A House Condemned Against Itself?

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

1541 Hillside Avenue, a house owned by the ominously-sounding group "Equitron Holdings" now has a condemnation placard posted on the front door of the lower unit.  The condemnation reason given is "structural defects and lack of maintenance."  And in spite of such potential defects, it appears that the upper unit may be occupied.

Wasn't there a Transformer named Equitron?  Here's hoping this thing changes back into a code-compliant property soon.

1551 Hillside First Sold For...

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman, image from the Minneapolis Journal archives.

1551 Hillside Avenue North has long been on my radar screen as an amazing hallmark of our historic housing stock in NoMi.  Now that I live within easy walking distance of the place, I've taken even more of an interest in it.  The archives of the Minneapolis Journal, linked above, often contain treasure troves of neighborhood and housing history.  For instance, on February 1, 1903, this house was listed for the whopping price of...

Lowry Bridge Pictorial

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Every once in a while, I wander around just taking photos of what strikes my fancy, hoping to either make a blog post or be able to use the pictures at a later date.  I did so one day late in the fall when the Lowry Bridge was being connected.  The photos just sat on a camera that I don't use too often, until now.

More pics after the jump.  Enjoy.

Northside Food Market Continues Its Tradition of Excellence

Parody post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Upper level rental unit "just as safely habitable today" as it has ever been, neighborhood residents claim.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The Northside Food Market, a long-standing quality corner store in the McKinley neighborhood, celebrated its thirteenth year in business today.  Honey Buns and Flaming Hot Cheetos will be sold at half-price, and individually-wrapped Swisher Sweets will be literally cut in half, for the on-the-go businessman who only has enough time to smoke a partial cigarillo before hopping on the bus to stay ahead of the hustle and bustle of his job.

"The Northside Food Market has it all," said one of the approximately fifteen tenants living in the one-bedroom apartment above the store.  "A location near a bus stop, brillo pads to clean my apartment, plastic roses that come in utilitarian glass tubes, and the only alleyway in the city of Minneapolis with a 40 mph speed limit."  When asked what the particular employ of this upstanding young gentleman was, he remained effusive, leading residents to speculate that he and his associates must be training for a circus clown car gig - the only plausible way such a small unit could comfortably hold so many people.

The store has long been a pioneering business in the neighborhood, leading the way selling healthy food to the throngs of socially-conscious, committed patrons who visited the store on an almost hourly basis.  While the utmost level of quality slipped briefly at the Northside Food Market earlier this year, the owners quickly promised to make things right.  Gone were the wads of bubble gum occasionally strewn on the sidewalk, and any young rapscallions causing the slightest bit of trouble were sent home with a firm warning and a stern look askance.

"We don't tolerate any kinds of nonsense around here," said the owner, who was dutifully in the midst of marking up the prices on such basic items as aluminum foil.  "And if anything untoward is reported, by golly, one quick phone call from a neighbor to the alderwoman is all it takes to set things right.  She's a stern headmaster, that one."

Today the Northside Food Market rolled back its doors for what is perhaps its most comprehensive refurbishment in the business's full-bodied history, and residents were duly thrilled.  Said one resident, "I love the new aisle layouts!  Everything is so conveniently located, the products they now sell attract the best customers, and the facade looks better than ever!  I just hope it stays this way for a long time to come."

Public Hearing Set for Former Fuji-Ya Site

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

The former site of the Fuji-Ya restaurant could become a new downtown riverside park, and a public hearing to begin that process is scheduled for December 15, 6-8 p.m. at the Mill City Museum.  The Park Board press release is already renaming the site the "Water Works Site" in recognition that the city's first water supply and fire pumping station were located there.  That's a neat tidbit of history I wasn't aware of, but I still bristle at how quickly we are distancing ourselves from the contributions of Reiko Weston and the Fuji-Ya restaurant.

Especially in that area, the Mississippi riverfront is full of sites, structures, and features that pay homage to the period that "Water Works" also references:  the Stone Arch Bridge, the Mill City Museum, the Mill Ruins Park, the Water Power Park, the Pillsbury A Mill--heck, an entire district is named the Mill district.  What do we have as a place name anywhere in the city of Minneapolis that is a tip of the hat to the contributions of Asian Americans?  If there's something out there, please enlighten me.

I understand that the way the site was forcefully acquired from Weston could be a sore spot.  And I would also be understanding if local Asian Americans weren't overly interested in this site as a place or forum for their cultural heritage.  Weston and the architect were Japanese and much of our Asian population hails from southeast Asia instead.  It could be seen in a similar way as (hypothetically) using historical references from Brazil or French Guyana to pay tribute to the contributions of a Mexican.  Technically it's all Latin America, but the cultures, locations, and languages are all quite distinct.

But has anyone even asked an Asian American cultural group here in the Twin Cities if they would like to participate in the process?

Reiko Weston wasn't just a pioneering minority businesswoman in a time where race and gender stacked the deck against her from the start.  She was also a visionary who saw the appeal of the riverfront when the rest of the city had turned its back on the area.  She preserved the history of the site while incorporating styles from a minority architect who would become well known in his own right.  Whatever form the new development at the Fuji-Ya site takes, those contributions must be recognized, valued, and preserved to the fullest extent possible.  I would hope that we do so by preserving the structure, reaching out to minority populations, and pursuing a site name that reflects the full history that transpired here.

Proposed Redevelopment Along Penn Ave N

 Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman, map from the city of Minneapolis.

In my previous post, I pointed readers to proposed changes along West Broadway.  The city is also planning to designate a redevelopment area along Penn Avenue and several intersecting cross streets.  The plan's language seems somewhat innocuous in this initial stage, although it's unclear yet how it could affect the various D2 light rail designs.  What has me worried though, is the language on the final page of the document, which states:

Minnesota Statutes Section 469.002, Subdivision 14 includes in its definition of a redevelopment project “any work or undertaking to acquire blighted areas and other real property for the purpose of removing, preventing, or reducing blight, blighting factors, or the causes of blight.”

A “blighted area” is defined in Minnesota Statutes Section 469.002, Subdivision 11 as “any area with buildings or improvements which, by reason of dilapidation, obsolescence, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, lack of ventilation, light, and sanitary facilities, excessive land coverage, deleterious land use, or obsolete layout, or any combination of these or other factors, are detrimental to the safety, health, morals, or welfare of the community.”

The proposed Penn Avenue North Redevelopment Project area is determined to be a blighted area, based on the characteristics described above. Indicators of blight observed in the project area include deteriorated or damaged building elements, underused or vacant land, poorly maintained premises, unoccupied residential properties, evidence of tornado damage, buildings in need of major repair, physically and/or functionally obsolete buildings, and lack of adequate parking for commercial operations.

Redevelopment activities in the project area will remove blight and facilitate the implementation of City land use policies and redevelopment objectives.

What's so scary about that, you may ask?  Well...

Can We Get Something OTHER Than Non-Profit Development?

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Word came out this week that changes are being sought to the Let's Just Give All of West Broadway to the Ackerberg Group Because We're Not Doing Redevelopment Anyway Plan.  The proposed changes can be found here.  While I have sung the praises of Ackerberg and Catalyst before, and I'm thankful for their ongoing commitment to NoMi, I have some deep reservations about this proposal.

Those reservations are not around the preservation of housing stock in the proposed development area.  There are a series of homes and other land that will need to be assembled, and that's a part of any such project.  If anything, the quality of housing that was demolished for the MPS building next door was far higher than this and I wish some of those homes would have been moved instead of demolished.  There are 11 parcels being added to the site plan, starting with...