MCAD & Washburn Fair Oaks Park

[mplser]

I live across the street from Washburn Fair Oaks Park and I recieved a card in the mail with a website and I found this: http://www.minneapolisparks.org/documen ... Garden.pdf

It looks like they want to completely overhaul it into a brand new chinese garden

[minntransplant]

I live by Fair Oaks as well. I love this idea--especially the water elements. No matter what choices are made, this park deserves an overhaul. It gets a lot of use and is a lovely little place--great presence being next to the MIA and you have views of downtown.

[MNdible]

It gets a lot of use...

Do you think this is true? In my opinion, WFO must be one of the most underused parks in the whole system. Hopefully the Chinese Garden, if it moves forward, is well executed and can help change this.

My understanding is that they are only looking at the southeast quadrant of the park -- the rest would be unchanged.

There's been a long simmering turf war over WFO, with locals thinking that the MIA wants to take it over as their defacto front yard (not unlike the Minnesota Orchestra and Peavy Plaza).

As an aside, when I saw an earlier version of their proposal, they implied that there would only be an "implied" water feature; that is, that the bridge would cross over the existing depression on the site, but the depression wouldn't be filled with water.

[seanrichardryan]

It gets a lot of use...

...
As an aside, when I saw an earlier version of their proposal, they implied that there would only be an "implied" water feature; that is, that the bridge would cross over the existing depression on the site, but the depression wouldn't be filled with water.

Ewww. I hope not. I recall talk of restoring the pond, which implies water. I posted a rendering in Minnescraper a while back that showed blue areas I assumed were water, but very well could be blue gravel!

[Nathan]

It gets a lot of use...

Do you think this is true? In my opinion, WFO must be one of the most underused parks in the whole system. Hopefully the Chinese Garden, if it moves forward, is well executed and can help change this.

When I lived in the Fair Oaks Apartments '07-'08 we used to throw disk over there all the time, and were frequently people lounging and reading, lots of kids running around, lots of people kicking around soccer balls. It's SUCH a big park it doesn't always seem like a lot is going on. When I was first living out there it seemed more seedy, but over those two years the Police presence increased a ton, and the vibe got a lot better.

That being said I still think it's underutilized in the fact that they pretty much let it maintain itself, and the Chinese Garden could create of interest. (if they do it right)

[lordmoke]

MCAD is planning to move two houses off of the SW corner of their property in oder to re-orient the main campus entrance to 26th st. They'll be moved to the 2700 block of Colfax and donated to the neighborhood. This is a strange project, but hopefully moving the entrance to 26th can spring a little life into those great old buildings and empty lots nearby.

From the city:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/www/gro ... 105908.pdf

[twincitizen]

There's a typo on there, it should read 2726 and 2728 Stevens Avenue, not Colfax Avenue. They get it right on page 2.

[lordmoke]

There's a typo on there, it should read 2726 and 2728 Stevens Avenue, not Colfax Avenue. They get it right on page 2.

I was thinking that didn't make sense, given that they are donating them to the Whittier neighborhood, and Colfax isn't in Whittier.

[John]

As an alumni of this college, I have always felt the school could use more community visibility (separate from MIA). This achieves that goal and creates two new owner occupied houses with historical character to replace vacant lots. Sounds like a win win for everyone.

[MNdible]

MCAD had previously presented plans showing new academic buildings to be built along this stretch. If you know any major donors, they'd probably be happy to start construction tomorrow.

[John]

MCAD had previously presented plans showing new academic buildings to be built along this stretch. If you know any major donors, they'd probably be happy to start construction tomorrow.

Don't know any. Most of us fine arts majors ( from the 1980's ) are on our second and third careers!

[lordmoke]

Some updates on the Heritage Preservation Commission's site:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/meeting ... S1P-106190

Sad to see we will not be getting a water feature. That would have lived this space up quite a bit. The entryway across from the MIA should be nice, though.

[Aville_37]

I really hope the Park Board invests some money into park improvements. New benches, lighting, plantings, etc. at the least.

[twincitizen]

Supposedly the actual improvements are still ~5+ years away, as it is not even programmed into the Park Board's CIP. They should really seek out private donors or do a Kickstarter campaign to get this thing rolling.

[uptowncarag]

I still wish they would have put the scaffolding from the Washington Monument here. The opposition was ridiculous.

[ztr421]

I still wish they would have put the scaffolding from the Washington Monument here. The opposition was ridiculous.

I forgot about that - Yes, I think it would have been an interesting and unique addition to the park. It's too bad.