A neighborhood informational meeting about a proposal to register the Prospect Park neighborhood for national historic designation will be held Thursday, July 19, 7 p.m., at St. Frances Cabrini Church, 1500 Franklin Ave. SE.

The meeting is intended to provide information prior to property owners receiving a report and a form in the mail around Labor Day from the state preservation office. If 51 percent or more of the property owners “opt out” of the proposal, the designation process is stopped. If less than 51 percent opt out, the process moves forward, said Joe Ring, chair of the Livability Committee of the Prospect Park East River Road Improvement Association (PPERRIA).

PPERRIA and the city are sharing the $55,000 cost involved in preparing the federal application, Ring said. It includes an inventory of area properties, and an assessment of whether those buildings and properties meet criteria for historic designation. Hess, Roise and Company, a historical consulting firm located in Minneapolis, is doing the inventory and assessment.

There are approximately 700 buildings within the boundaries of the proposed neighborhood-wide district. The boundaries are Emerald Street on the east, I-94 on the south, Williams Avenue on the west, and properties south of University on the north. Commercial properties include the Snyder Drug building and the tower grocery building.

“It appears it would be the largest historic district in the state. No one’s done anything like this,” Ring said. The familiar “Witch’s Hat” Prospect Park Water Tower and grounds received city and federal historic designation in 2000, Ring noted.

Ring believes designation as a historic district would give the neighborhood a voice in protection of the area’s historic assets. Ring said the protection is sought in anticipation of possible negative effects of development from the planned Central Corridor light rail transit line on University Avenue through the neighborhood. Ring said the federal preservation act of 1966 stipulates that no federal funds should be part of a project that would be detrimental to designated historic properties. The majority of funding for the Central Corridor light rail project would be federal, he said. Neighborhood concerns included traffic, parking, land use, and landscaping.

In a separate process, Ring said the neighborhood is also interested in historic designation by the city. Ring said it is up to the city council member, Cam Gordon, to move the application forward.

Information about the National Register of Historic Places is available at www.nps.gov/nr/results.htm. The national register is the official national list of cultural resources considered worthy of preservation.

Ring can be reached for information by email at jring@visi.com and at 612-379-4587.

— Bill Hoffmann

last revised: July 17, 2007

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