EAST ISLES MALL
The Park & Rec Board passed a resolution last week to bring some of the East Isles Mall plan back into action.
There has been robust community feedback since Park & Rec Board commissioners brought forward a resolution this year to bring the East Isles Mall long-range plan back to life after last year’s Park & Rec Board voted to stop the plan from being implemented during planned sewer work.
Much of the community concern revolves around the removal of street parking in the plan.
The long-range Mall Plan reads, “At the western end of The Mall between Irving Ave. and Bde Maka Ska Boulevard…the west-bound park road will be removed from these two blocks and replaced with forested and open green space.”
An amendment that would have reopened the East Isles Mall plan to more community engagement, failed 3-6. The resolution that passed, 7-2, allows some of the Mall’s long-range plan to be implemented during planned Met Council sewer work.
Neighbors helping neighbors with rent
Many neighbors are asking where the best place to donate to support immigrant neighbors who are unable to work and pay their rent.
A number of neighborhood associations are recommending Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a mutual aid organization that has emerged from the current ICE surge. They have vetted over 600 volunteers and processed over 1,000 requests for mutual aid support. The organization has partnered with the Family Housing Fund as a fiscal agent.
Their goal is to raise $1.3 million dollars this month to assist 1,000 families with rent. Family Housing Fund is a trusted local organization that did similar during the pandemic.
Minnesota Teacher of the Year FINALISTS
Social studies teacher Hannah Walker at Andersen United Middle School and music teacher Sophia Butler at South High School were named as semifinalists by Education Minnesota on Feb. 13.
Initial candidates at MPS were Maureen Mulvaney at Washburn High School, Dr. Jesús Cervantes Quiroz at Emerson Dual Language School, Jonathan Edington at South High School, Kara Noble at North High School, and Larissa Parr at Hale Elementary.
REQUEST TO DEMOLISH OLD CHURCH DENIED
The City’s Heritage Preservation Commission denied a church’s request to demolish their own building. The denial came after Evangelical Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church argued it would cost $6.89 million to rehab its own Gothic Revival style church building at 1700 W. 50th St.
The church wanted to demolish that section of its property to construct a new “community-focused building with a brewery, coffee shop, and meeting spaces.”
The commission denied the demolition unanimously after a long discussion about whether the building met specific criteria for demolition. The meeting is available to watch in full on YouTube.
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