Cepro Site (10th Avenue) and Greenspace
Renovation and new development at Midtown Exchange have brought much opportunity. With this, the need for public open space has drawn strong support from both the community and public agencies. The Midtown Greenway Coalition is very grateful to Hennepin County for providing the land for, and constructing, a graceful trail entrance ramp to the Greenway between 10th and 11th Avenues. About 40% of a square block is dedicated to this new trail entrance ramp, so it effectively doubles as a public park. This ramp opened in November 2007. The City of Minneapolis is also supporting this new trail entrance ramp by taking on responsibilities for ramp infrastructure maintenance. The ramp serves as a connector to and from the Greenway for Midtown Exchange, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Anderson Schools, Powderhorn Park, and the Midtown Phillips Community.
Future enhancements to the trail entrance ramp are being sought by the Coalition and Midtown Phillips. Such enhancements may include: native plantings, public art, and recreational features serving people with physical disabilities. Future tasks include expanding the set of active stakeholders, finalizing site plans for the enhancements listed above, identifying parties responsible for long term ownership and maintenance, raising funds, and implementation.
In addition, there is great interest in creating a welcoming and easy-to-find walking and bicycling route from the Greenway to Powderhorn Park. The U of M Metropolitan Design Center assisted with a community-involvement and design assistance process for the graceful trail entrance ramp described above as well as are the desired link to Powderhorn Park. As of 2008, public and private partners are begining to include the Powderhorn Park link in their work plans. Stay tuned for updates.
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