HELP SAVE OPEN SPACE ON NICOLLET ISLAND
Friends of the Riverfront has filed three lawsuits challenging the plan to build a football stadium on Nicollet Island and the process by which local government has approved it. The first case ended when the Minnesota Supreme Court declined FOR's petition to appeal a ruling by the state Court of Appeals, but two more cases are still pending at the Court of Appeals. Friends of the Riverfront was joined in the first two cases by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota. The three citizen groups are asking that the City of Minneapolis and DeLaSalle be made to comply with state law and explore alternatives before destroying natural or historic resources. Donate to the legal fund online or send a check to Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, 219 Landmark Center, 75 W. Fifth St., St. Paul, MN 55102-1406 (put "Nicollet Island" on the memo line).
Preservation magazine features stadium threat to Nicollet Island
The National Trust for Historic Preservation publication highlights development threats to the St. Anthony Falls Historic District. Click here to read more.
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In Chicago, courts halt private school field construction on public parkland
In a case with remarkable parallels to the situation on Nicollet Island, courts in Illinois have halted construction of a private school's athletic facility on Chicago public parkland
Latin School of Chicago is halfway done building a $2 million soccer field primarily for its own use in adjacent Lincoln Park. The school struck a backroom deal with the Chicago Park District in December 2006. The public process that followed was deficient to nonexistent. On the strength of that, the school began construction in November 2007 and was set to complete the project on May 26, 2008. But the project, seen as a private school's land grab of public property, stirred outrage.
On April 16, a nonprofit grassroots citizens group called Protect Our Parks filed suit against the city, the park district and the school. The project soon unraveled. First, on April 25, a Cook County Circuit Court judge granted an injunction stopping the school from installing lighting, scoreboard, goalposts, benches, or signs. Then on May 2, a state appellate court halted construction altogether. Now the school is making offers to try to settle with the citizens group before a May 20 hearing which could mark the end of its project.
Learn more at savelincolnpark.org.