeks after its announcement, HOTB received $20,000 in individual donations. It will continue fundraising for this year’s MayDay event, which planners began working on in September.
MAYDAY: PART OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD IDENTITY
HOTB has decided that 2019 will be the 45th and final year that it will solely produce its annual MayDay celebration. In recent years, HOBT’s MayDay brings in approximately $150,000 in income, mainly from individual donors. Annual costs for producing MayDay, however, generally land between $180,000 and $200,000.
MayDay 2019 will also be the last year that the event is led by Sandy Spieler, who has been a part of the event since the beginning. She decided a year ago that it was time to step aside to make space for new artists to lead.
Zoll has been the executive director of HOTB for the last 3.5 years, but as a 25-year resident of Midtown Phillips he’s been at the majority of the MayDay events. He recalls acting in a production at Theatre de la Jeune Lune, where he first heard about MayDay. 
“People there were talking about MayDay as the greatest moment of the year in Minneapolis,” Zoll stated.
They all told him he had to go – but had troubling explaining just what the event was. 

Corrie Zoll of Heart of the Beast

He went. “As an artist, at the time it struck me as exactly everything that art should be,” he said. “It was relevant. It was dealing with current things happening in society. It involved laying around in the sun in the grass. It was running into neighbors you haven’t seen all winter. People would participate in it on any level they wanted to.”
MayDay has become a part of the very identity of the neighborhoods it goes through, as well as the ones that are adjacent to East Phillips, West Phillips and Powderhorn Park neighborhoods, he pointed out. 
There are banners up on Lake Street and tiles embedded in the sidewalk. Many south Minneapolis garages house puppets. 
“For many people it is the most important holiday of the year,” said Zoll. “There are many stories of people who get engaged in the park on MayDay; who get married in the park on MayDay; or have their ashes scattered in the place where the Tree of Life happens. 
“It’s really humbling to realize people think of it this way.”
In 2016, 50,000 attended MayDay. It grew to 55,000 the next year, and 60,000 people came in 2018.
“The event has gotten too big for us to produce on our own,” acknowledged Zoll. “A MayDay with more genuinely shared ownership could be a much stronger MayDay and more inclusive.”
Perhaps puppets will be made at more locations than the HOTB location at the Avalon. Maybe it will become a weekend event or a week-long event. 
“So many people tell us how important MayDay is to them. We want to spend the next four months having conversations about it,” said Zoll.
“What is possible for the future of MayDay?
“The best we can do at this painful moment is look at re-starting things from scratch. 
“What would be a more resilient way to do it?”
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
HOTB has put out a request for proposals (RFP) to bring in a consultant to help engage the community and identify stakeholders. 
Be a part of the conversation by signing up for the email list at www.hotb.org, and pay attention to web site and Facebook updates.
“We want this MayDay 45 – if it’s going to be the last – to be a big one,” said Zoll. 
“Let’s make Sandy’s last MayDay an amazing thing.”

How to help HOTB
Give Your Financial 
Support
• Give any amount online or via mail.
• Hire HOBT to bring an arts residency to your school, park, or place of worship.
• Rent the Avalon for events up to 200 people. Beer and wine service available.
• Buy tickets to Puppet Lab and Puppet Cabaret events this spring.
Give Your Time
•MayDay relies on 1000 volunteers. Spend just part of your MayDay (or the days before or after) sharing the scores of tasks that need doing. Sign up online.
Give Your Ideas & Input
• Say what’s on your mind. 
• Find more detailed information at hobt.org/imagine

HOBT’s decision to reduce its operations comes at a challenging time for midsized arts organizations 
in the Twin Cities. Peer organizations that have been temporarily or permanently impacted by similar challenges 
over the past two years include The Soap Factory, VSA Arts, Red Eye Collaborative, Intermedia Arts, NEMAA/Art-A-Whirl, Art Shanty Projects, Patrick’s Cabaret, and Bedlam Theatre.
 Article printed in the February 2019 edition of The Alley newspaper.

United Theological Seminary to move from New Brighton to Midway

Ecumenical seminary supports a community-based model to serve diversity of people inside and outside the church

