Twin Cities | Kevin D. Hendricks

The Photography of Wing Young Huie

Wing Young Huie is an incredible photographer based in the Twin Cities who is always creating unique glimpses of life that upend your expectations. He’s well known for a couple of books that explore urban life, including Frogtown in St. Paul and Lake Street in Minneapolis.

He’s also released two volumes of photos on University Avenue, an urban lifeline that connects St. Paul and Minneapolis. For about seven years we lived within minutes of this urban corridor and for a couple years I took the 16 route bus every day which follows University Avenue and is the most used bus route in the Twin Cities (and why lightrail is going in on University).

This University Avenue Project involved engaging people with questions and doing more than just documenting life. The project was also displayed along University Avenue, in some cases projected in giant format on the side of buildings.

MPR recently did a an Art Heroes Photo Gallery with Huie, collecting some amazing and engaging photos. Here are a couple of my favorites:

“I’m not a good bank robber, but I’m a great big brother.”

“I dream of my daughter’s future.”

It’s cool seeing these glimpses of life in the Twin Cities, but more than just glimpses, they’re photos that push back. The photo subjects are given a voice, adding a new dimension to the standard photograph. It’s a great little collection. Love this town.

0 Comments | Posted: December 18, 2012 | Filed Under: Twin Cities | Tags: photography, Wing Young Huie

The Lily Pond at Como Park Returns

by Kevin D. Hendricks

The City of Saint Paul has secured Arts and Cultural Heritage Legacy Funding to restore the Como Park Lily Pond. The pond last held lily pads in 1926 and has mostly been an empty concrete pond since. The 1903 fieldstone and concrete bridge will get some repairs and a new railing. The pond walls and bottom will be completely replaced, though it will have the same footprint and use fieldstones across the top like it currently has. The north pool will feature a water cascade and there will be a fountain in the south pool, both to help circulate water. The pond will feature native aquatic plants, so no more heating the pond and bringing in giant, exotic lily pads. There will also be a seating area north of the pond and another to the west with a pergola.

No completion date has been given, but the project appears to already be underway.

The Lily Pond has always been one of my favorite spaces in that grand public park. There’s an intense feeling of history there that’s hard to escape and it’s a fun place to wander around. I’m curious how that will translate with all the renovations. I’m excited that they’re doing something with the old Lily Pond, but part of me also wonders if it’ll still be the old Lily Pond. Part of its appeal was that it was empty and neglected, an odd pond with no particular use. Hopefully the restored pond will capture that sense of history that made it so great.

0 Comments | Posted: April 10, 2012 | Filed Under: Twin Cities | Tags: Como Park, lily pond

St. Paul Classic: I Biked St. Paul

by Kevin D. Hendricks

Yesterday thousands of bike riders stopped traffic across the Twin Cities as part of the annual Saint Paul Classic Bike Tour.

I was one of them.

I rode 30 miles around St. Paul, following Mississippi River Boulevard along the bluffs, down Shepherd Road to downtown and the waterfront, then back up the bluffs to Indian Mounds Park, then along parkways to Phalen Park and Como Park, then past the state fairgrounds, across University and the light rail construction and over 94 to get back to the start at St. Thomas. Yeah, it was as tiring as it sounds.

Earlier this year I started riding my bike more to get some needed exercise and even more needed stress relief. I decided early on that I wanted to do the Saint Paul Classic. I’ve always thought that’d be a cool event to take part in, but I was never active enough on my bike to seriously consider it. I should have. The short route is a very do-able 15 miles.

While I’ve probably only biked more than 15 miles once this year, I decided to go for the 30 mile route. I tend to overdo things like that, but I also wanted the bragging rights. Amazingly, I can still walk today.

While they did close off streets and intersections for the ride, I’d guess that 95% of the route was along streets with marked bike lanes or on streets next to paved bike paths. St. Paul is pretty bike friendly.

We also passed a lot of public art, which was fun for me.

0 Comments | Posted: September 12, 2011 | Filed Under: Sporting, Twin Cities | Tags: bike ride, biking, St. Paul Classic

Rock Island Swing Bridge

by Kevin D. Hendricks

Yesterday I went for a 20-mile bike ride. I think that’s a little too much distraction. My goal was to make it down to the new Rock Island Swing Bridge in Inver Grove Heights that’s been converted to a pier. The ride down was great. The ride back? Not so much.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the trail I cataloged for a National Park Service trail guide back in 2000 has been extended almost all the way to the Rock Island Swing Bridge. There are plans for more amenities at the bridge, including a 55-acre park that should make it even more of an attraction.

So what is it? It’s a 670-foot pier that extends halfway out into the Mississippi River. Originally built in 1894, the double-decker bridge carried trains and vehicles across the river. Trains went on top and vehicles on the bottom. Supposedly John Dillinger used the bridge as an escape route when evading the FBI. It was closed to trains in 1980 and traffic in 1999.

