Minneapolis, MN
East Phillips group gets 1-year extension to buy Roof Depot site
A neighborhood organization planning to purchase the Minneapolis Roof Depot site now has an extra year to come up with the funds, after hitting road blocks in finding the money.
The City Council passed a measure Thursday extending the deadline from next week to September 2025.
The city agreed last year to sell the empty warehouse to the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI), a local environmental group. But just over a week ahead of the deadline, EPNI was still $5.7 million short, after the state Legislature failed to pass the funding before the end of its last session.
Council member Jason Chavez, who represents the East Phillips neighborhood, introduced the measure for a deadline extension. He said the extra time is a win for EPNI.
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“I’m proud of the tenacity, the strength of Phillips neighbors, their persistence on human rights and advocacy for clean air,” Chavez said. “This gets us closer to changing the lives of Phillips residents for decades to come.”
Neighborhood groups pushed to buy the site for several years. The city wanted to convert it to a waterworks facility; local advocates worried that project would pollute the neighborhood. The city agreed to sell it to EPNI last year, after state legislators agreed to partially fund the project.
The extension gives the Legislature another chance to pass the remaining funding. In its last session, the money passed in the House, but the Senate missed its end-of-session deadline to vote on it.
In return for the extension, EPNI is increasing its collateral with an additional pledge of marketable securities.
The City Council unanimously passed the deadline extension, but not without concerns from some council members.
Council member Linea Palmisano said she’s frustrated by the continued delays that cause the site to sit empty, after years of tug-of-war over the site between the city and neighborhood advocates.
“I’ve spent years working to put this property to productive use,” Palmisano said. “Often it takes many legislative sessions to get state funding, and I’m willing to give it one more. If the state doesn’t come through, that is not something I think is in the interest of the public, of the city, or of the neighborhood to continue any further.”
EPNI plans to convert the site into a community center, with an indoor urban farm, retail spaces and community services.
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis City Council approves year extension for activists to purchase Roof Depot for indoor urban farm
Just one week before the final deadline for East Phillips environmental activists to come up with $11.4 million to buy a city-owned warehouse for their vision of an indoor urban farm, the Minneapolis City Council on Thursday granted the activists a one-year extension to get the funding.
It’s the latest twist in the long fight of East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) to gain control of the former Roof Depot warehouse at E. 28th Street and Longfellow Avenue.
For a decade, neighborhood activists have opposed the city’s plans to build a Public Works yard for water maintenance staff, equipment and diesel vehicles — something that city staff said would benefit Minneapolis as a whole despite concentrating more air pollution in the heavily industrialized, working class East Phillips neighborhood.
Council Member Jason Chavez, who represents East Phillips, and his council predecessor Alondra Cano have long opposed building a municipal water yard in the Ninth Ward, while other council members have waffled on the thorny issue.
On Thursday, Chavez won the unanimous support of his colleagues at the City Council meeting for a resolution to extend the funding deadline to September 2025 for EPNI, which was unlikely to come up with the money by the previous deadline of next week.
“This item today that I am bringing forward is a collaborative effort with the mayor’s administration, City Council, staff and the community I represent to find a viable pathway forward, and it shows what we can do when we all work together,” Chavez said.
“I’m proud of the tenacity of East Phillips neighbors, their persistence on human rights and advocacy for clean air. It’s one of the reasons why Ward Nine continues to be hopeful for the future.”
After years of protests and lawsuits, Minneapolis officials gave up on plans to build a water yard at Roof Depot and agreed to sell EPNI the property, provided the group produced a $3.7 million personal guaranty and the Legislature provided $2 million in 2023 followed by $5.7 million in 2024. The Legislature also has committed $4.5 million to Minneapolis to find a new site for its water yard.
Minneapolis, MN
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Minneapolis, MN
How the Spoon and Cherry sculpture found a home in Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS — It’s recognizable not just in Minneapolis, but across the country, and for good reason.
It’s the center piece of the Walker Art Center’s sculpture garden. And in many ways, it’s become a state symbol. Roughly 600,000 people a year visit the Spoon and Cherry.
“It’s bigger than the sculpture garden. It’s bigger than the Walker. It’s something that has become emblematic of the state of Minnesota in general,” said Siri Engberg, Senior Curator and Director of Visual Arts for Walker Art Center.
Last year the Spoonbridge and Cherry, as its technically called, celebrated 35 years on site. In the late 80’s artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen were tasked with creating something special for the sculpture garden.
“Claus Oldenberg is known for whimsical pop art, infused works that are very much everyday objects and changing them in surprising ways,” said Engberg.
In Chicago, Oldenberg had an idea to use a spoon as a bridge into Lake Michigan. It didn’t work out. But he found a place for the utensil in Minneapolis. His thought was the bowl of the spoon could be associated with the prow of a Viking ship, over the water.
“I think the cherry with the color, the red, that’s what pops it out,” said Vicki Friedman who is visiting with her husband Gary from St. Louis, Missouri.
Van Bruggen thought so too. She’s the one who convinced Oldenburg that the fruit would be “the cherry on top” for his masterpiece.
The cherry weighs about 1,200 pounds. And the spoon portion of the sculpture is nearly 3 tons. It’s made out of stainless steel and aluminum and it took two years to build on the east coast. Then it was shipped by flatbed trailer to Minneapolis. In May of 1988, two cranes finally put the spoon and cherry in its place.
“It’s pretty cool. It shoots water out of the stem,” said Ximena Fernandez, who was visiting the sculpture garden.
The sculpture is a giant fountain surrounded by a wet meadow. Oldenburg designed it that way as a shout-out to the Land of 10,000 Lakes. When the wind changes direction, you feel the mist coming from the stem.
The sculpture needs to be cleaned after a long winter and repainted every so often. But maintaining that shine is what’s helped it become the picture capitol of Minneapolis. People get creative with their photos and some will go to great heights to get a closer look.
“I love it. It’s so unique. I don’t think there’s anything like it in the world,” said the Friedmans.
“It’s neat. You can’t see this kind of merging between art and nature anywhere else,” said Engberg. “The scale of this piece is monumental. Against the Minneapolis skyline it’s kind of an incredible object.”
Again, the Spoonbridge and Cherry is surrounded by a wet meadow with native plants. It’s all designed to help recycle rainwater through the fountain.
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