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
At a time when seminary students are seeking connection, flexibility, and community involvement, the United Theological Seminary has decided to move from the suburbs into the city.
Seminary representatives signed a lease in September for 25,000 square feet at the Case Building (767 N. Eustis St.), and work will start soon on the space.
Classes for the spring term will begin at the new campus on Jan. 14, 2019.
Photo right: United Theological Seminary will be moving from New Brighton into the Towerside Innovation District and Creative Enterprise Zone in St. Paul. Classes are set to start in the former Case warehouse at 767 N. Eustice St. in January 2019, which is just a few blocks away from the Green Lightrail line on University. The new location also sits at the intersection of Highway 280 and Interstate 94. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
“Our new campus space will be designed to best serve seminary education of today where many students participate remotely and require state-of-the-art technology, and many in-residence students commute and prefer an urban setting with access to mass transit,” observed United Theological Seminary President Lee Zeidner (photo left provided).
“It will be in a vibrant community surrounded by emerging arts and non-profit organizations with socially conscious missions—this will create opportunities for collaborative efforts and opportunities for students to be involved in a multitude of community efforts as part of their training.”
Global Academy, a pre-K-8th grade International Baccalaureate Charter School, has purchased the seminary’s former location in New Brighton.
A melting pot of faith
United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities was founded in 1962 by the United Church of Christ as an ecumenical seminary serving all Protestant denominations. “Unlike other seminaries in the Cities that were single denomination focused (Lutheran, Baptist or Roman Catholic), United’s founders recognized the value of ecumenical training as families and communities became melting pots of faith traditions,” observed Zeidner.
United was started in New Brighton as the merging of two seminaries: Yankton Seminary in South Dakota and Mission House Seminary in Wisconsin. The land it was built on was originally a pig farm. In the 1980s, much of the land was sold off and became Seminary Estates, a community of single-family homes.
Photo right: United Theological Seminary students in a typical class with examples of the school’s theological art collection in the background. (Photo submitted)
The current campus in New Brighton consisted of about five acres with four buildings: the original classroom building that now includes an award-winning architectural chapel built about ten years ago, a library and dining building, an administrative building and the residence building.
United will continue to own and operate the residential units adjacent to the New Brighton campus and rent them to students. The seminary will provide subsidies for transportation from the residential units to the St. Paul campus for students that do not have access to cars.
Strong social justice bent
United has had a strong social justice bent throughout its existence, pointed out Zeidner, such as advocating for women in ministry 25 years ago when faith leadership was very male-dominated.
United has served many seminarians who have been historically marginalized by traditional church teachings, he added, and United’s work has evolved as societal challenges inside and outside of the church have similarly changed.
“More recently United has been on the front lines of advocating for the welcoming and affirming of gay and lesbian people in the church and now in ministry,” said Zeidner.
“Seminary was once a cloistered environment mostly serving white men on a path to church ministry—today it is a community-based model that serves a wide diversity of people on paths to serving people inside and outside the church in developing and exploring their spiritual lives,” remarked Zeidner.
Photo left: United Seminary students learn alongside distance education students (on the screen in the background). (Photo submitted)
United has increased its focus on inter-religious chaplaincy —helping chaplains who will serve patients in hospitals, long-term care facilities, the military, and other settings to better understand and relate to people of all faith traditions, not just Christians.
“Deeply understanding intercultural and inter-religious wisdom can help our graduates better serve those who they are in service to,” remarked Zeidner.
This fall, there are about 100 students enrolled at United, 80% in masters programs and 20% in doctoral programs.
About 30% of students are people of color, and 47% of students identify themselves as female. Students come from across the United States, as well as from all continents and a multitude of countries outside of the U.S.
No denomination represents more than 20% of students. Students who define themselves as “none” (having no religious path in their background) represent nearly 10% of students.
A flexible space
The one-story, 180-000-sq-ft brick Case Building was built by the Case Corp. in 1948 as a tractor parts distribution warehouse. Suntide Commercial Realty initiated development of the 1940s structure in St. Paul’s Westgate industrial area. The area includes about six city blocks nestled into an area bounded by University Ave. to the north, Hwy. 280 to the east, Interstate 94 to the south and the Minneapolis border to the west.
The space is currently a large shell with structural characteristics including many skylights and an urban green space. United hired Doug Pierce, an architect from Perkins and Will, to design its new campus.
The design will include a beautiful chapel, flexible space for creative expression including visual and performing arts, a space for prayer and meditation for those of many faiths, a community dining area, large classrooms with state-of-the-art technology, a technologically modern library, multiple bright and engaging student huddle and study areas and a patio in an urban green space right outside. The city plans to transform an abandoned rail spur and bridge over Hwy. 280 into a bike-and-pedestrian trail connection running past the Case Building.
“Our new space is designed with input from students, alumni, faculty and staff and in that context will create an ideal learning culture for a diverse and vibrant seminary community,” commented Zeidner.
“The space is designed to be fully accessible, green and comfortable for our diverse student, faculty, and staff body.”
United’s move to the Towerside Innovation District and Creative Enterprise Zone will better support existing curricular offerings and make way for new educational models.
While coursework in the arts and theology, social justice, and interreligious competency have been optional up until now, starting fall 2019, they will be required. Technology infrastructure will support a growing base of distance education students.
Rev. Karen Hutt, vice president for student formation, vocation, and experience, plans to provide new places and contexts for United students to serve. “We’ve partnered with Episcopal Homes to support their spiritual development program through chaplaincy internships,” stated Hutt.
She continued, “Our partnership with Episcopal Homes is just one way our students are addressing the changing role of the church.
“People are lonely and in trouble everywhere—public spaces, clinics, libraries, correctional facilities, waiting rooms and human service organizations. These same people may not be going to church to talk to a minister, but they certainly benefit from talking to a chaplain or even a chaplain in training. This is what community and fellowship look like to our seminary students.”
The concept of church evolving
The concept of the church may be evolving, but the core needs of people are not going away, stated Zeidner.
“While much has been written about the diminishing perceived need for ‘church’ at the center of community life in modern society, the need for a spiritual life within the community is growing life,” said Zeidner. “A place to ask the big questions of life about the broader meanings of our lives and how we can live happier and more fulfilled lives in community with others are still important to many.”
He continued, “Despite the clouds of ambiguity about the future of faith communities, it seems clear that less will center on large buildings with steeples and stained glass.”
“More will require leaders who can bridge between the everyday experiences of people and historical contexts and texts in a manner that is perceived as relevant and useful,” Zeidner concluded. “More will require leaders who can lead from within the community rather than from raised pulpits with sage voices. Leaders will require strong interpersonal skills with egos that can tolerate conflict and ambiguity. More will require deep skills at meeting the spiritual and emotional needs of people.”