In 2001 the Coast Guard ordered its removal as a potential disruption to river traffic. A section of the eastern half of the bridge collapsed in 2008 and demolition was imminent. In 2009, a month before the scheduled removal of the western half of the bridge, the governor and legislature offered a reprieve, likely thanks to a bridge tour the National Park Service hosted in 2008 to gauge public interest. Nearly 700 people showed up and waited in long lines all day to get a chance to walk on the old bridge.

The bridge (at least the western half) was finally saved thanks to a federal grant, state aid disaster funds, county and city funds, the Minnesota Historical Society and a local fund drive, totaling $2.3 million. Construction was delayed by flooding and then a fire, but last week the pier opened to the public.

So is it worth it? That’s the question another Rock Island Swing Bridge visitor posed when I was there. I looked around for my answer. This is it. Where else can you find these views of the Mississippi River? I’m not aware of any other pier like it in the Twin Cities area, and maybe not on the rest of the Mississippi. It gives Inver Grove Heights public access to the river (most river front property is either private clubs or industrial land) and a major destination.

More:

0 Comments | Posted: June 12, 2011 | Filed Under: History, Twin Cities | Tags: bike ride, Inver Grove Heights, Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, Mississippi River, National Park Service, Rock Island Swing Bridge, trail

Hail at the Como Park Conservatory

by Kevin D. Hendricks

On June 23, 1962, golf ball-size hail rained down on the glass dome of Como Park’s Conservatory in St. Paul. Glass panels shattered sending shards falling on the visitors below who had sought shelter from the storm. By the end the Conservatory, built in 1915, looked like a war zone. The hail had damaged rare and valuable plants and the gardens were forced to close for the first time ever.

After the storm, gardeners tending the injured plants were forced to wear protective helmets as glass pieces continued to fall. $75,000 in emergency funding had to be secured and the glass panels were replaced with fiberglass. The Conservatory re-opened four months later.

By 1974 the constant sun and weather had clouded the fiberglass panels, depriving the plants below of sunlight. While the Conservatory was placed on the National Register of Historic Places that year, it was in desperate need of repair.

It wasn’t until 1987 that major renovations to the Conservatory began, including replacing all the glass. Those renovations weren’t finished until 1992, 30 years after that hailstorm riddled holes in one of St. Paul’s greatest attractions.

[You can learn more about the history of Como Park and the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in the book The Jewel of Como.]

0 Comments | Posted: February 14, 2011 | Filed Under: Twin Cities | Tags: Como Park, Conservatory, hail, Marjorie McNeely Conservatory, National Register of Historic Places, St. Paul, weather

Como Park’s East & West Gates

by Kevin D. Hendricks

The gates at the east and west entrances to St. Paul’s Como Park are real live examples of recycling and second chances.

East Gates
The east gates are located at East Como Blvd. and Gateway Dr., southeast of the lake. The gates were erected in 1933 using Kasota limestone reclaimed from the second Ramsey County Courthouse, which was built in 1895 and replaced in the 1930s by the current courthouse building. The reused stone included the courthouse’s cornerstone.

Edward Bassford designed the 1885 courthouse and his son, Charles Bassford, designed the gates. As city architect, Charles Bassford also designed the Como Zoological building.

West Gates
The west gates at Hamline Avenue and Midway originally came from the sprawling estate of wealthy businessman Oliver Crosby. He built a mansion, greenhouses and elaborate gardens—all known as Stonebridge—that overlooked the Mississippi River in St. Paul. After Crosby died in 1922 his will was contested and the estate eventually had to be sold off piece by piece.

In 1936, E. E. Englebert bought two lots of the former estate on Mississippi River Boulevard which included the original massive brick and ornamental iron entrance gate to the mansion. He donated the gate to Como Park and in 1937 the Works Progress Administration had it reinstalled as the west gate to Como Park at the intersection of Hamline Avenue and Midway.

Another survivor of Stonebridge also relocated to Como Park, the namesake of the Frog Pond, the sculpture of a granite bullfrog.

Horton & Hamline Gate
There’s another potential gate to Como Park, a lone stone pillar standing at the corner of Horton and Hamline Avenues. Unfortunately, I haven’t come across anything about the history or origins of this pillar.

0 Comments | Posted: February 9, 2011 | Filed Under: Twin Cities | Tags: architecture, Como Park, Frog Pond, gates, sculpture

Gates Ajar at Como Park

by Kevin D. Hendricks

I love Como Park. That’s why I tried to write a novel about it. One of it’s most captivating qualities is its sense of history. One of the park’s earliest features, the floral sculpture Gates Ajar, goes back to 1894 and is still around today.

At the time it was a new form of display heavy on flowers and bordering on kitsch. The gated stairway was sculpted from wood and wire frames, covered in carpet bedding and then packed with moss and mud. Flowers were then planted, resulting in eye-popping blooms of intricate designs. The actual iron gates were added during the 1930s. Como Park’s Gardener Blog has details and pictures showing how the Gates Ajar are planted today.

