NRP Success Stories - Ward 7 - Some of the Success Stories from Ward 7

• Anwatin Computer Facility – Bryn Mawr was one of the first NRP groups to fund a computer center for their area school.  Over 20 new computers were funded for school children and community access.

• Business Improvement Grants – 15 NRP matching grants were provided to “downtown Bryn Mawr” businesses for facade and site improvements.  The result has been the revitalization of a formerly tired-looking neighborhood commercial node.

• Community Landscapes, Greening and Park Projects – With projects ranging from the “BRYN MAWR” hedge to the Blooming Bryn Mawr Garden Tour (which drew 300 visitors in its first year) to the long awaited Luce Line Trail, Bryn Mawr residents have worked tirelessly to leverage funds, advocate for their “neighborhood within a park”, and plan, establish and tend community gardens.  Bryn Mawr’s NRP investment makes up just a small percentage of the overall contributions to these projects.  The neighborhood's Phase I review noted that “the highlight of these gardening projects was the community building.” 

• East Village Apartments – NRP funds totaling $500,000 helped jump start a new $30 million mixed-income, mixed-use housing development project in the Elliot Park neighborhood. East Village consists of 179 units, a Dunn Brothers Coffee Shop, an underground parking garage, a Dairy Queen, and a Mini-Market.  Forty of the housing units are affordable to households with incomes at or below 50 percent of the Metro Median Income.  East Village is the first market-rate housing built in Elliot Park in decades.  

• Kenilworth Lagoon – Kenwood residents invested NRP funds to improve the shoreline and adjacent area along the north side of Kenilworth lagoon near Lake of the Isles.

• Park/School Improvements – Kenwood residents invested NRP funds to make physical improvements to the Kenwood School park area. 

• Nicollet Avenue Streetscape: EAT STREET – The Loring Park, Stevens Square, Loring Heights and Whittier neighborhoods invested more than $100,000 in NRP funds in planning for the renovation of Nicollet Avenue from 15th Street to 28th Street.  The planning investment and implementation funds from the three neighborhoods resulted in the leveraging of additional public and private funds that brought new trees, new sidewalks, decorative iron and brick railings, and pedestrian level street lighting to a 1.2 mile stretch of Nicollet Avenue. The former “no man’s land” was transformed into “Eat Street”.  When EAT STREET officially opened in 1997, it completely changed the once barren Nicollet Avenue into one of the hottest restaurant and food-oriented corridors in all of Minneapolis.

• Loring Park Renovation – Residents in the Loring Park neighborhood invested more than $1.1 million of NRP funds to renovate Loring Park.  The improvements included: revitalizing the pond to stop it from losing water; adding safer bike and pedestrian paths; new lights, benches and landscaping; relocation and renovation of the historic office of the park board’s first superintendent; and the creation of a formal “Garden of the Seasons” at the park’s center. When first developed in 1883 Loring Park was known as Central Park. Today the park still serves as the Central Park of the City of Minneapolis. Both residents and non-residents use the park every day as a place to have a lunch break, take a stroll among the flowers or attend an event. The hundreds of people who were empowered through NRP to create a vision for a renovated Park and then see that vision become reality did so for the benefit and enjoyment of all the residents of Minneapolis who use and visit the park.

• Leveraged Improvement Program – The Loring Park invested $600,000 in its Leveraged Improvement Program (LIP) to renovate residential properties and encourage private investment.   More than 100 separate projects were completed throughout the neighborhood in over 40 buildings with a combined total of over 2,000 units. The program was developed and managed by a volunteer committee of neighborhood residents and property owners.

• DB Lyon House –The neighborhood committed $130,000 in NRP funds for the purchase and renovation of the D.B. Lyon house.  Built in 1892 by Episcopal minister D.B. Lyon, this home at 419 Oak Grove Street is a symbol of what makes neighborhood participation and City living great. Just days from demolition, the Lyon house was saved by board members of Citizens for a Loring Park Community (CLPC) and other volunteer activists. The 7,000 square foot mansion has been renovated and  is now home to owners who relish in its unique character.

• Hennepin Ave. Revitalization – The Lowry Hill neighborhood organized a 7-neighborhood planning process that produced the Hennepin Avenue Strategic Plan and over $550,000 of NRP investments along Hennepin Avenue, from Douglas Avenue to 28th Street. Sustaining and enhancing the spirit of Hennepin Avenue is a major priority for several neighborhoods participating in the NRP.  Improvements included new street infrastructure such as pedestrian-level lighting, tree grates, benches, sidewalk improvements, and reconfigured entry points to the Avenue. The Hennepin Ave Strategic Plan also provides a detailed vision for the corridor to guide future development.

• Thomas Lowry Park Improvements – Lowry Hill NRP invested $265,000 in improvements to Thomas Lowry Park that included: major repairs to the “7 Pools” fountain, repaving of pathways, installation of new lighting and benches, and refurbishing of the perennial beds.