Article printed in the 2019 January Como/Midway Monitor.

 

 

NAACP opposes TCGIS expansion

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
The NAACP opposes the proposed expansion of the Twin Cities German Immersion School.
In a statement issued in December, the St. Paul NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) explained its reason for opposition: “We believe that it will exacerbate the racial and socioeconomic segregation in the St. Paul schools.”
The NAACP sees this as a larger problem involving charter schools in general.
At the 107th National Convention in July 2017, the NAACP passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on charter school expansion. The resolution stated, “charter schools have contributed to the increased segregation rather than diverse integration of our public school system.”
According to the Minnesota Department of Education, TCGIS’ student population is 87% white, 13% students of color, and 7% low-income (qualifying for free-or-reduced-price lunch). In contrast, the surrounding school district, St. Paul Public Schools, is 21% white, 79% students of color, and 68% low-income.
“Expansion of such a predominantly white and relatively wealthy charter school in the heart of the city would frustrate efforts to desegregate St. Paul schools and contribute to further racial and socioeconomic segregation,” the NAACP stated.
“The concerns of local educational policy are highly germane to the decision-making of any city governmental body. Racial and socioeconomic segregation in our schools is the responsibility of all government officials to eradicate, and it is certainly their obligation to avoid any decision to make things worse. Education has a special place in our society. The Minnesota State Constitution singles out education to receive special protection and requires unique obligations by the state to provide an adequate education to all students. Courts since Brown v. Board of Education have found that segregated education is both unconstitutional and immoral.”
The NAACP urged the Planning Commission and all other city officials involved to reject the proposed expansion and prevent further segregation of local schools.”
The St. Paul NAACP is part of a national network of more than 2,400 branches of the NAACP in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The NAACP has more than 500,000 members and is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. The mission of the NAACP is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of all persons, and to protect constitutional rights.

Article printed in the January 2019 edition of the Como/Midway Monitor.

District 10 recommends approval of variances for TCGIS expansion

Board stressed they were not taking a position for or against historic preservation or value of former church building

