Category Archives: Twin Cities

Twin Cities

Hail at the Como Park Conservatory

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19On 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.]

Twin Cities

Como Park’s East & West Gates

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Como Park East GateThe 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.

Midway GateWest 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.

Twin Cities

Gates Ajar at Como Park

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Gates AjarI 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.

Historic photo of Gates AjarGates 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.

Twin Cities

Twin Cities Blizzard of 2010

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Twin Cities Blizzard of 2010On 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.

Science, Twin Cities

First Snowless March in 132 Years

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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.

Business & Marketing, Twin Cities

Putting Dora’s Mexican Restaurant Online

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Dora's Mexican RestaurantDeciding 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.)

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Twin Cities

Meat-Packing History in South St. Paul

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Down the RiverFor the Twin Citizens in the audience curious about local history (how’s that for scaring away most of my audience?), the Pioneer Press has a lengthy story this morning about the history of Armour and the meat-packing industry in South St. Paul. It’s not clear what prompted the story (Anniversary? Slow news weekend?), but it does include some interesting nuggets:

For many years, [author and local historian Lois] Glewwe said, “Every sixth-grade class in South St. Paul was forced to tour the slaughterhouse. The little girls would be throwing up, screaming.”

I sense the beginnings of a new city slogan.

The hard-working, tough-as-nails demeanor described in the article is still part of the ethos in South St. Paul (though perhaps not reflected in the font choices of the community newsletter). The article doesn’t spend much time on it, but the city has been trying for years to fill the void left by the meat-packing industry. The city’s woes may be best exemplified in this MPR story, focusing on how Governor Tim Pawlenty’s budget cuts will adversely affect his hometown, a city heavily relient on state aid. If that doesn’t sound depressing enough, the city’s own mayor is unemployed (apparently the mayoral position isn’t a fulltime gig).

Remnants of the meat-packing industry can still be found, including the Armour gates and the stockyard exchange building (now a restaurant). The South St. Paul Riverfront Trail gives a good view of the river and the site of the former stockyard and the Makings of a City mural by Robert Zins gives an impressive visual overview of South St. Paul.

Perhaps my favorite icon in South St. Paul is the stone plaque for a missing sculpture. The sculpture is called “Legacy.”

Twin Cities

Enjoying the Como Park Lily Pond

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Last week I stopped off at Como Park with Milo for a quick walk. I spent most of my time at the Lily Pond, a place that has neither a pond nor lilies. It’s just a 100-year-old empty concrete pond with an old concrete and stone bridge. It’s kind of forgotten among Como Park’s other attractions. I think I enjoy it so much because it has that abandoned feel and hints at something older that’s been lost as the surrounding park has changed around it. I feel history at that bridge in a way I don’t at other old places.

A while back I hung out at the Lily Pond with Lexi, so it seemed appropriate to do it with Milo this time around.

Lexi on the Bridge
July 23, 2007

Kevin & Milo @ the Lily Pond
June 2, 2009

Twin Cities

Appreciate Where You Live

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Lexi & Pinky on the TrailI’ve talked before about my soft spot for Detroit, but this Chicago Reader article about cool things to do in Detroit actually makes me want to visit the Motor City. It probably helps that I also have a soft spot for funky art and abandonded/decaying places (i.e., urban prairie and decrepit buildings, though I’ve only ever done urban exploring vicariously).

A visit to Detroit is do-able but unlikely, but the article did make me think more about my current locale and what kind of things here in the Twin Cities would be worth a vacation to check out. That’s kind of a weird concept, imaging where you live as a vacation spot. I usually think of vacation spots as places you have to drive cross country to get to and normal people don’t actually live there. I mean if you lived in a vacation spot, where would you go on vacation?

But weird questions aside, what’s so cool about the Twin Cities?

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Politics, Twin Cities

RNC Protests in St. Paul

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2008 RNC Protest MarchI went to a protest today. I didn’t really participate, more observed. And took lots of pictures (I’m still working on uploading them). And a video.

The event I went to was a peaceful march from the State Capitol to the Xcel Center and back. But things haven’t been so peaceful all day in St. Paul. The Pioneer Press has a good overview of the various skirmishes between police and protesters. It seems the 10,000 or so marchers were mostly peaceful, but some anarchist groups (for lack of a better description) have been causing mayhem downtown (breaking windows, slashing tires, blockading streets) and police are rightly moving in to stop them (tear gas and rubber bullets). The show of force is a little disturbing, but so is hurling bricks at cops. (It’s unclear at this point what’s rumor and what’s reality, so take what you hear with a grain of salt. At any rate, there was enough documenting going on that any police brutality should certainly come to light.)
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