Angler
It’s not often that people are happy to have more traffic lights to stop at, but Marcy-Holmes residents — and anyone else who has ever tried to cross University Avenue Southeast to reach the Mississippi riverfront — are delighted about the installation of the new stoplight at Southeast Sixth Street and University Avenue Southeast, in front of the Dunn Bros coffee shop.
The neighborhood had been requesting a signal there since 1994, when the Stone Arch Bridge was first reopened to pedestrians. “We kept asking the city for a light because it was so hard to cross,” said Melissa Bean, executive director of the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association (MHNA). “They kept saying a light wasn’t warranted, but they were only looking at whether cars had time to turn onto University, not whether people could actually cross it on foot or bike.”
The need for a light came to Mayor R.T. Rybak’s attention this past spring when a group of fifth and sixth graders from Marcy Open School made the dangerous intersection their subject for Project Citizen, a program in which students research a problem in their community and try to address it through local government processes. The students presented their argument to City Council Members Cam Gordon, Diane Hofstede and Paul Ostrow, as well as Mayor Rybak. The mayor was especially interested because a few days before, he had had trouble crossing the intersection on his bike.
He told the students, “Just two days ago, I was biking at that very intersection and I said to my friend, ‘Why isn’t there a light here?’”
With the collapse of the 35W bridge, traffic on University became even more thunderous, making the need for a stoplight more desperate. More important, however, the bridge disaster brought federal funding, which is what paid for the shiny new traffic light that now controls the intersection.
Bean says a celebration for the new light is being planned for Thurs., Feb. 7, at 9 a.m. at the corner, with the mayor and the Project Citizen kids attending. Thanks to students Kristofer Bergh, Danny Fisher, Abby Hayes and Mariah Sandler, as well as their advisors, Marcy Gifted and Talented Coordinator Eve Parker and parent Bill Fisher.
-
Congratulations to Marcy residents Munce and Paul White on the birth of their daughter, Billie Jane Axley White, on Dec. 11. Dad says Billie is doing great and is looking forward to being strolled around the neighborhood this spring.
Besides being new parents, Paul and Munce are also planning a new concierge service for the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood and would like to know who else might be interested. Paul says the service would provide homeowners and renters with “condominium-like” services. If you’re interested, go to www.marcyonecall.blogspot.com to learn more.
-
In the silver-linings department, a little bit of good has sprung from the ashes of the fire that ruined the home of Ted Tucker and Penny Petersen and their friends and renters Ross Edwards and Jennifer Rockwell Edwards. Displaced by the fire, the renters took up residence in the Summit/Grand area of St. Paul — a path that led them to perform with the Chamber Ballet of St. Paul. (Both Edwards and Rockwell Edwards are trained dancers.) The couple will perform in the company’s debut Feb. 14–16 at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. (For more information, visit www.spcballet.org or call 651-690-1588.)
Rockwell Edwards called it “an interesting twist of fate” in the aftermath of the fire. “It’s something we can share together and go through together,” she said. “It’s kind of healing to be able to do that with [my husband.]”
Still, the serendipity does only a little to diminish the tragedy for both the renters and homeowners, who lost a home temporarily and things more dear, including one of Tucker and Petersen’s cats. The renters, who lived in the back of the house where the fire started, lost most of their possessions. All four occupants — and three cats among them — are eager to return to the house, which Petersen hopes will be done by the spring or summer.
Tucker, who holds a degree in architecture, is designing the renovation of the 117-year-old house. Petersen praised the generosity of Southeast and East Bank friends and neighbors, with whom she and Tucker have stayed in the interim. “Southeast takes care of its own,” she said. “It will be good to get back. We our miss neighbors, and they miss us.”
-
Thanks to all the local volunteers who helped celebrate the re-opening of the Southeast Library on Jan. 12, especially Kathleen Reilly and Harriet Johnson, who helped coordinate entertainment, refreshments and more.
Johnson reported that the event was very well-attended, with even Goldy Gopher making an appearance. She said, though, that Goldy always requires his (or her?) own separate dressing room (these celebrities!), something that was not available in the Southeast Library. As a result, Skott Johnson of Autographics and Cork Johnson, Harriet’s husband, thought quickly and brought Goldy (in his secret identity) over to the Blue Serge tailoring shop across the street. The owner of the shop is an excellent seamstress (whom I recommend highly), but her English is somewhat limited and she did not understand Skott and Cork’s explanation of the young man’s need for space in which to turn into a gopher, as she did not know what a gopher was. Skott finally said, “large mouse,” which made her feel a little better, and she let him use her dressing room after all.
-
Thanks go out to Elissa Cottle, who has stepped down as the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) coordinator after several years of dedicated service. Cottle is beginning a graduate school program in poetry.
-
Condolences to the family and friends of former Prospect Park resident John Degan, who died on Dec. 15. Degan worked for Hubbard Broadcasting for 47 years as a director, producer and station manager. He is survived by wife Sandra of 44 years, sons John (Heidi) and Peter (Cari) and three young grandsons.
-
Sincere condolences also to the family and friends of Charles McGuire of Bedford Street, who died suddenly on Jan. 14. A longtime resident of Prospect Park, Mr. McGuire was a retired employee of the city of St. Paul Planning and Economic Development department and a former president of the Prospect Park/East River Road Improvement Association (PPERRIA). He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Rose; children Michelle McGuire (William) Granneman, Charles (Rachel Kenoyer) and Sean (Jane Patterson), as well as five grandchildren and many other relatives and friends.
-
If you have community news you’d like to share, contact Linda Lincoln at lmlincoln@comcast.net or call 612-379-4301. Check out her regular “Bridgeland” blog online at www.readthebridge.info.
last revised: February 12, 2008