Diagram of what the community wants Quincy St. to look like. (Mina Adsit)
The Quincy Street reconstruction project is back to the drawing board.
The Northeast Minneapolis Arts District Board met with Minneapolis Public Works planners Katie White, Andrew Schmitz and Jim Voll on Wednesday, Jan. 8. The meeting allowed the board to ask questions and see if there was a way forward to help ensure the artists’ businesses in the Logan Park Industrial area would not be endangered by the city’s plans.
White, the head of this project, has said because of the feedback the city has received, the last drawings they produced of Quincy Street will be erased and they will start over. They also are trying what they call “decoupling” of Quincy from the overall Logan Park Industrial project.
Council Member Elliott Payne’s office told the Arts District they had met with Public Works and said they are going back to the drawing board on Quincy Street. The Arts District received this email from Payne’s office:
“I wanted to send the latest update on the Quincy St. reconstruction project. CP Payne recently met with Public Works and they are going back to the drawing board on Quincy and scrapping their initial design presented. They are going to move forward with the other parts of the Logan Park Industrial project (Tyler, Jackson, etc.), but they received the message loud and clear from the community and from us that their plans for Quincy were not adequate and would hurt the corridor. I’m not sure on the exact timeline yet, but at least we will have more time to start from the beginning again and fix the design.
“Obviously, this is only really the first step, but at least is a positive sign that your advocacy and the community’s input is finally starting to get through. Additionally, I wanted to let you know that following the emails that have been coming in from so many residents and stakeholders, multiple council members have sought us out to learn more about what’s happening with Quincy and we’ve had some good conversations with them about the importance of Quincy to the community and some of the concerns we all share.
“Still a long road ahead, but hopefully this is at least affirming that your efforts are paying off.”
While not a complete stoppage of the project, Public Works backing down is a significant win for the artists of Quincy Street.
Seth Stattmiller from Recovery Bike Shop said after hearing the news, “We really should be proud of all the work we’ve put in to get to this point. The articles, the rides, the meetings, the conversations, the research, the drawings and more. We are making it happen.”
The board is appreciative of the city’s willingness to go the extra mile to reconstruct Quincy Street in the artists’ best interest. All parties involved will need to show up for meetings and another writing campaign if they don’t listen to the needs of the arts community again. Our voices matter if we show up.
While Quincy Street is the center of attention for the Logan Park Industrial reconstruction, Jonathan Query, owner of Q.arma Building, pointed out, “This is a win for Quincy, which is fantastic, but misses the critical point of the argument. The LPI is a five-block area, not a single street. The LPI project needs to have a fresh reset comprehensively and be seen as a district of warehouse buildings repurposed for makers, creatives, artists and diverse small businesses that contribute to the vision held in the 2040 plan. The Public Works application of residential street standards simply doesn’t work here.”
The next Public Works open house on the six remaining streets in the project is Wednesday, February 19, 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Northeast Recreation Center, 1530 Johnson St. NE.