District 10 Board members debate three variance requests from the Twin Cities German Immersion School who hopes to demolish the existing St. Andrew’s church building and construct an addition there. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
District 10 Board members have approved three variance requests for the Twin Cities German Immersion School (TCGIS) expansion project, but the board has not taken a position for or against historic designation of the former St. Andrew’s Church building that is at the center of this divisive neighborhood issue.
Photo right: On Dec. 18, 2018, District 10 Board members (left to right) Amy Perna (Vice Chair), Ryan Flynn (Chair), Anne Hartmann (treasurer) and Tim Post (secretary) consider three variance requests from the Twin Cities German Immersion School. Representatives from the school and Save Historic Saint Andrews spoke at the meeting. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
Before receiving official city approval, projects must go before their local district councils. In the Como area, the process for building projects is that they first go before the Land Use Committee, which is composed of however many neighborhood residents attend each meeting, and then the 17-member District 10 Board.
District council votes are advisory, and the city council is not required to go along with the recommendations.
While the approval process for the proposed school addition progresses on one track, the possible historic designation of the former St. Andrew’s Church building moves on another.
The city’s Preservation Commission ruled on Nov. 5, 2018, that the former church designed by the city’s first architect, Charles A. Hausler, is eligible for historic status. However, on Dec. 14, the city’s Planning Commission voted against it being eligible using a different set of criteria. The Heritage Preservation Commission held a public hearing on Jan. 14, past this Monitor’s deadline.
Variance 1: height
Charter schools often make do with spaces, observed TCGIS Executive Director Ted Anderson during the Dec. 18, 2018 District 10 Board meeting. “One of the biggest reasons that we’re motivated to build in this space is that we really want to have usable space for our kids.”
“We’ve seriously looked at how we can keep this building,” said board member and neighborhood resident Nic Ludwig. “We spent two months looking at that before we looked at other options.”
The proposed addition following the demolition of the former St. Andrew’s Church would have a cafeteria on the main level and an expanded commons area adjacent to the addition TCGIS built in 2013 when it moved to the site. Floor two would have six classrooms and RTI (response to interventions) space to provide individualized education.
In the lower floor would be two gymnasiums.
The proposed structure would be a bit wider and shorter than the existing church building.
However, it would be slightly taller than what is allowed by city code, so TCGIS is requesting a variance to the height of 3.1 feet for a total height of 33.1 feet. The existing church building is taller than what is now allowed by the city code. At the peak of the church roof, the current building is 47 feet tall, and it is 38 feet, 6 inches at the midpoint of the roof, according to a St. Paul staff report.
Photo right: District 10 Board member and Land Use Committee Chair Maggie Zimmerman presents highlights from the recent Land Use Committee meeting regarding the Twin Cities German Immersion School’s variance requests during a board meeting on Dec. 18. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
At the District 10 Land Use Committee meeting on Dec. 5, people had voted 96-76 to granting the variance. Land Use Committee members include anyone age 18 or older who resides in geographic boundaries of District 10; or anyone who is a designated representative of a business or nonprofit organization physically located within District 10.
Of the 230 people at the meeting, 187 were District 10 residents who could vote, according to Land Use Committee Chair Maggie Zimmerman. Of that, 60% were from subdistrict 2 (which includes Warrendale), 15% from subdistrict 1, 17% from subdistrict 4, and 8% from subdistrict 3.
Following the recommendation of its Land Use Committee, the District 10 Board voted 14-1 on Dec. 18 to support the variance request for height. Zimmerman and chair Ryan Flynn abstained from all the votes. St. Paul staff is also recommending approval of this variance.
Board position on historic designation
Vice Chair Amy Perna proposed an amendment to the first two motions that they be contingent upon the application for historical designation being denied.
“I think we have two processes going on and if the historic preservation goes through that changes the landscape,” explained Perna.
This amendment was not added following two 7-8 votes as the majority of board members felt that the issue would need to return to them if the historical designation moved forward.
Chair Ryan Flynn affirmed that support for the variance requests “is not an opposition to the historic designation.” He added, “The board has not taken a position on historic designation.”
Variance 2: lot coverage
The second variance request would allow TCGIS to have a total lot coverage of 36%, 1% more than the city’s allowable amount in an R4 residential district. Right now, the former St. Andrew’s Church occupies 32% of the site.
The Land Use Committee approved this by a 100-74 vote.
District 10 Board members approved 14-1 with two abstentions. St. Paul staff is also recommending approval of this variance.
Kevin Anderson of Save Historic St. Andrews (SHSA), the group pushing for preservation, argued that in the city’s zoning ordinance, there is language preventing the overcrowding of land and undue congestion of population. He pointed out that of the elementary schools in St. Paul, TCGIS is the highest in density. TCGIS has 375.1 students per acre while the next closest schools, Achieve Language Academy, has 270.5 students per acre, Murray Middle has 188.1 students per acre, and St. Paul Music Academy has 176.4 students per acre. SHSA believes the density puts a strain on the site and neighborhood streets.
Variance 3: parking
The last variance request generated the most discussion by the District 10 Board.
TCGIS is asking the city to waive the requirement that it provide 37 additional parking spaces with the addition. The school’s current proposal accounts for just 50 parking spaces, but it anticipates having 87 full-time equivalent employees with the school expansion.
The school’s parking lot on the west side currently has 33 spaces, and it will lose one spot with the addition. TCGIS will also remove the six-space parking lot on the east side to create green space there for a net loss of seven parking spaces.
It has contracted with Mission Church across the street to use 15 spaces there when they’re not needed by the church, an agreement that expires in June 2019. The school will offset nine parking spaces by providing bike racks for 36 bikes. The remaining vehicles are expected to use on-street parking in the neighborhood or by staff using alternative forms of transportation.
Ludwig noted that the school plans to meet with the city about using the Como pool lot, but that will cost the school money.
School representatives and those from Save Historic St. Andrews presented conflicting traffic and parking data during the meeting, with one side stating there was plenty of parking spaces available during school hours and the other stating there wasn’t. Each had photos to illustrate their point. The majority of TCGIS school students do come from outside the neighborhood and either ride the bus to school or come by vehicle. Of the 560 students, 55 live in District 10 and half in St. Paul, according to T. Anderson.
A traffic study is currently being done by TCGIS using measures set by the city.
At the Land Use Committee meeting, the school asked for a variance of 37 spaces. Before the District 10 board meeting, the city recommended a variance of only 29 spaces with no net loss in on-site parking.
During its vote, District 10 Board members agreed to follow through on the Land Use Committee vote (101-76) and approved a variance of 37 parking spaces on an 8-7 vote with two abstaining.
Those in favor of the motion explained that they supported more green space over parking. “I’m concerned about the message we’re sending to prioritize a parking lot,” said board member Laura Jo Busian.
Those opposed were concerned about shifting the burden of parking to neighborhood streets. “I think it does have the biggest impact on the neighborhood,” said board member Olivia Mulvey Morawiecki.
A neighborhood divided
School representatives stated that they don’t think they can keep the school financially stable and cover the costs of keeping the church as a historic building. “Will that make us leave tomorrow? No, but it will be a drain on our budget,” said T. Anderson.
They do not think the city should designate the former church as a historic site over their objections.
Save Historic Saint Andrews (SHSA) member Anna Moser pointed out that neighbors banded together to save the historic Victoria Theater at 825 University Ave. in Frogtown when the property owner wanted to tear it own. The structure was granted historic preservation status and is in the middle of a renovation project.
District 10 Board member Mike Ireland observed, “Since I started on the board there have been issues with the community and the school. It’s been exacerbated since the demolition came up. At some point, one side is going to walk away happy and one very sad.” He expressed his concern about the division he sees and asked how the school and community were going to come together after this.
On behalf of the school, Ludwig stated that TCGIS will continue to host neighborhood events such as National Night Out.
SHSA representative K. Anderson said that it is important to be respectful of each other in this process.
“I respect and understand that the school is an important part of our community, but I want it to be a positive part of the community,” stated Moser.
SHSA has requested data from the school to facilitate a design meeting this winter in which all stakeholders in the project would attempt to resolve the conflict and preserve the historic church structure.

