So there's more to this park thing than just a couple yokels makin' a stink?
You bet your buttons. In an effort to save the plot of land that has become a place to escape for many east side residents and the home that has been deemed 'unfit for habitation' by the City of St Paul's Department of Safety and Inspections whose spokesperson is none other than Robert Humphreys, a gentleman not at all unfamiliar with the history of the park and its creator Mr. Adams, this blogger has dug a little deeper into the city's abandoned property program. In doing so I have been haunted by the ghosts of residences past.
Residences such as the one belonging to Mr. Michael Ahrndt. His all to familiar story can be read here in detail. The city cited Mr. Ahrndt as a nuisance property as well. His house at 1901 Maryland, was torn down after being listed as a nuisance house. Torn down with Mr. Ahrndt left footing the bill, a bill that weighed in at roughly three times the cost of independent contractor bids for the same demolition. Yet the property that once held the home of Mr. Ahrndt would not sit idle for long. In fact, there was a bigger purpose for this demolition. The 'Furness Parkway Project' was to align directly next to this property that was deemed not fit for fixing.
The city of St. Paul has instituted a Vacant Building Program to 'maintain' properties. It is this bloggers opinion that this program is more an avenue to reclaim properties that are in areas that are slated for development. For instance, in a search of single family dwellings listed as vacant buildings on the city website, I found that nearly 50% of one city block was listed as vacant. These are the homes at 620, 653, 668, 673, 742, 745, 747 and 803 Jessamine. This stretch of Jessamine Avenue in St. Paul's 5th District is part of the planned development of the Payne Maryland Project. According to the project website:
"The proposed facility will encapsulate the programming needs of the Arlington Recreation Center, the Arlington Hills Library, Arlington Hills Lutheran Church, Bradshaw Celebration of Life Centers, and possibly other community service organizations into a new and exciting community center."These are only a few of the many addresses of "vacant buildings' which used to be listed as single family residences that are in direct relation to proposed city projects. I challenge you to find more and comment on what you find.
More on how the city handles the so called 'vacant buildings' in her wake can be found in this article by Maricella Miranda on KSTP.com: "How Metro Cities Keep Up Abandoned Properties" l
Dear People's Park Supporters: Please SIGN and SHARE our petition to the City of St. Paul and Department of Safety and Inspections: "Preserve our Artistic Landmark: The People's Park of 680 East Wells Street" located at:
http://www.change.org/petitions/city-of-st-paul-and-department-of-safety-and-inspections-preserve-our-artistic-landmark-the-people-s-park-of-680-east-wells-street
If you are a friend of the People's Park, are new to the idea or just have something to share, please stop by The Peoples' Park page on Facebook and say hi!
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