Originally located 150 feet east of the Schiller Monument, today the Gates Ajar can be found off Lexington Avenue to the west of the Lakeside Pavilion. The gates were also temporarily located near the Conservatory for a brief period. In 1951 the gates were rebuilt to four times their original size and moved to the current location.

Gates Ajar was the first floral sculpture experiment from park superintendent Frederick Nussbaumer. Those floral sculptures continued in 1895 with a life-size elephant perched on an island in the former Cozy Lake (drained in the 1920s and site of the current golf course), a floral fort complete with cannons and an eagle in 1896 and a standard globe sometime later.

But the Gates Ajar outlasted them all and is one of the earliest features of Como Park that still exists today. The Minnesota Historical Society has a few pictures of Gates Ajar from over the years. Refurbished in 2007, the Gates Ajar continue to be a popular location for pictures.

0 Comments | Posted: February 8, 2011 | Filed Under: Twin Cities | Tags: Como Park, Gates Ajar

Twin Cities Blizzard of 2010

by Kevin D. Hendricks

On Saturday the Twin Cities were buried under 17 inches of snow. It was the most snow we’ve had since the infamous Halloween blizzard of 1991 (which the old timers seem to use as a test to see how Minnesotan you are) and the fifth all-time biggest snowstorm for the Twin Cities metro.

It was coming down at a rate of 1-2 inches per hour at times and paired with strong winds pretty much shut down the Twin Cities for the day. The airport closed, bus service was canceled, the Mall of America closed early, the post office stopped delivering mail, the Salvation Army bucket brigade even called it quits. The Department of Transportation urged emergency travel only.

I shoveled three times, once on Saturday in the midst of the blizzard, again in the evening after it stopped, and then on Sunday to finish up. Snow is piled 2-3 feet in my yard, with a nice 6-foot pile in the back. Lexi “helped” the first time I shoveled and Milo came out the second time, though it took longer to get Milo dressed than it did to shovel.

On Sunday morning the Metrodome roof collapsed under the weight of the snow, creating loads of jokes on Twitter, most to the effect that it’s the perfect metaphor for the Vikings’ season.

On Sunday we ventured out to church and the roads were mostly cleared—except for any side streets in St. Paul. On Monday morning the temperature plunged to -8 and both Minneapolis and St. Paul canceled school (blaming it on uncleared streets and cold temperatures).

We already had a fair amount of snow on the ground (we had maybe 15 inches already) and now it looks like it does in mid-February when we’re nearing the end of the snow season. Historically, the Twin Cities average 8.9 inches of snow in December. So much for that.

You can see all my pictures here.

0 Comments | Posted: December 13, 2010 | Filed Under: Twin Cities |

First Snowless March in 132 Years

by Kevin D. Hendricks

Yesterday’s high of 75 nailed it: March 2010 is officially the first Minnesota March in 132 years with no measurable snowfall. It happened in 1878 and 1860, making 2010 only the third year since records were kept that Minnesota has seen a snowless March. Usually March is the second snowiest month of the year with an average of 10 inches in the Twin Cities. March 2010 is also among the top 5 warmest Marches on record.

Make of it what you will, but I think it’s just random and weird and fun.

0 Comments | Posted: April 1, 2010 | Filed Under: Science, Twin Cities | Tags: weather

Putting Dora’s Mexican Restaurant Online

by Kevin D. Hendricks

Deciding what to make for dinner is always a little tough in my house because when I look out my kitchen window I can see Dora’s Mexican Restaurant (formerly Los Cabos; new name, same folks). So tempting. It’s the first time in my life I can remember being a regular somewhere (OK, growing up the waitress at Pizza Hut knew us, but that was my parents, not me personally).

Since we’re in there all the time (they’ll often start cooking Lexi’s quesadilla when we walk in) we know the owner, Dora, and I’ve talked with her a bit over the past nine months or so as the economy has tanked. Like many small businesses, especially in the hospitality sector, business has been hurting. I know a little bit about online marketing and social networking, and I thought maybe I could help.

So long story short, Dora’s became a Monkey Outta Nowhere client. Today we launched EatAtDoras.com, as well as an accompanying Twitter feed (@EatAtDoras) and a Facebook page. It’s all extremely basic and low budget. We’re talking shoestrings here people. The plan is to post daily lunch and dinner specials to Twitter, which will also push to the web site and Facebook, as well as coupons, special offers and fun updates (I hear rumors about a salsa bar). The site still has additions and tweaks coming (Espanol, a menu, etc.), but the plan is the epitome of fast and simple. When I mentioned the site on Twitter today someone even asked if the CSS file wasn’t loading properly. CSS?! Ha! We don’t need no stinkin’ CSS. (I actually coded the site by hand, something I haven’t done in a decade. True story.)

0 Comments | Posted: July 1, 2009 | Filed Under: Business & Marketing, Twin Cities | Tags: food, restaurant, West St. Paul