Article printed in the January 2019 Como/Midway Monitor.

Zoning Commission holds off vote on TCGIS expansion plans

Delay gives school and community time to reach agreements on parking, traffic, pedestrian safety, and sound issues

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
Given the unresolved issues regarding parking, traffic and playground noise at the Twin Cities German Immersion School, the District 10 Board asked the St. Paul Zoning Commission to hold off on decisions that would facilitate the school’s expansion project.
While the District 10 Board approved three variance requests on Tues., Dec. 18, it delayed action on the school’s site plan believing it to be incomplete.
During a Dec. 20, 2018, Zoning Commission meeting, District 10 Executive Director Michael Kuchta asked the commission to table action to give the school, city staff, and community time to “fully review, deliberate and reach agreements” on various issues.
“The plan, as it currently exists, is incomplete,” wrote Kuchta in a letter to the commission. “It should not be approved until numerous areas of uncertainty are settled. Parking, traffic, pedestrian safety, and sound and sight buffering of the school’s play areas all are specific issues that remain unresolved.”
Kuchta cited uncertainty about how many on-site parking spaces the school needs and how that might be addressed.
He pointed out that city staff and the community have not had adequate time to review a 200-page traffic study submitted by the school. “It is unclear what actions city staff will require in areas such as traffic flow, student drop-off and pick-up, bus parking, crosswalk treatments, a Safe Routes to School plan, and related issues,” Kuchta wrote. “Especially because of the high percentage of private vehicles that transport students, these decisions have intense impacts on quality of life in the immediate residential neighborhood.”
He also pointed out that the school’s playground is unusually close to nearby residences.
“These are issues that exist today—and will continue to exist—regardless of what form the school’s expansion takes,” stated Kuchta.
The Zoning Commission agreed to table the issue following a four-hour hearing, and the school agreed to extend the legal deadline for review by 14 days to accommodate this.
The Zoning Commission will next review the issue on Jan. 17, and send a final recommendation to the Planning Commission on Jan. 25. The city council could review this on March 6.

INSTRUMENT OF CHANGE: Outgoing County Commissioner McLaughlin reflects on public service

