Star Tribune
St. Paul’s Walker West Music Academy to expand earlier than expected, thanks to $2.5M loan
A $2.5 million building sale in St. Paul’s Summit-University neighborhood means the growing Walker West Music Academy will be moving into bigger digs earlier than expected.
Model Cities of St. Paul, which works on health, housing and economic development issues in the inner city, bought the former Wilder Foundation building at 650 Marshall Av. on behalf of Walker West to serve as the music school’s new home. Walker West is set to close the purchase Tuesday.
Praising the 35-year-old music school as a community treasure, Model Cities CEO Kizzy Downie said her organization’s community development arm decided to ensure Walker West’s growth plans weren’t derailed as it waited on potential state funding.
“We did not want Walker West to miss this opportunity,” she said. “They provide an amazing asset to the community. It aligns well with who we are as an organization.”
Braxton Haulcy, Walker West’s executive director, said Model Cities’ move to purchase the site and turn it over to the music school will allow construction work to begin this fall. The school plans to move some of its music camps into the building this summer.
“This was a match made in heaven,” Haulcy said.
The purchase is a bridge transaction while Walker West continues its $10.4 million capital campaign to expand its facilities and programming. That campaign includes a request for $5.4 million from the Legislature that would go toward the purchase and building remodel, Haulcy said. Walker West will repay Model Cities once state funding and other sources are secured, he said.
The purchase allows Walker West to take possession of the property and begin its transformation before the Legislature acts. In addition to the Model Cities money, Walker West has raised about $1.5 million.
“We knew there might be some delays at the Legislature in approving the funds for the building,” Haulcy said. “We wanted to have a Plan B. This allows us to at least get the building, and then pay Model Cities back, and avoid the disruption.”
Downie said helping Walker West meet its goals to better serve the community meshes with what Model Cities has been doing since its founding in St. Paul in 1967.
The music school was started in 1988 by the Rev. Carl Walker and Grant West and has outgrown its current facility. That, coupled with its 10-year lease expiring in 2023, made the move necessary, Haulcy said. When Walker West moved from its previous building at 777 Selby Av., it had about 150 students enrolled. Currently, that number is about 300.
Haulcy has said he hopes the school can accommodate between 500 and 600 students a week in the new facility. Between events and classes, it has more than 5,700 program participants.
Walker West currently uses about 6,000 square feet of space at 760 Selby Av. The former Wilder building has more than 16,000.
Betty Danger’s, the quirky northeast Minneapolis bar known for its Ferris wheel and miniature golf, has been sold for $3.5 million.
The property, located at 2501 Marshall St. NE and 2519 Marshall St. NE, was purchased on Nov. 15, according to the certificate of real estate value filed with the state. The primary buyer of the site is entrepreneur Joe Radaich, according to Taylor VerMeer, a spokeswoman for an undisclosed project planned for the site.
“While I can confirm that Joe Radaich is the primary buyer listed on this project, we are not able to share anything more at this time,” VerMeer said in an email.
Radaich has operated bars in the past, including Sporty’s Pub and Grill, which later became Como Tap. Radaich no longer operates Como Tap, an employee said on Tuesday. Radaich did not return requests for comment. Attempts to reach Leslie Bock, the Betty Danger’s previous owner, were unsuccessful.
The property’s mortgage payments are set at $18,886 per month with a 6.15% interest rate, the state filings show.
A Minneapolis nonprofit that served food to low-income kids has agreed to dissolve itself after a state investigation found it violated laws regarding its operations and financial transactions.
The move was announced Tuesday by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office began investigating Gar Gaar Family Services, also known as the Youth Leadership Academy, after it was denied from participating in a federally funded program to provide food to students after school.
The investigation then found additional issues, including:
An attorney who has represented Gar Gaar, Barbara Berens, could not be reached Tuesday afternoon. Neither Ali or Morioka have been charged in criminal court.
The settlement by the state and Gar Gaar requires it to begin the dissolution process within 60 days of a court’s approval. The nonprofit then must transfer its assets to other charitable organizations with a similar mission.
Gar Gaar, which means “help” in Somali, launched in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to help students in need, especially those in the Somali community. The group served meals outside of the school year as part of the Summer Food Service Program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture but managed by the Minnesota Department of Education.
Gar Gaar received $21 million in reimbursements for serving 7 million meals — the top provider of summer meals in Minnesota in 2021.
What would have been a wild story was quickly put to rest Tuesday when Bloomington police issued a statement clarifying that no, it was not in possession of a recorded O.J. Simpson murder confession.
TMZ reported Tuesday afternoon that Bloomington police may have unwittingly come into possession of such a recording after arresting a former bodyguard of Simpson’s more than two years ago.
But about two hours after that report published, the suburban police department sent out a release that said the belongings seized during the arrest of Iroc Avelli had been inspected and officers “did not locate any information of evidentiary value for the Los Angeles Police Department.”
Here’s what police said happened:
Bloomington police arrested Avelli under suspicion of assault on March 3, 2022. Several items were taken by police in the process, including a backpack which contained multiple thumb drives, according to a statement.
They said Avelli and his attorney said one of the thumb drives in the backpack contained a recording of Simpson confessing to the infamous 1994 murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman, according to Bloomington police.
A search warrant was granted to inspect the thumb drives. A copy was obtained by TMZ, dated June 26, and the document only said the results from the search were “pending.”
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