Star Tribune
Upper Harbor Terminal project announces new partnerships for performance center
Planners behind a future performing arts center with an outdoor amphitheater along the Mississippi River north of downtown Minneapolis have lined up two major groups to help lead its public programming and raise private funds.
The African American Community Development Corp. (AACDC) and the Minnesota Orchestra have signed on to help establish and operate the Community Performing Arts Center, organizers announced this week. They join the First Ave. group of music venues as development partners.
Upper Harbor Terminal is a 48-acre site on the Mississippi River in north Minneapolis. It formerly housed a barge shipping terminal that ceased operations in 2014, and is largely unused. United Properties, another partner in the development, first responded to a request for proposal for the project in 2016.
The Minnesota Orchestra will serve as the center’s strategic business partner, handling private fundraising, according to the Thursday news release from First Avenue.
The orchestra will remain at its current location in downtown Minneapolis, but could perform at a new, completed amphitheater. The orchestra will receive a portion of the revenue when the project is operational, the release states.
The design work has not been completed, but the operators anticipate the center will be completed by spring 2025.
The AACDC will serve as the “community entity” for the project, overseeing public programming. It also will manage economic development opportunityfunds that would accumulate from a $3 fee on every ticket sold at performances. It’s estimated that will come to about $500,000 annually.
AACDC, created in 2021, works to convert African American ideas, capital and action into lasting benefits for the community. The hope is that partnering with AACDC will help to engage with the area’s African American community and get Black Minnesotans involved with the center’s future.
“They are going to make sure there’s meaningful programming for the community and African American community,” said Ashley Ryan, First Ave.’s vice president of marketing. “There have been hundreds of community outreach meetings, and the groups behind the project are very explicitly seeking input from the neighborhood.”
The funds also will go to exploring local vendor and entrepreneur opportunities and a youth jobs program, the release states. Mayor Jacob Frey called the project a “game-changer for the North Side” in the release.
“The local partnerships forming around this development project will prove to be good, not only for the Northside, but for the entire arts community in Minneapolis, leading to a final, community-minded space,” he said.
More about the Upper Harbor Terminal development can be found at upperharbormpls.com.
Star Tribune
Minnesota offering land for sale in northern recreation areas
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will auction off state lands in popular northern counties next month.
The public land — in Aitkin, Cook, Itasca, and St. Louis counties — will go up for sale during the Department of Natural Resource’s annual online public land sale from Nov. 7 to 21.
“These rural and lakeshore properties may appeal to adjacent landowners or offer recreational opportunities such as space for a small cabin or camping,” the DNR said in a statement.
Properties will be available for bidding Nov. 7 through Nov. 21.
This all can trim for print: The properties include:
40 acres in Aitkin County, with a minimum bid of $85,000
44 acres in Cook County, minimum bid $138,000
1.9 acres in Itasca County, minimum bid $114,000
Star Tribune
Razor wire, barriers to be removed from Third Precinct
Minneapolis city officials say razor wire, concrete barriers and fencing will be removed from around the former Third Precinct police station – which was set ablaze by protesters after George Floyd’s police killing – in the next three weeks. The burned-out vestibule will be removed within three months with construction fencing to be erected closer to the building.
This week, Minneapolis City Council members have expressed frustration that four years after the protests culminated in a fire at the police station, the charred building still stands and has become a “prop” some conservatives use to rail against city leadership. Most recently, GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance made a stop outside the building and criticized Gov. Tim Walz’s handling of the 2020 riots.
On Thursday, the council voted 8-3 to approve a resolution calling for “immediate cleanup, remediation, and beautification of the 3000 Minnehaha site including but not limited to the removal of fencing, jersey barriers, barbed wire, and all other exterior blight.”
Council Member Robin Wonsley said the city needs to acknowledge that many police officers stationed in the Third Precinct “waged racist and violent actions” against residents for decades.
Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said the council wants the building cleaned up and beautified “immediately.”
“We cannot allow for this corner to be a backdrop for those who wish to manipulate the trauma of our city for political gain,” Chowdhury said.
Council Member Katie Cashman said the council shouldn’t be divided by “right-wing figures posing in front of the Third Precinct and pandering to conservative interests.”
“It’s really important for us to stay united in our goal, to achieve rehabilitation of this site in a way that advances racial healing and acknowledgement of the past trauma in this community, and to not let those figures divide us here,” she said.
Star Tribune
Last-minute staycation ideas in the Twin Cities
It’s MEA weekend — the four-day stretch in mid-October when educators traditionally flock to St. Paul RiverCentre for a conference organized by the statewide teachers union as students and their families take an extended break.
Some orchards offer visitors the opportunity to pick their own fruit, while others operate sprawling general stores that sell a variety of apple-themed goodies.
Tiger cub twins Amaliya (female), left, and Andrei (male), right, who were born in May, hang out with their mother, Amur tiger Sundari, after making their debut in their new public habitat at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, Minn. on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. ] LEILA NAVIDI • leila.navidi@startribune.com (Leila Navidi)
October is usually a happenin’ month at the Minnesota Zoo. The annual Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular is chock-full of meticulously decorated gourds, and this year’s event runs until Nov. 2. Tickets start at $18 for adults and $14 for children (kids younger than 2 get in free but must still register for tickets). The Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular begins at 6 p.m.
But there’s another new attraction at the zoo these days: the pair of Amur tiger cubs born to 7-year-old mom Bernadette just a couple of months ago. This week, zoo officials named the young felines Marisa and Maks. The zoo is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day.
Patrons enjoy drinks and dinner on the patio Thursday evening, July 18, 2024 at Lola’s Lakehouse in Waconia. Lola’s Lakehouse in Waconia features a large back deck/patio area with views of Lake Waconia. (Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
With so many people out of town, there’s no better time to visit some of the Twin Cities’ most popular eateries.
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