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part one of a two-part series.
By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
When outgoing Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin drives through the district he’s served for 28 years, he’s proud of the work he’s accomplished.
“I feel good looking around at all the things I helped do,” observed McLaughlin, who lives in Standish-Ericsson a few blocks from the train station at 46th and Hiawatha.
“The county is a pretty amazing instrument, and I’ve put energy into making it an instrument of change.”
Photo right: “I feel good looking around at all the things I helped do,” observed Hennepin County District 4 Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, who left that office in December 2018 after 28 years of service. “The county is a pretty amazing instrument, and I’ve put energy into making it an instrument of change.” (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
From the start, he took his charge to be making things better for those who had elected him, and he worked to show up even when the heat was on.
Close to 40% of Minneapolis’ population live in McLaughlin’s district 4, and there is a steady stream of constituent calls and community meetings.
“Commissioner McLaughlin has a track record of getting things accomplished, and that has been the most exciting thing about working for him,” said his principal aide Brian Shekleton, who has worked in McLaughlin’s office for 12 of the last 21 years at three different times.
Shekleton pointed out the visible and structural investments such as LRT lines, the Midtown Greenway, Target Field Station, the Midtown Exchange, and safer street designs, that have improved Minneapolis and the region.
“But Commissioner McLaughlin has fought for the much less visible investments in people through training programs, human service support structures, supportive housing, environmental response funds, library, and youth sports investment funds, amongst many other programs.
“It’s these investments in people that have helped foster a more stable social fabric, something that is much less monumental but it is people who make a city livable, and I have found that working on these projects to be incredibly rewarding,” stated Shekleton.
His life was changed
McLaughlin didn’t grow up thinking he’d get into politics. He lived in a small town in western Pennsylvania, the son of a printer. Over the years, he watched the town wither away as the manufacturing jobs dried up.
McLaughlin earned a scholarship to attend Princeton University where he studied statistics and economics.
It was during the Vietnam War, Lyndon Johnson was president, New York City was going bankrupt, there was rioting in the streets, and people were fleeing the city in favor of the suburbs.
The summer before his junior year, McLaughlin took an internship working in Spanish Harlem. “The events in Spanish Harlem got me involved in community organizing and changed my life,” recalled McLaughlin. He switched his major to politics.
Then he went to work for the mayor of Trenton, N.J. The office was focused on revitalizing a dying downtown, and one tool was passing a progressive income tax to ease the property tax burden. As a “punk kid” he accompanied the mayor to Washington, D.C., among other places, and got an up-close look at the mayor’s work.
Photo left: The bike lanes on Park and Portland were the first, significant lanes to be put on a Hennepin County road and paved the way to new lanes on Minnehaha Ave, E. 46th St., and Washington Ave. downtown. McLaughlin has fought for visible, structural investments such as LRT lines, the Midtown Greenway, Target Field Station, the Midtown Exchange, and safer street designs during his 28 years as a Hennepin County Commissioner. (Photo submitted)
Force of community
McLaughlin came to Minnesota for the first time in 1975 to attend graduate school at the University’s School of Public Affairs and never left.
What struck him most were the social networks Minnesota had in place to get things done.
“You not only had tangible investments being made, but you also had this group of people that came together as a force within the community,” he observed.
McLaughlin got pulled into serving as board chair for the Powderhorn Residents Group (now PRG), helping with affordable housing developments. PRG was one of the first groups focused on that in the city. Its first project was revamping the Whittier School at 26th and Blaisdale into 45 units of affordable housing.
When he bought his first house near Matt’s Bar, McLaughlin watched how a city program that put people into vacant homes for $1 stabilized his block.
McLaughlin was hired by the Urban Coalition of Minneapolis and began focusing on social justice issues. Everything they did was cutting edge at the time, affordable housing, weatherization for owner- and renter-occupied homes, apprenticeship credits, education, and more.
Then Pastor Brian Peterson of Walker Church approached McLaughlin and asked him if he’d ever thought about running for office.
McLaughlin agreed to try it and was elected to three terms in the Minnesota House beginning in 1985. Minnesota was in a deep recession, and unemployment was high.
McLaughlin helped create the Jobs Now Coalition to offer a wage subsidy program that is still operating today, and helped pass the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) to put more control in the hands of Minneapolis neighborhoods and foster community. He sponsored the first parental leave act in the country that included six weeks for fathers, as well as mothers.
Directly affecting lives as Commissioner
Then, in 1990, he decided to run for Hennepin County Commissioner because he wanted to be more involved in doing things that directly affected people’s lives.
An experience early on shaped the rest of his career. He accompanied then-Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton and others to Chicago where they met with Sears representatives to ask that the company be the anchor tenant in the redevelopment of the Sears site on Lake St. (now Midtown Global Market). Sears was focused on how much disposable income residents in the area had, and that’s when McLaughlin realized that to get development he needed to focus on jobs first.
“I’m a believer in the economy and how important it is to have jobs for people,” stated McLaughlin. “That’s what pays the mortgages, the grocery bills. That’s what goes to Sears.”
Photo right: Commissioner Peter McLaughlin led the protection of the Upper Post buildings at Fort Snelling using Sentence-to-Service Crews to stabilize the buildings. The buildings will now be redeveloped by Dominium to create housing. (Photo submitted)
He set off to create a renaissance in South Minneapolis and hopefully staunch the exodus of people leaving the city.
It wasn’t going to happen overnight.
“You have to be paying attention when the opportunity arises to do something,” McLaughlin explained.
That involves doing something before then, however. McLaughlin’s method included serving on committees, talking to people, setting up the framework needed and doing studies so that when the time is right, things are in place.
While leaving Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) one day, McLaughlin came out a different door than usual and noticed an old, vacant brick building across the street. He checked the property tax records, saw it was owned by Allina and asked them what they planned to do with it. Fast forward a few years, and the building has been transformed into housing for youth and working adults through a collaboration between the city of Minneapolis, Central Community Housing Trust (CCHT), Allina, the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota, and YouthLink.
“I’m kind of always on the lookout for things like that,” McLaughlin said. “You need a network of people to make that happen.”
Look for part two in this series in the February edition of the Messenger.

Article printed in the January 2019 Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger and by permission in the February edition of The Alley newspaper.

SENA partners with WomenVenture to reach women and minority-owned businesses

Worker-owned cooperatives may help more workers earn living wages, have a voice and build wealth within the community

