The Sunisa Lee Sanctuary? The Garrison Keillor Green? The Herb Brooks Horticultural Experience? The Greater East Side Sledding Idyll?
St. Paul Parks and Recreation is looking for a new name for a 5-acre park planned for the Heights, the Greater East Side community targeted, eventually, for 1,000 new residences and 1,000 new jobs where the Hillcrest Golf Club once stood.
Bounded by Idaho Avenue, Iowa Avenue and Howard Street, the park could feature a sledding hill, overlook, dog park, community garden, playground or other amenities — perhaps even birdhouses, bat houses and a raptor platform. All of those ideas and plenty of others have been floated in two concept plans that are being refined by city staff into a single preferred concept plan.
Parks officials are accepting suggestions for a new park name at tinyurl.com/HeightsParkSurvey through Nov. 15, and they’re asking for recommendations that speak to at least one of four key factors.
The name could bear on geography, such as adjacent street names, the surrounding neighborhood or community, or a prominent nearby feature. It could be based in history, such as referencing prominent historic people or events associated with the site’s general area. The Prince Rogers Nelson Natural Roaming Prairie might fit the bill.
The name could be more functional, based on the use, services or programs provided at the site. Or it could be a memorial to an individual or individuals who made significant contributions to the St. Paul Parks and Recreation system and who have been deceased for at least three years. The Bruce Vento Memorial Acreage comes to mind.
The park would be centrally located within the Heights, which is still largely owned by the St. Paul Port Authority and spans 112 acres of land off Larpenteur Avenue and McKnight Road. It will be connected to surrounding development through biking and walking trails.
While apartment buildings proposed by Sherman Associates and the JO Companies appear stalled pending funding requests to the state Legislature, several other real estate development projects are still moving forward, as are roadways, utilities and general infrastructure.
Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity is well underway with construction of 147 mid-density affordable housing units, a project that got a boost last year when the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project brought in celebrity country singers Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.
Xcel Energy is building a new service center, with plans to make it operational by 2027. Ever-Green Energy is installing district geothermal energy systems in the Heights, and the aquifer thermal energy storage system will be one of the first in the state.
Roadway crews this week were expected to begin building the roadway along Winthrop Street from Arlington Avenue to Hoyt Avenue. Utility crews were scheduled to continue installing sanitary sewer on Iowa Avenue between Howard Street and Winthrop, as well as storm sewer along Nebraska Avenue between Winthrop and Howard.
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