Title
Amending the 2021 City Capital Improvement Budget in the amount of $5,825,372 to reflect anticipated funding from the Lower Phalen Creek Project in the amount of $1,668,838, grant funding from the State of Minnesota in the amount of $4,000,000 and the use of $156,534 in existing City funds for construction of Wakan Tipi at Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary.
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WHEREAS, the purpose of Lower Phalen Creek Project (LPCP) is to strengthen Saint Paul, Minnesota’s East Side and Lowertown communities by developing and maximizing the value of local parks and trails, ecological and cultural resources and connections to the Mississippi River;
WHEREAS, the City has identified in its Great River Passage Master Plan the need to create a gathering place at the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary (as further defined below, “Nature Sanctuary”) and to provide interpretive, educational and visitor amenities and services, landscape improvements, as well as improved trail connections from the Nature Sanctuary to nearby trails;
WHEREAS, the City realizes the importance of establishing partnerships with community organizations to provide recreational opportunities and enhanced interpretive and educational services; and
WHEREAS, LPCP has worked with the City and the community to acquire, restore and develop the Nature Sanctuary and has a vision to create and operate, at this location, a community gathering place and an interpretive center called Wakan Tipi Center, in honor of Wakan Tipi Cave, a Dakota sacred site and historic site; and
WHEREAS, the City and the LPCP has set forth the expectations of each party as to what is needed for the parties to design and construct the Center and the City to lease the building to Lower Phale...
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