Volunteers key to success of a future park
Clearing a way to the river for Saint Paul’s West Seventh Street neighborhood
Great River Greening is working with Saint Paul Parks and Recreation to engage the community in the transformation of Victoria Park: a “future park” above and adjacent to the Mississippi riverfront, in the West Seventh Street Neighborhood between Montreal Way and Otto Avenue. It adds much-needed green space to a quickly changing West 7th Street.
"Great River Greening bringing in volunteers to help create this new park will deepen the investment people have in it.”-Longtime West Seventh Street Neighborhood resident
Trees and flowers replace urban oil farm
Saint Paul purchased the nearly 40-acre swath of land over the course of ten years. New businesses, homes, and schools now surround it, and with the cleanup of an oil tank farm complete, plans are underway to transform the field to a park to include pedestrian friendly connections, community-wide recreational needs, and critical connections to the Mississippi River, Sam Morgan Regional Trail, and Crosby Regional Park.
"You will see a difference in as little as one year. But five years from now, this bluff will be a beautiful natural expanse that the community had a hand in creating from the very start. "-Steve Thomforde, Great River Greening ecologist.
Busting Buckthorn, the first step ...then, celebrate!
This September, Great River Greening will host the kick-off event for the multi-year project. One hundred fifty volunteers will open the vista on five acres of the Victoria Park bluff by removing invasive shrubs. Once clear, seeding and tree planting can take place on the south side of the park. Over time, more improvements will:
- Complement the unique natural environment of theriver bluff.
- Add native plantings and rain gardens.
- Enhance the habitat of Crosby Regional Park in the floodplain
JOIN US: The Buckthorn Blast is September 17, 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm Victoria Park, Saint Paul.RegisterA celebration at Summit Brewery follows later in the day.