Title
Adopting the River Balcony Master Plan as an amendment to the Great River Passage Master Plan.
Body
WHEREAS, one of the projects recommended in the Great River Passage Master Plan is the River Balcony, a 1.5-mile pedestrian pathway from the Science Museum to Union Depot along the top of the downtown bluff; and
WHEREAS, the River Balcony was envisioned to contribute to the economic vitality of downtown, and extend and reconnect community life to the Mississippi; and
WHEREAS, in 2015, in anticipation of the adaptive reuse of the U.S Post Office and Custom House, which sits on the path of the proposed River Balcony, an inter-departmental City staff team engaged the Minnesota Design Center, BKV Group and Landscape Research to prepare a master plan and Phase 1 schematic design for the River Balcony; and
WHEREAS, a Project Review Team comprising property owners along the River Balcony route, CapitolRiver Council representatives and other key stakeholders advised the consultant team and City staff throughout the process; and
WHEREAS, the City hosted roundtables, design team workshops, a public open house in September 2015 and a public meeting in April 2016 to engage the public in preparation of the Master Plan; and
WHEREAS, the Master Plan lays out a vision for the River Balcony as a publicly-accessible pathway connecting public spaces and bluff-side redevelopment sites from the Science Museum to Union Depot that will be designed to accommodate walking, outdoor seating, gathering and related public activities, and that will be a catalyst for economic development; and
WHEREAS, a set of core goals establishes the role of the River Balcony in not only activating the public realm along the river bluff but also in catalyzing high-quality private development on key sites along Kellogg Boulevard; and
WHEREAS, the goals of the River Balcony are to: 1) reconnect downtown to the river visually and physically; 2) provide a public linear path along the ...
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