Title
Establishing names for four new parks in the Highland Bridge development.
Body
WHEREAS, the Highland Bridge development (Ford site) includes the establishment and development of four new public parks; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Parks and Recreation led a community process to design and name this new parkland; and
WHEREAS, these four park parcels Park A, Park B, Park C, and Park D were established by a plat in 2020 with the intention of formal naming in 2021; and
WHEREAS, Park A is located at 2290 Ford Parkway and serves as the prominent entrance point into the Highland Bridge development and also to Saint Paul from Minneapolis; and
WHEREAS, the name Gateway serves as a geographic marker of the entrance to the city of Saint Paul; and
WHEREAS, Gateway also is symbolic of the place we are in time and moving from the past to the present; and
WHEREAS, the land referred to as Park B, 875 Mount Curve, is in the location where the Ford Assembly Plant once stood; and
WHEREAS, auto industry Union laborers played a prominent role in this period of history and the United Auto Workers Local 879 organized to improve working conditions at Ford Motor Company; and
WHEREAS, the word Assembly also indicates the concept of gathering, and unity; and
WHEREAS, the land referred to as Park C, 2230 Montreal Avenue, Park C has the most natural condition of the parks and directly connects the stormwater in the development to Hidden Falls and a creek that leads to the Mississippi River; and
WHEREAS, it is a stated priority of the City to recognize that Saint Paul is on Dakota land and a priority to include indigenous communities during the planning aspects of the Highland Bridge development, including the creation and naming of parks; and
WHEREAS, U?ci Mak?a (pronounced oon-CHEE Ma-KAH), Dakota for Mother Earth, was endorsed by Dakota representatives engaged in the naming process for this park space; and
WHEREAS, the land referred to as Par...
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