by Tesha M. Christensen

The Standish-Ericsson Neighborhood Association (SENA) is working to provide small businesses and home-based businesses with training and exposure so they can thrive.
“We have a lot of women and minority-owned businesses in the area,” stated SENA Executive Director Candace Lopez.
She pointed out that the majority of the population that lives in SENA is Caucasian (85%), and the neighborhood is more affluent than some with an average income of $93,000.
Small businesses “can really flourish in this neighborhood because it’s stable and there is money to spend,” said Lopez.
Enter WomenVenture, a business center through the Small Business Administration that seeks to help women attain economic self-sufficiency through the creation and growth of profitable and sustainable businesses.
Recently, SENA partnered with WomenVentures to host its 19-week Small Business Essentials course at its office (4557 34th Ave. S.), the first time it has been offered outside the WomenVenture office at 2021 E. Hennepin Ave. in Northeast Minneapolis. The smaller than usual cohort got to know each other well, and graduated in late November.
That was exactly what WomenVenture was aiming for, according to Women’s Business Center Director Sarah Pike. One of the pillars of WomenVenture is to create a support system for entrepreneurs, acknowledging that it is critical to success.
An attendee told Lopez that she wouldn’t have done the course if it hadn’t been at this location.
“Opening our doors changed someone’s life,” Lopez remarked.
WHAT’S A WORKER-OWNED CO-OP?On Nov. 29, SENA and WomenVenture partnered again to help entrepreneurs who are thinking about operating their own childcare centers.
In 2019, WomenVenture is beginning the second round of a program that focuses specifically on helping several people come together and form worker-owned childcare cooperatives.
This type of business set-up is one way to help create a system in which childcare workers get paid better, pointed out Pike.
Childcare workers are among the lowest-paid professionals in the country. The average wage is $10.51 with a range of $6.51 to $14.58. Between 2005 and 2014, Minnesota lost over 3,000 – or nearly 30% of – licensed family childcare providers as more leave than enter this field. That amounts to a loss of 36,000 childcare spots.
“There’s a gigantic need,” said Pike.
The number one hurdle for directors is finding and keeping qualified teachers.
WomenVenture recognized that many of their solo entrepreneur students weren’t actually opening childcare centers, and realized there was a need for a clear pathway of business training and support for childcare start-ups.
Sarah Pike was hired in 2016 because of her experience with cooperative models of business, and began working to create a program geared towards childcare centers.
“Cooperatives are people-centered enterprises owned, controlled and run by and for their members to realize their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations,” explained Pike.
REINVESTING IN THE COMMUNITY AND BUILDING WEALTH
Cooperative worker-owned childcare business models have been shown in other states to be highly effective in creating and maintaining living wage jobs. Wages for teachers can increase by $10,000-$30,000, stated Pike. The differential between what the childcare center owner makes and the teacher can shrink.
“Our goal at WomenVenture is building profitable and sustainable jobs. We want people to pay themselves a living wage,” said Pike.
Plus, with a worker-owned model, which many unions lean towards, more people are involved in making decisions.
With a privately held company, an investor comes in and then pulls the profits out of the community, which is known as extractive wealth, pointed out Pike.
“With co-ops, it’s really a re-investment in the community. Money earned from the community is spent in the community,” said Pike.
“This is about building wealth.”
There is not currently a worker-owned childcare cooperative up and running in the Twin Cities, although six groups went through the first training session in 2018. There is a consumer childcare cooperative in Seward where the parents have come together to operate in a structure similar to a charter school. Other consumer co-ops include Seward Co-op, REI and Organic Valley. There are also purchasing co-ops such as ACE hardware where businesses come together to purchase goods, credit unions that take the place of banks, and housing co-ops.
In a worker-owned co-op, the workers, such as the lead teachers and the directors, are governing the business and the emphasis is on voice.
Each member gets one vote and a share of the economic benefit divided by how much they use the organization not on how many shares they hold. This stands in contrast to a system where the rich keep getting richer because they can afford to purchase more shares in a businesses, earn more, and then keep investing in more, pointed out Pike.
Thus the hiring process looks different. It usually takes about one year to vet potential worker-owners to see if it is a good fit for everyone.
This sort of structure helps match different skills together in order to operate the childcare center. For instance, there may be a teacher who wants to remain a teacher but still break into ownership. Within the worker-owned co-op model, they can do that.
“The potential of this model to change the field is so powerful,” Pike observed.
NEXT COHORT STARTS IN MARCH
Starting in March 2019, the next cohort of the Childcare Worker-Owned Cooperative program will participate in nine months of cooperative business training, expert consultation, and incubation as they launch worker-owned cooperative childcare centers.
WomenVenture’s model is one that continues to assist those who have gone through the program, acknowledging that there are a lot of steps to go through to obtain licensure and financing. Plus, it can be hard to navigate a democratic structure where everyone has a voice without a good system in place.
“It feels like this really beautiful practice of servant leadership,” stated Lopez. “Everything you do is really building up the intentions and creativity of the people you are serving. It’s a really great model.”
Applications for the next groups of 3-4 women are due by Jan. 31. Groups should have established relationships and early childcare and education experience.
Learn more by contacting Pike at 612-224-9572 or spike@womenventure.org.


Article printed in the January 2019 Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger.

Upper Post transformation: vacant buildings to affordable housing

(Concept illustration provided)

Located on 47 acres, developers believe it will feel more like a neighborhood than an apartment complex

