St. Paul Parks and Rec seeks name for 5-acre park at the Heights
The Sunisa Lee Sanctuary The Garrison Keillor Green The Herb Brooks Horticultural Experience The Greater East Side Sledding Idyll St Paul Parks and Recreation is looking for a new name for a -acre park planned for the Heights the Greater East Side region targeted eventually for new residences and new jobs where the Hillcrest Golf Club once stood Bounded by Idaho Avenue Iowa Avenue and Howard Street the park could feature a sledding hill overlook dog park group garden playground or other amenities perhaps even birdhouses bat houses and a raptor platform All of those ideas and plenty of others have been floated in two concept plans that are being refined by city staff into a single preferred concept plan Parks leaders are accepting suggestions for a new park name at tinyurl com HeightsParkSurvey through Nov and they re asking for recommendations that speak to at least one of four key factors The name could bear on geography such as adjacent street names the surrounding neighborhood or area or a prominent nearby feature It could be based in history such as referencing prominent historic people or events associated with the site s general area The Prince Rogers Nelson Natural Roaming Prairie might fit the bill The name could be more functional based on the use services or programs provided at the site Or it could be a memorial to an individual or individuals who made key contributions to the St Paul Parks and Recreation system and who have been deceased for at least three years The Bruce Vento Memorial Acreage comes to mind The park would be centrally located within the Heights which is still largely owned by the St Paul Port Authority and spans acres of land off Larpenteur Avenue and McKnight Road It will be connected to surrounding improvement through biking and walking trails While apartment buildings proposed by Sherman Associates and the JO Companies appear stalled pending funding requests to the state Legislature several other real estate growth projects are still moving forward as are roadways utilities and general infrastructure Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity is well underway with construction of mid-density affordable housing units a project that got a boost last year when the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project brought in celebrity country singers Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood Xcel Force is building a new institution center with plans to make it operational by Ever-Green Vigor is installing district geothermal vigor systems in the Heights and the aquifer thermal resource storage system will be one of the first in the state Roadway crews this week were expected to begin building the roadway along Winthrop Street from Arlington Avenue to Hoyt Avenue Utility crews were scheduled to continue installing sanitary sewer on Iowa Avenue between Howard Street and Winthrop as well as storm sewer along Nebraska Avenue between Winthrop and Howard Related Articles St Paul man sentenced for park robbery downtown shooting that wounded How did the St Paul DFL which is on hiatus back two ballot questions Skyline Tower in St Paul home to evacuated after fire power outage Lefko Young We love St Paul and we worry about St Paul Letters Without a push from home more money might not help schools
