The Lake Street Post Office that has been closed since it burned during the unrest has officially reopened. 363 days ago, Henry Pan wrote a piece for us about the start of the construction featuring Fred Brombach, the ever-present USPS employee that anyone that has ever stepped foot in the building remembers.
Beyond the construction all up and down Lake Street, there was another noticeable change for the area that happened blocks away without much fanfare recently. The barbed wire that had been erected outside the 5th Precinct police station for more than two years quietly came down, removing the gauntlet that had lived at the corner of 31st and Nicollet where the building sits.
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The next Meet Your Neighbor feature is up, and it follows along with Henry LaBounta, who goes out to pick up trash on his daily walks. I originally found Henry walking around with a trash-filled bucket and his dog, and he has been chronicling the work over the past year in a giant spreadsheet.
If you want to help keep the lakes and other public areas clean, he also has a couple great ways you can get involved with helping him.
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The Bryn Mawr Meadows Park renovation is kicking off next week with the installation of a new water service line, with major construction starting in November. The new construction will bring two new water quality ponds, new trails, two lighted fields, a "broomball meadow," a new play area, and more to the park. Due to "budget limitations," the fitness node, basketball court, pond overlook, and batting cage that were approved in the concept plan won't be constructed right now.
Construction will take place until January, pause until April, then pick back up again with the intention of finishing the new park by July 2023 (with the new play area expected slightly later in September 2023). Portions of the park will be closed during the construction.
LINK ROUNDUP 🔗
Did you see Lizzo around town the last couple of days? She hit up a bunch of spots in Southwest Minneapolis while in town for her concert last night, including Quang, Pizza Lucé, Nicollet Diner, Roat Osha, and according to Instagram, Bryant Lake Bowl and karaoke at Mortimer's. Say it with me: "One of us! One of us! One of us!" (Twitter & Instagram)
Larue's Linden Hills kicks off their grand opening today. Here's a bit of background on their move from East Harriet. (Instagram/SW Voices)
Congrats to the Washburn girls and Washburn boys soccer teams on winning the Minneapolis City conference. The boys lost the Twin Cities Championship to St. Paul Central on Monday. (MN Soccer Hub)
The soccer playoffs start tomorrow night (Thursday). At 5 p.m., Washburn's girls will be at home against Armstrong/Cooper and Southwest's girls will be at home against the combined South - Wellstone team. At 7 p.m., Southwest's boys will play at home against St. Louis Park and Washburn's boys will play at home against Hopkins. (MN Soccer Hub)
Sec. of Transportation Pete Buttigieg put out a video about his visit to Lake Street to talk about the federal RAISE grant that businesses in the area received. (Twitter)
COMMUNITY RESOURCES ✊
Happy Walk/Bike/Roll to School day! Hope you are scooting your way there as we speak.
The Public Health & Safety Committee meets today at 1:30 p.m. The committee is set to approve a public hearing for the police chief nominee, Brian O'Hara. If approved, the hearing would occur on October 26. Here is the O'Hara's nomination letter from Mayor Jacob Frey send to the City Council. The committee will also accept a $1.3 million grant to address the opioid epidemic through a hospital-based, medicine-assisted therapy program.
The Park Board meets tonight. Included on the agenda is a rate increase for their Waste Management contract "due to price increases for trash, construction/demo, and yard waste related to COVID-19", a resolution to award a $425,000 construction contract for the new Spark'd Studio at the Whittier Recreation Center, and a presentation of Superintendent Al Bangoura's proposed 2023 budget.
The Fulton Neighborhood Association's Annual Meeting is tonight starting at 6:30 at Tinto Kitchen. Details here. The meeting will include visits from Councilmember Linea Palmisano, State Senator Scott Dibble, and State Rep. Jamie Long.
The Charter Commission meets today at 4 p.m. The commission will be discussing a proposal to add the ability to recall public officials into the charter.
Save the date: There will be a Minneapolis Public Schools school board candidate forum on Saturday from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. at the University of Minnesota Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC) at 2001 Plymouth Ave. N. The event will be streaming here. All candidates on the on the general election ballot have been invited to participate. League of Women Voters Minnesota President Laura Helmer will moderate.
The City of Minneapolis's Community Planning and Economic Development department has a really helpful newsletter they put our called "Growing Minneapolis". You can find the latest one here. It has information about how you can make your voice hear about your vision for the Kmart site, details on the close-out of a post-housing crash HUD grant the city got for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, and more.
Melody attended the Business, Inspections, Housing & Zoning committee meeting and Melissa followed the School Board meeting last night. We'll have write-ups on both up on our site later this week.
OUT & ABOUT 🎨
The Jungle Theater's new season officially kicks off tomorrow with Of Pigs and Pianos. The show is only running through this weekend, so don't wait!
The Granada Theater will feature a candlelight show with the best of Hans Zimmer's music tonight at 6:30 p.m.
LynHall is hosting a book signing today with author and food personality Molly Yeh.
Today and every Wednesday, check out Huge Wednesdays at Huge Theater. The new Fall lineup features The Unnamed Jill Bernard Project, PUPPPETS, Wig School, and this years Troika winners: Chapter Number 5! (Troika is a yearly improv competition held at HUGE Theater)