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
Nearly 160 years after their construction, the brick buildings at the Upper Fort Snelling Post will once again house military families.
Vacant and abandoned for decades, 26 buildings are being renovated through a partnership with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and a private development firm, Dominium.
“We’re excited to be focusing on housing low-income veterans at this site by having a veteran’s preference,” pointed out Mark C. Lambing of Dominium.
“By having a high count of three- and four-bedroom units, we believe that the redevelopment is going to attract families with children. Because the site is located on 47 acres and contains a large amount of green space, it will be a great place to raise a family. Upper Post Flats will feel more like a neighborhood than an apartment complex.”
Photo right: The Upper Post was once the military capital of the Dakotas, and George Armstrong Custer’s superior officer commanded there for a time. It served the armed forces from the Spanish American War until after the dropping of the atomic bomb. It was also home to the Japanese Language School for the entire U.S. military during World War II. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
In all, about 176 units of affordable housing will be created in the historic buildings at the Fort Snelling Upper Post, near the Fort Snelling Golf Course and Historic Fort Snelling. The development is tucked into a corner of the last unincorporated part of Hennepin County bordered by Hwys 62 and 5 and the airport.
Fills affordable housing need
“This is an outstanding example of a public-private partnership with important benefits for Minnesotans,” said Gov. Mark Dayton in a release issued by his office. “It comes at a time when there is a great need for affordable housing.”
A report by the Governor’s Task Force on Housing, published in August, called for the creation of 300,000 new affordable housing units by 2030.
Rents will be restricted to residents who make 60% of the area median income and below. Currently, those rents range from around $1,000 a month for a one-bedroom apartment to around $1,500 a month for a four-bedroom duplex.
Photo left: In all, about 176 units of affordable housing will be created in the historic buildings at the Fort Snelling Upper Post, near the Fort Snelling Golf Course and Historic Fort Snelling. The development is tucked into a corner of the last unincorporated part of Hennepin County bordered by Hwys 62 and 5 and the airport. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
“There’s a great need for affordable housing throughout the metro area in general,” stated Lambing. “The Met Council found that only 1 in 7 units of housing created in the region during 2016 were affordable for those that make 60% of the area median income. The site’s proximity to the Fort Snelling Light Rail Station provides access to large employment hubs such as downtown Minneapolis, MSP Airport, and The Mall of America. The easy highway access also offers convenience to those that commute by car.”
To open in 2021
Upper Post Flats is expected to open to its first residents in 2021, and units will be available for rent on a rolling basis as the buildings are complete, pointed out Lambing.
The project will be segmented into multiple zones that will be worked on concurrently by the various trades.
The $100 million project is being financed through a combination of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, Federal and State Historic Tax Credits, tax-exempt bonds through Hennepin County, and other sources.
About half of the project bill will go towards historic preservation.
Photo right: Vacant and abandoned for decades, 26 buildings are being renovated through a partnership with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and a private development firm, Dominium. Veterans will receive priority in these affordable housing units. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
The first step is to assess all 26 buildings to identify elements of historical significance. At the same time, Dominium is evaluating the current state and structural integrity of the buildings so that its construction scope is accurate.
“Next is figuring out how to fit apartments into buildings that were built for other purposes, which can be tricky and time-consuming,” explained Lambing. “Then you have to abate the asbestos and lead-based paint throughout the site to make sure that there is nothing is hazardous to future residents.”
Lambing added, “After this, it’s a matter of implementing the new design through the construction process while dealing with all the unforeseen issues that might arise—which is typical for a project of this nature.”
Next steps will include finalizing the design and seeking approval from the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office. Dominium expects to close on financing by late summer or early fall 2019.
Under the agreement, the state of Minnesota retains ownership of the site, but all management and operation of the buildings and site amenities will be Dominium’s responsibility per a 99-year lease.
An important part of history
“The buildings are an important part of Minnesota’s and the U.S. Military’s history,” remarked Lambing. “The history of the site, in addition to the craftsmanship used to construct these buildings, make it irreplaceable and deserving to be saved.”
Photo left: The infantry quarters of Fort Snelling Upper Post, 1908. (Photo provided)
Beyond the visible history, the archaeology on site is also an important element to consider, observed Lambing. “Because of the age of the site, the ground has kept a record of all the activity that has taken place. We have to be much more aware of what we’re doing to the ground than a typical new construction project.” Dominium will work with archaeologists to document what is hidden in the soil and better understand potential impacts that construction might have on the site.
In 2006, the Upper Post was named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Most Endangered Places list.
The Upper Post was once the military capital of the Dakotas, and George Armstrong Custer’s superior officer commanded there for a time. It served the armed forces from the Spanish American War until after the dropping of the atomic bomb. It was also home to the Japanese Language School for the entire U.S. military during World War II.
The land was transferred from the military to the VA and then to the DNR in the 1970s.
Vacant and boarded up for decades
The buildings were in rough shape, and one fell down ten years ago. Hennepin County Commissioner District 4 Peter McLaughlin, chair of the Fort Snelling Upper Post Task Force, recalled bringing Sentence-To-Service crews out to stabilize the structures by boarding up windows, fixing roofs, and repairing downspouts.
Patrick Connoy, retired manager of development for Hennepin County, pointed out that many people and organizations came together over the years to provide stopgap measures to prevent additional decay while waiting for someone to rehabilitate the buildings for a new use. Among those were the Friends of Fort Snelling, the Minnesota Historical Society, Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, National Park Service, DNR, and more, with Hennepin County taking the lead to pull resources and people together.
“Everybody helped as much as they could,” observed Connoy. “‘They’ in this case was a lot of people committed to doing something and working together.”
In 2011, the county also began working with others to create a plan for redevelopment, Light Rail Transit, and Upper Post master plan.
While the condition of the buildings is a challenge for development, with structures ranging from pretty good to collapsed, Dominium has a top team of architects and construction professionals. “We’re confident in our ability to breathe life back into the site,” said Lambing.
Past Dominium projects have included Schmidt Brewery on W. Seventh St. in St. Paul, the Pillsbury A-Mill in Minneapolis, Millworks Lofts at 4041 Hiawatha Ave. in Longfellow, and other historic landmarks.
‘Can hardly wait’
“The DNR is pleased to be working with Dominium on this redevelopment project, and we can hardly wait to see these beautiful old buildings occupied again after standing empty for so long,” said DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr.
“We’d like to thank the DNR for their help in getting this project one step closer to fruition,” said Lambing. “Without this close public-private partnership this project would not be possible.”
Anyone interested in living at the Upper Post can visit Upperpostflats.com to join the insider’s list.

Article printed in the January 2019 Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger.