Stoss Proposal

STOSS MALTZAN UTILE

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STREAMLINES

STREAMLINES is about the sheer un ltered experience of direct contact with the river and river life, in many ways, at multiple moments. And its about weaving these experiences back into the everyday city. STREAMLINES is also a project about working ecologies, ecological systems and dynamics put to work to clean, to re-constitute this working riverfront, and to guide a longer-term transformation of the city fabric.

MULTIPLE HISTORIES, MULTIPLE CURRENTSBut it is not about a single green line along the river. Rather, this project is about multiple threads, multiple strands; it evokes the stories and lives of the people who live, work, and play by the rivers edge and have done so for centuries. It builds from the rich histories and evolving identities of the Mississippi River, the ecological, economic, social lifeblood of the city, and of the continent. And it puts in place a series of working and operational landscapes, green infrastructures, and landscape-based urban fabrics that will guide this transformation for the next generation of city-dwellers, just as the Grand Rounds did for 20th-century Minneapolis.

WORKING ECOLOGIESThe parks must embrace a new mind-set for park-making, in which they are rendered engines for change, for ecological vibrancy, and for sustainable development. And they must not simply displace viable industry with open space. We want to make open spaces and urban fabrics that continue to work, that are rendered industrious: that seed and produce energy, food, and habitat; that clean soil and water; and that redirect waste resources to create new productive and hybrid ecologies, new provocative and engaging urban experiences.

INFRASTRUCTURE AS PARK, PARK AS CITYTo be truly transformative, the parks must take on a broader territory. Thus, the proposals individual strands (river park, botanical overlooks, sporty circuits, energy forest, city and river islands) accumulate over time and expand the rivers reach into the urban fabric. New infrastructures are rendered civic and social: catalysts, connectors, hosts of activity, and iconic orientation devices. In doing so, parks and park infrastructures can be fully infused into the rich mosaic of Minneapoliss neighborhoods.

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STRATEGY

The scope and scale of the project are quite ambitiousremake the riverfront, remake the city for next century. And the process for getting there is complex. So how do we do this?

CLAIM THE RIVER.The river is out of reach up here: it is not part of the everyday experiences of city residents, and it is not part of the cultural imagination. This is in part due to the layers of infrastructure and industry that have occupied the larger river corridor between the neighborhoods of North Minneapolis and Northeast Minneapolis.

Before anything happens, then, we must lay claim to the river as civic space, and as a territory for multiple uses: ecological, industrial, and social. By doing this, the river itself becomes the park before the parks exist. And the transformational period is rendered as exciting, engaging, and robust as the parks that will emerge from it.

SEED THE PARKS.There is much work to be done, much to be cleaned and prepared for human and ecological life, funding to be garnered, communities and neighbors to be consulted, plans and designs to be drawn. This will take time.

We want to leverage time, and the tendencies of the various ecological, hydrologic, and functional systems and processes invoked, to help seed and stage the parksto prepare the ground and, in part, to do the work of construction for us. Remediation elds, holding landscapes, working spaces for green technologies; emergent river-islands (and habitats), water cleansing infrastructures, and new park and city islands; and the patient anticipation of new programs, activities, and resources that can be tapped down the line: all this sets the stage for parks and infrastructures that will accumulate over a number of years. The parks will be both opportunistic and catalytic: exibly taking advantage of new partnering and siting opportunities as they arise, while also instigating a multidimensional transformation of existing and emergent neighborhoods.

ELABORATE NEW MODELS FOR CITY-LIFE.This is not simply a park plan. Rather, it is a strategy for transforming the larger urban fabric, and the everyday lives of locals and visitors alike. It does so by tapping into larger systemsinfrastructural and ecologicaland by extending its physical reach across the river, east-west into outlying neighborhoods, north-south to landscapes and towns that constitute the longer Mississippi corridor.

The strategy is exible, and therefore sustainableenvironmentally, urbanistically, and economically. It leverages underutilized and waste resources; nds ef ciencies in collaboration and cross-fertilization between urban and environmental systems; incorporates bridges and streets and light rail corridors as park infrastructures; and builds new synergies between work, public life, and the landscape fabrics that support them. Importantly, it is a 50- to 100-year plan, a series of parks and neighborhoods for the next generation of Minneapolitans. In this way, the various proposals contained herein will help guide these places gradual transformation, making for new kinds of parks and public infrastructures, for new working ecologies and landscapes and city fabrics that will come to revitalize Minneapolis for decades to come.

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NORTH LOOP

STONE ARCH BRIDGE

NICOLETTEISLAND

MARCY-HOLMES

HISTORIC MILLSDISTRICT

UPPER HARBORTERMINAL SITE

ST. ANTHONYFALLS


NEW PARTNERS, NEW CONNECTIONS

MISSISSIPPI STRANDS

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RIVER + FLOODPLAINS

EXISTING PARKS

PUBLICLY OWNED LANDS (CITY + MPRB)

CONTAMINATED SITES + VACANCIES

PROPOSED PARK FRAMEWORK

RIGHTS-OF-WAY + UTILITY CORRIDORS

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RIVERPARK

ENERGY FOREST

RIVERORCHARDS

SPORTY CIRCUITS

BOTANIC OVERLOOKS

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ACCESSThe North Riverfront is re-networked with walking + running paths, recreational trails, bicycle lanes, sporty circuits, a riverwalk, skating loops, bridges, street cars, and light rail. Safe multi-modal corridors allow current industrial uses to co-exist with new social and recreational activity.

DISTRICTS + NEIGHBORHOODSDistricts and neighborhoods are crucial to a successfully re-energized riverfront. Five neighborhoods are imagined here. Although each is distinct, they share a common thread: all are connected directly to the Mississippi and to parkland, vital to the future of Minneapolis and its citizens.

NORTHEAST MINNEAPOLIS

NORTHMINNEAPOLIS

DOWNTOWN

RIVERPARK

GREENHOUSE DISTRICT

INDUSTRIOUS PARK

CITYISLANDS

NORTHRIVERFRONT

MARSHALL TERRACE

NORTH LOOP

MCKINLEY

WEBBER-CAMDEN


CLAIM THE RIVER!

ACTIVATINGThe river up here needs an identitypeople need to re-connect to it. Infrastructural corridors and industrial uses have long separated North and Northeast neighborhoods from the river, so that its physical closeness is imperceptible.

Thus, to change peoples perceptions, and to re-make the northern riverfront within the cultural imagination and daily lives of city residents, we propose a three-part activation strategy. These projects are easy to execute and are purposefully conceived to have a signi cant impact along the entire north riverfront, from the Falls to the citys limits; they also buy us time, while site preparation, property acquisitions, and design drawings proceed.

To this end, we imagine dancing lights in the sky, bobbing luminescent rowboats, and oating barges re-fashioned as bandshells, amphitheaters, and swimming poolsall creating new communities, new experiences on and along the river before the parks exist. This activation phase would also include the designation of ve river access points on both sides of the river, located at existing parks and boat ramps, and at moments where city streets meet the river.

FLOW INTERSECTFlowIntersect is a light-scale light sculpture by interactive public artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer that allows people to see the meandering of the river across the city. The installation consists of a number of powerful search lights placed at regular intervals along both shores of the Mississippi River. The lights are visible from a ten mile radius. Each pair of facing lights (one on each side of the river) is controlled together; the beams of light create two vectors intersecting directly above the river. The apex of their intersection changes in height and position based on data from sensing devices that will be placed in the river and which will measure speed, turbulence, and other environmental data; in this way, the light responds to the changing dynamics of the river itself. Importantly, their positioning and timing can be coordinated so as not to interfere with bird migrations or nearby uses.

LIGHT-BOATSLight-boats are luminescent berglass rowboats which offer residents and visitors immediate access to the river above the falls. The boats, which will become a signature feature of the project, resemble white contoured pods during the day and glow evocatively at night.

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The light-boats can be adapted with outboard motors, with sails and centerboards, and with runners for ice for use in all seasons and in response to many forms of weather. Their use and number can be expanded as the parks develop over time.

RE-FASHIONED BARGESThrough the adaptive reuse of existing barges for recreation and performance, the project also engages the Mississippis rich history as a working river and transforms the river for occupation by a broader public. The barges mobile character allows them to activate the river at multiple locations, acting as mutable catalysts which can extend and reinvent how the people of Minneapolis understand and experience their riverfront.

The Swimming Barge creates an unprecedented opportunity for recreation in the rivers midst by inserting a series of pools, a diving platform, an outdoor terrace, and a cafe on an existing barge. Organized as a pleated topography of pools and platforms that echo the barges linear character, it provides a new vantage point to view the riverfront and the city beyond.

A second barge provides an extraordinary platform for performance on the water: the Amphitheater Barges twinned shape creates a seating bowl above the barge deck below, providing an intimate space for performance. Beneath its lifted form is a broad space sheltered from the elements, a stage for larger-scale performances where the audience remains on the adjacent shoreline or on individual watercraft. An oculus at the barges center links these two levels, allowing cables anchoring its cantilevered wings to pass between, framing the sky above.

These barges can be mobilized early on and can work as ferries, bringing people from the Central Riverfront, through the locks, and up the entire length of the North Riverfront.

EXISTING BARGEADAPTIVE REUSE

PERFORMANCE CANOPYUSED AT MULTIPLE SCALES

AMPHITHEATERFLOATING / MOBILE PERFORMANCE PLATFORM

SHORE-BASED AUDIENCEFOR LARGE-SCALE USE

SHELTERED STAGEFOR LARGE-SCALE USE

SMALL-SCALE USESINGLE OR DOUBLE SIDED PERFORMANCE PLATFORM


RIVER PARK

WORKING FIELDSThe river park is very much a working landscape, one that cleans the siteand the cityas it grows. It supports a full range of social and recreational activities, and ecological life: nesting sites, skating canals, elds for ying kites, vibrant meadow habitats, shady groves for lazy days on the river.

A water-cleansing system structures the park. Rain washes particles of soil, grit, and other materials off streets, parking lots and roofs in nearby neighborhoods. This stormwater is intercepted by a sedimentation chamber and periodically emptied; clean extracts of the sediment can be used in shoreline and island building. Wetlands of nutrient-tolerant species receive the stormwater next, removing ne sediment and pollutants; here indigenous wet meadow species such as sedges, cordgrass, blue-joint and wild owers would thrive. Meanwhile local runoff in the park ows through lter strips and into polishing wetlands connected to the system. In downstream retention and detention areas, deeper water stands for longer periods, and nitrogen is removed in aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Plants here are able to root in water and withstand ooding: arrowhead, bur-reed, aquatic sedges, bulrush, and other marsh plants. Water then ows into the rif e stream and bivalve bed. All along are native plants, naturalized soils, and insect life which provide organic matter to the stream, forming the base of the food chain. The highly oxygenated, shallow water supports several mussel species: cylinder mussel, giant oater, fat mucket, creek heelsplitter. At the deeper mouth of the stream, the black sandshell, plain pocketbook, white heelsplitter, Lilliput and strange oater would be found. Mussel species common to big rivers will mingle with the stream species in the side channel and perhaps downstream of the island at the stream mouth.

RIVER ISLANDSRestoration of island habitats is proposed as part of this design effort through bene cial use of dredge maintenance (bed material load) from the navigation channel and settlement of non-cohesive material from proposed stormwater tributaries. Restoration of islands will be encouraged at select locations, adjacent to the navigation channel (in depths ranging from 5 to 7 feet NGVD), as well as the outlet of the proposed stormwater channels. Initial construction of islands is proposed to be performed with available dredge material. Stabilization of the material with small armor stone around the perimeter will be performed to ensure stability of the islands; natural stone (rock vanes, groins) may also be employed to alter the local hydrodynamics, encouraging deposition and sedimentation, allowing the islands to grow.

PHYTOREMEDIATION + PLANT SUCCESSIONSHOWING REGULAR COPPICING OF POPLARS AND EVENTUAL UNDER-PLANTING OF SUCCESSIONAL FOREST

STORMWATER CHANNELS + ISLAND FORMATIONWATER CLEANSED FROM NEARBY URBAN FABRIC GENERATES RIVER ISLANDS + DELINEATES UPLAND ISLANDS IN THE PARK

INDUSTRIAL CULTURAL COMPLEXON NEW PARK ISLAND

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INDUSTRIAL CULTURAL COMPLEXThe Upper Ports domed concrete structures are reimagined as an intensive yet surreal cultural complex that re-makes a piece of the rivers industrial history. Two existing domes include an experimental stage supporting a Guthrie satellite location and a visual art space supporting a Walker Art Center satellite. A third dome is planted, and a fourth used as a rock climbing center. Finally, two new domes will be constructed: the rst, clad in a louvered rainscreen, houses a recreational natatorium; the second, clad in ETFE pillows, is a greenhouse. To the west, a retail distribution center and parking structure spans I-94, green roofs across its stepped top connecting the park to the residential district to the west, allowing the residents of North Minneapolis to nally connect to the river so close to them. Piers stretch from the adjacent riverbank, providing a permanent home for the performance and swimming barges.

FRESHWATER MUSSEL FOOD CHAINA KEYSTONE SPECIES FOR WILDLIFE + HABITAT DEVELOPMENT


INFRASTRUCTURAL ECOLOGIESThe Botanical Overlooks are a new kind of public gardenone that draws on the waste heat of the power plant and infuses the city with a new kind of ecological cyborg: an infrastructural park in which regional native ecosystems are contrasted with more fanciful and exotic environments. These are provocative urban botanical gardens fed off the waste of the city: a place for yellow warblers and steamy hot tubs, for native cottonwoods and exotic bromeliads alike.

WASTE HEAT AS SOCIAL CATALYSTWaste heat produced by the boiler at the nearby Xcel Energy power plant is transported through a network of super-insulated distribution pipes to nearby park overlooks. The warmest heat powers a series of public outdoor hot tubs that overlook the river. The waste heat in the pipes gradually diminishes in temperature as it moves through a sequence of public swimming pools and greenhouses, which serve as sheltered community gardens and interior winter gardens for neighbors. As the distribution pipes make their way back to the power plant, they pass under plazas situated nearest to Marshall Street; here heat can be released to aid in snow melt during the winter, thereby reducing salt and contaminant runoff to the river. During warmer months, these plazas are planted with more tropical and exotic species of plants, like orange trees, that can be wheeled out in pots from the adjacent greenhouses. (When the power plant is not running, this system can be fed by a eld of solar hot water heaters on adjacent lands.)

STORMWATER, TOOThese social activation strategies are overlaid with water cleansing strategies as the gardens reach back into nearby neighborhoods via water boulevards. These extended blue strands collect and clean stormwater and bring it through the overlook parks as irrigation.

Together, the hot pools, greenhouses, and botanical gardens provide a luxurious and sustainable resource for both recreation and relaxation. And they signal the regions Nordic roots and winter culture in a most evocative way.

DISTRICT WASTE HEAT CYCLEBOILER - HOT TUB - SWIMMING POOL - GREENHOUSE - SNOW-MELT PLAZA

BOTANIC OVERLOOKS

GREENHOUSES AT EDGE OF GARDEN

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STORMWATER BOULEVARDSREACH BACK INTO EXISTING NEIGHBORHOODS + SERVE AS RIVERFRONT CONNECTORS


ENERGY FOREST

CITY-STRANDSWe cant just work along the riverwe need to extend and expand its in uence in order to allow the river to begin to permeate all aspects of life in the city. In this way, we want to engage a broader territorylayers and strands set back from the river, like an expanded social and civic oodplain.

To this end, we imagine re-making the I-94 corridor as an energy forest, lled with trees that create new vegetated habitats, reduce heat radiation, and clean air pollutants from passing vehicles. The forest consists of native trees adapted to local climate and soil conditions: hackberry, basswood, northern pin oak, bigtooth aspen, smooth serviceberry, re-fruit hawthorn, red cedar and white pine. When mature, each tree removes 1-2 pounds of pollutants from the air annually: ozone, particulates, nitrogen and sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide. Each tree also takes up carbon dioxide and stores the carbon in its wood and roots, giving up oxygen to the air and reducing atmospheric greenhouse gases. Within the forest, the nighttime temperature will be several degrees cooler than surroundings, lessening the air conditioning burden in nearby homes. And by intercepting and transpiring rainfall, the forest removes up to half the water in the corridor, which would otherwise be diverted into storm sewers.

Where the forest extends to the east to in ltrate and help structure the proposed Industrious Park, it expands to include integrated stormwater treatment swales and in ltration groves in this new urban neighborhood.

LANDSCAPES OF ENERGYAlong the median of the highway, vibrating energy generators can be erected to capture prevailing winds that move through and across this corridor; they can also be powered by the turbulence created by passing vehicles on the highway. The proposed Vibro unit, currently in research and protoyping phases of development, is less expansive, more adaptable to urban conditions, quieter, and more bird-friendly than traditional wind turbines. Power can be transmitted to adjacent neighborhoods or sold directly to the grid.

The central median can also be used, eventually, for a new high-speed regional light rail expansion, bringing ef cient and sustainable public transportation to the seam between North Minneapolis neighborhoods and the new Live + Work district and park precincts to the east. Light rail stations can be integrated into proposed air rights developments and building bridges at designated cross-streets.

ALTERNATE WIND TURBINESCORNELL UNIVERSITY VIBRO-RESEARCH GROUP, LED BY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROFESSOR FRANCIS MOON

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LANDSCAPES FOR WORKING (OUT)Over time, we imagine re-occupying leftover spaces along the existing rail spur in the Northeast (between California and 2nd Street); this spur is currently used only occasionally and at low speeds to service the industries along it. A whole new precinct of sport elds, ball courts, and playgrounds, connected by biking and walking and running circuits can emerge incrementally over timeeventually creating an active, energetic zone of sweaty bodies and sports. Consolidation of neighborhood recreation elds here will also free up existing elds near the river, allowing those spaces to be converted to new river-speci c park uses.

Over time, the linear connective spine that ties these spaces together can grow; as fewer trains use the rail spur, recreational use can increase. The spine will eventually continue across the river on the existing BNSF rail bridge, which can be modi ed to accommodate small sports programs over the river; it will then extend as pedestrian circulation south through the Circuit Plazas at the east edge of the Industrious Park. (The rail line can be left in place for occasional trains and special-event streetcars). In the winter, this spine can be ooded to create a 3-mile linear skating track that connects to downtown.

Green ngers extend laterally from the corridor into existing neighborhoods, establishing new forest linkages from these communities to the sports elds and west to the river.

ENGINEERING SOILSGiven that most of the soils that will be utilized in this area may have some level of contamination and/or compaction, an essential aspect of the successful execution and long-term sustainability of the design will be the management of soil resources. This is true of the project at large: from sports elds to stormwater bio-treatment units to creation of new ecosystems, soil management and design is central to success.

All soil resources with each project area will be characterized and inventoried; this database will form one of the important overlays in decision-making during planning. As each phase is designed and moves into documentation, soils appropriate for each use-context will be chosen from the soils inventory within that phase or designed to be manufactured from available earth components. By using soil management principles developed from the Sustainable Sites Initiative, the project will stand as a national example for both economic and ecological stewardship.

SPORTY CIRCUITS


CIVIC-MINDED INFRASTRUCTURES

BRIDGES: ICONIC DESTINATIONSA family of bridges linking the rivers banks makes physical connections between districts; creates new icons along the long, linear site; and establishes new spaces for occupation and activity hovering over the river. The bridges are not only places to cross, they are destinations: stepped benches and sloped roofs become exible platforms for events and recreation, with the skyline in the distance. They provide moments of reprieve from winter cold, spaces to stretch out in summer warmth, and new gathering spots for July 4th. Water in its many forms is the focus: swimming pools, hot tubs, skating rinks, steam and sauna rooms. Importantly, this is a menu of possibilities: each bridge enriches the overall framework, but all are not required to ful ll its promise.

The Bridges are linked to one another via the Riverwalk and the parks, and they link commuters from Northeast Minneapolis to a proposed light rail corridor on the western edge of the site. Integrated photovoltaic panels and sh-safe turbines at each structural pier allow the bridges to function as zero-energy structures, providing energy for lighting and conditioning. Together, they create a more sustainable and integrated network of living, transit, and recreation.

NATURE CROSSINGCAMDEN BRIDGECANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY BRIDGESAUNA BRIDGEAIR-RIGHTS BRIDGE BUILDINGCURLING BRIDGEAIR-RIGHTS BRIDGE BUILDINGLOWRY BRIDGE (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)RIVERWALK CROSSINGSPORTS BRIDGE / BNSF RAILWAYRIVERWALK CROSSINGAIR-RIGHTS BRIDGE BUILDINGBROADWAY BRIDGEPLYMOUTH AVE. REPLACEMENT BRIDGEPLYMOUTH AVE. BRIDGEWELCOME CENTER BRIDGENICOLLET ISLAND RAILROAD BRIDGEHENNEPIN AVE. BRIDGETHIRD AVE. BRIDGEFALLS LOOP BRIDGE

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SPORTS BRIDGE

WELCOME CENTER BRIDGE

FALLS LOOP BRIDGEAt the sites southernmost edge, a rst bridge arcs across and around Saint Anthony Falls, providing an extraordinary, direct experience of the falls and the power of the Mississippi before making its way north along the entirety of the rivers edge. Passing beneath the lower and upper spillways and in and around the larger bridges which crisscross the site, the Loop Bridge links the central riverfront with the rivers northern reach; its wood-clad deck provides new vantage points, integrated seating, and a warming hut.

PROGRAM BRIDGESNew bridges north of the Falls incorporate a diversity of programs, each a nexus that both bridges the river and connects to the activity along its banks. Spanning from 4th Avenue at the northwest edge of downtown to Boom Island Park and Nicollet Island, the crossed form of the Welcome Center Bridge connects these precincts and creates a new front porch for Minneapolis; its multiple decks can house the Park Board and the National Park Service, welcoming visitors as they come from downtown into the park. A Sports Bridge inserted upriver on an existing rail bridge tapers to include an ice rink and a seating bowl which surrounds it, echoing the recreation located along this spine as it continues north. Curling and Sauna Bridges could be deployed further north, the latter to connect Saint Anthony Parkway and North 40th Avenue, and branching to connect to the Riverwalk north and south. Its sauna and steam rooms utilize waste heat from the adjacent power plant; at its eastern end, it widens into a series of terraces, framing the river below.

REPLACEMENT BRIDGESThe structural and programmatic logic which informs each of these bridges is expanded to a larger scale, addressing key replacement bridges over time, as conditions warrant. Beginning with the Plymouth Avenue Bridge, the nk truss that supports the program bridges is extended above and below the adjacent roadway, creating a light, economic structural solution that is also an extraordinary icon at this key junction between the central riverfront and the rivers northern reach.

I-94 CORRIDOR BRIDGE BUILDINGSCommunity-building development can span the I-94 corridor at Broadway, Lowry and Dowling, incorporating public program (community centers and small-scale retail), and connecting the riverfront, a new regional light rail corridor, and the neighborhoods of North Minneapolis.

PLYMOUTH AVE. REPLACEMENT BRIDGE

SAUNA BRIDGE

FALLS LOOP BRIDGE


NEW URBAN PROTOTYPES

INDUSTRIOUS PARKS

LIVE + WORK

The Industrious Parks Live+Work district has been conceived as a model mixed-use district, a revitalized and enhanced 21st century industrial district that is near the city center and rail and truck distribution networks. Rather than a single-use neighborhood, live/work loft housing is proposed on the upper stories above warehouse and industrial spaces (diagram at below left). The proposal is also predicated on an intensi cation of industrial and commercial uses to provide a better job base for the adjacent North Minneapolis neighborhood.

A new water and landscape infrastructure brands this blue-green district for downtown, in which rigorous sustainability standards and lush green infrastructure will support and attract companies that promise blue-collar job growth for the next generation. The introduction of new ngers of parkland and feeder swales will not only make the area perform better ecologically, but also will provide a foundation upon which the City can market the neighborhood to potential investors and attract start-up companies into live/work studios. Although some additional public investments will be needed, the proposed framework maximizes the potential for public realm and infrastructure implementation by the private sector, establishing new guidelines to govern property redevelopment without burdens to development pro formas.

Along its east edge, working freight yards may double as public plazas when not in use, linked along the existing rail spur to the River Park to the north, and to the Sporty Circuits to the northeast. This corridor accommodates a streetcar line, for special events or should densities further north warrant.

NEW CATALYSTS FOR URBAN LIVINGReal estate development is not merely a vehicle for the funding of parkland. Instead, our proposal includes clearly de ned and differentiated new neighborhoods that spawn new ways of living in the city and along the river. Rather than mimic other successful local neighborhoods such as the Mill District or propose generic mid-rise residential development, each of our proposed new neighborhoods is seen as an excitingand marketablealternative to existing development patterns and lifestyle choices, in Minneapolis and across North American.

Importantly, the plan does not require the removal of active industrial usesbut it does anticipate ownership and use change-overs that could come. It also acknowledges that both park construction and the implementation of new urban districts will facilitate the eventual and inevitable redevelopment of areas along West River Road as mixed-use riverfront extentions to downtown.

INHABITING THE RIVER IN NEW WAYS The Mississippi and its new park Strands are the impetus here. A new and comprehensive landscape infrastructure for the City will catalyze unprecedented kinds of urban neighborhoods along and within the networkneighborhoods that will be as distinctive and unique as existing areas of the City. Our proposal imagines three such neighborhoods, each projecting a speci c lifestyle and mix of uses. Importantly, each of these neighborhoods both leverages and provokes speci c landscape responses that are local to the cultural history, hydrology, and ecology of the diverse sites.

MEDIA TOWERS

SOLAR ENERGY &STORMWATERMANAGEMENT

LIVE / WORK UNITS

20,000 SF X 3 FLOORS = 60,000 SF60,000 SF / 1,500 SF = 40 UNITS20 X 1.5 = 30 JOBS20 X 1.5 = 30 RESIDENTS

LIGHT INDUSTRIAL /RETAIL

50,000 SF / 2,000 SF/P = 25 JOBS

10,000 SF / 1,000 SF/P = 10 JOBS

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GREENHOUSE DISTRICT

GARDEN OVERLOOKS

CITY ISLANDS

RIVER ORCHARDS

The Greenhouse District re-imagines underutilized parcels on the East Bank of the river as sites for public gardens, focused on public greenhouses that also contain associated community amenities. This neighborhood is seen as a natural complement and extension of the existing community of Northeast Minneapolis. The landscape and greenhouses take advantage of west- and south-facing orientation and a slight rise in the grade of the riverbank to create the ideal conditions for four-season community use.

Multi-purpose pavilionsgreenhouses, schools, community gardens, recreation centers, and exhibition hallswill be perched along the riverfront, providing programmatic connections between this burgeoning community and the new riverfront, amenities that will engender economic development upland that is unique to the existing community. Implementation of these new destination pavilions and amenities will rely on limited public capital investments and sustainable operating structures spearheaded by promising pavilion users. Although it is too early to determine particular programs for particular pavilionsthey must correspond to a more rigorous study of community needs and likely implementation partners and long-term stewardsthere are several nancial models for these pavilions that can prove scally prudent.

The City Islands are envisioned as a natural extension of the lifestyle and character of Nicollet Island: city living, in a park, on an island, in the river. Rowhouses and townhouses are scattered among working orchards and gardens, which are tended by the island community but are accessible to everyone. These edible landscapes offer an affordable food source and an opportunity for citizens and school-children to engage in a working, learning landscape. A landscape spine structures the new neighborhoods, and with small pedestrian bridges and walkways, establish clearly public routes across the new and reconstituted islands.

The scale of orchard and marina housing to the south re ects the scale of the nearby Boom Island Park neighborhood. Buildings grow in size and shift orientation to the north, away from established neighborhoods and in response to the rivers bend. The largest buildings within this zone branch apart in section, allowing views over and under into the surrounding parkscape. All are set above the 100-year oodplain.

This world-class urban park and variety of housing typologies, governed by strict guidelines that mandate sustainability requirements and design quality, will help bring new people to Minneapolis. It will not just accommodate projected growth, but also will become a driver of that growth. Capital and operating funds for parkland development could easily come from master developers, an estates management model under which long-term leaseholds or property disposition provide the funds to support the public realm.

greenhousedistrict

cityislands

industrious park


FIRST STEPS

STAGE 0CLAIM THE RIVERReclaiming the river as public space can happen immediately and with minimal investment. FlowIntersect captures public interest and imagination, while the reclaimed barges and boats offer new recreational opportunities in the short-term.

Beyond this, three areas of strategic importance are identi ed for priority implementation. Together they offer a mix of sustainable landscape strategies, locations / politics (east-west-central), and cost-revenue models.

STAGE 1A BUILD FIRST BOTANIC OVERLOOKThis dramatic addition to the park system establishes a new benchmark in sustainability and civic experience. Alternate sites on either side of the power plant are noted: the southern is MPRB-owned, while the northern is Xcel-owned (a potential land-swap acquisition with parkland to the east).

STAGE 1BSEED + STAGE PART OF RIVER PARKA toehold on the west side could also begin immediately, on the city-owned dredge pile site, but known contaminants would take time to be addressed. Nevertheless, rst stage remediation and planting of a phyto- eld would initiate a process of transformation; stormwater channels and scaffolding for the rst river islands could follow.

STAGE 1CPREP CITY ISLANDS (APPLES + $$) Initial work down south could begin to transform Boom Island Park and the lumber yard site (now MPRB-owned) through excavation of channels, reinforcement of shorelines, and island construction. Early orchards and neighborhood development could be established thereafter via public-private partnerships.

OR

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INVESTMENTS

First Steps*

CLAIM THE RIVER

Unit Price Quantity Cost Range

PUBLICINVESTMENT

PRIVATEINVESTMENT

FlowIntersect Temporary (4 week light rental + installation) $30,000/light 30 lights $900,000

Permanent (lights + foundations + construction) $176,000/light 20 - 30 lights $2.7 mil - $4.1 mil

$2.0 mil/barge 1 barge $2.0 milAmphitheater Barge - Barge Retrot (assumes donated barge)

$1.3 mil/barge 1 barge $1.3 milSwimming Barge - Barge Retrot (assumes donated barge)

$200,000/dock 1-2 docks $200,000 - $400,000Barge Access Docks

$18-25,000/boat 30-50 $540,000 - $1.3 milLight-Boats (custom boats)

$250-350 mil $37 mil minimum

$45 mil $442 mil

$230-445 mil $90-120 mil

$18 mil $83 mil

up to $458 mil $370 mil minimum

$5.5 mil TBD

$28.2 mil $0

$31.5 mil $0

1 island $670,000Construct rst river island

13 acres $2.6 milSite prep + initial planting

$14.5 milFIRST BOTANIC OVERLOOK (9 acre southern site - landscaping + pools + utilities)

$3.3 milRIVER PARK SEED + STAGE

$34.8 milprivate investment % TBD

PREP CITY ISLANDS (excavate channels, reinforce new islands, initial island landscaping; 50 acres)

Total Project Costs (include rst steps where applicable)**

RIVER PARK: testing, working elds (phytoremediation), stormwater polishing channels, new shoreline reinforcement groin construction for all new emergent river islands, park landscape, industrial cultural complex (retrotted domes, new domes)

CITY ISLANDS: private/public collaboration, excavation and reinforcement of river islands, river orchards, civic park landscape, low, mid and dense developments.

BOTANIC OVERLOOKS: greenhouse district buildings, botanic garden renovation including hot tub, pool, and wetlands, neighborhood stormwater infrastructure, district waste heat system and solar water heater back-up; private residential development, parking

INDUSTRIOUS PARKS: stormwater inltration streetscape, live/work typologies, circuit plazas

BRIDGES: falls loop bridge, oating riverwalk, land riverwalk, welcome center bridge, plymouth ave replacement bridge, air-rights bridge Broadway, riverwalk crossing 1, riverwalk crossing 2, sports bridge /BNSF railway, air-rights bridge Lowry, curling bride, air-rights bridge Dowling, sauna bridge, nature crossing Weber

TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE: Street car line running on the existing rail line, 5 stops at plaza stations along the length of the western site. Coincidental bikeways and transitscape in the right-of-way

ENERGY FOREST: forest landscape, vibrowind turbines

SPORTY CIRCUITS: sport elds, park landscape, streetscape forests

* estimated construction costs** estimated construction costs + soft costs

all costs are preliminary; investments to be made over 20-50 years


ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTThe proposal is founded upon the fact that high quality public realm design, high performance sustainability infrastructure, and market-appropriate land uses create new economic development opportunities opportunities that will fuel the next generation of downtown growth in Minneapolis and allow the City to enhance its ability to attract a greater share of jobs and residents in the decades to come. The economic development infrastructure of our proposal is organized around catalytic and pragmatic visions for three distinctive neighborhoods lining the northern Mississippi Riverfront, each with its own economic purpose, corresponding design strategy, and resource-ef cient implementation structure.

Some of the methods and tools that will be utilized work as private and public partnerships, like the City Islands. The plan for this area makes it possible to secure master developers for the island. Depending on the timing of market recovery and the potential for public investments, several strategies could be implemented to realize this vision, including requiring capital and operating funds for parkland development to come from master developers. Likewise the initial investment in areas like the Industrious Park will bring people and attention to this new growth district. Although some additional public investments will be needed, the proposed framework maximizes the potential for public realm and infrastructure implementation by the private sector.

BUILDING MOMENTUMIn addition to these next generation visions for land use and development, we propose a low-cost investment strategy that will ensure this plan is actionable and catalytic in the short term: we will leverage local resources and international best practices to program the riverfront and the river itself with high quality art, cultural programming, and community events that attract attention to the effort immediately and maintain it through the decades-long process required for successful implementation. FlowIntersect will be commissioned. Boats will be launched. Art shows will be produced. Volunteer events will coordinated. Concerts and performances will be initiated. All of these programming opportunities, some produced by neighborhood community-based organizations, others by the philanthropic community, others by the Parks Board, will be geared towards bringing people to the riverfront and establishing a national brand for the North Riverfront district as a whole, attracting new media attention as well as interest from new employers and residents.

NEW TYPES OF ACCESSThe creation of the new neighborhoods, public parks and amenities represents a unique opportunity to integrate streetcar lines into the new riverfront community, providing a catalyst for sustainable transit-oriented development in live-work neighborhoods that are within an easy ride of downtown. Potentially, two branches can easily connect with the planned West Broadway streetcar, providing a quick downtown connection along North Washington Avenue. Their unique alignments allow each to provide high-frequency transit only steps away from the entire district.

These new modes of transport create the opportunity to bring transit access and measured amounts of transit-oriented in ll development to an existing residential neighborhood, helping to provide new transportation options, accommodate additional residents without impacting local traf c, and support new local retail with no need for extra street or parking capacity. By introducing the streetcar early in the redevelopment cycle of this western riverbank, an entire community can evolve successfully and sustainably in a place that traditional paradigms would call inaccessible and isolated due to the lack of direct I-94 access and the barrier of the river itself. Instead, this neighborhood can serve as the heart of the combined sustainable transportation district that can communicate quickly and easily with downtown and its surrounding neighborhoods without the use of the car.

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATIONBeyond physical interventions, the sustainable transportation district would incorporate the latest thinking in the ownership and operation of properties along each riverbank. This separation of parking cost from property cost would essentially unbundle the auto-oriented culture from productive living or work space helping to reward those who choose not to own a car with lower property lease and ownership costs, while motivating those who choose to lease or purchase parking to maximize the return on their investment by sharing its cost and minimizing the overall supply of parking. Sustainable transportation will also facilitate the creation of neighborhood alternative transportation collaborative that operates like a transportation management association, offering transit passes, guaranteed rides home, ride-sharing services, car-sharing, and information about biking and walking networks.

IMPLEMENTATION

21STREAMLINES

BRANDING

MANY STRANDS, ONE IDENTITYThe graphic identity for the project is based around a set of lines, a set of strands that come together. Theyre multicolored, and theyre in different weights, but together they form a kind of diverse whole, something that both weaves around the river and envelops it, and looks towards the future.

One of the key points of this graphic identity is also that its not a static thing; it is always in motion. Like the river itself, the graphic identity isnt simply a xed markit is something that can move and evolve over time. It can be animated, and it can take a number of forms. This identity can be used on everything from a bus to a sign to a t-shirt or a scarf. It works at all scales, is immediately recognizable, and carries forward the optimistic energy of this proposal.

INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE, LOCAL LINEAGEIn thinking about this identity we also wanted to acknowledge the history of Minneapolis. The primary display typeface is called Bryant Condensed and was designed by Eric Olson, a Minneapolis-based type designer. It is a rounded, monoline sans-serif typeface derived from early industrial lettering kits. As such, it has a connection to history, a contemporary and open feel, as well as a direct connection to the Twin Cities.

The primary font is complemented by a secondary typeface, which you are reading now: Mercury, a beautifully re ned contemporary serif typeface by Hoe er & Frere-Jones type foundry. It is used for subtitles and general text on brochures and in reports like this.


GROWING THE STRANDSOVER TIME AND ACROSS THE CITY

STREAMLINES IS STRONG + DISTINCT, YET FLEXIBLE.Parks accumulate over time, as sites and resources materialize.

STREAMLINES IS GENERATIVE.It prepares the ground, catalyzes development, and re-imagines city- and river-life.

STREAMLINES IS TRANSFORMATIONAL.We want people to make connections to the river when they least expect to.

STREAMLINES IS ROOTED......in the pragmatism and science of ood control, of ecology, of environmental remediation, of stormwater cleansing, and of sound economic development principles.

Importantly, its a strategy that stakes new claims to the river, that seeds new growth, and that broadens the rivers reach. It draws on the energy of the Mississippi, in order to re-energize Minneapolis; it extends the experiences and qualities of being at the river throughout the neighborhoods north of the falls.

And its an energy that can eventually ow downstream, too, carrying rich sediments and working ecologies along Minneapoliss entire Mississippi corridor.

A RIVER, A PARK, & A CITY, INEXTRICABLY INTERTWINED: ENVIRONMENTAL DYNAMICS, HEARTY WORK, AND RICH SOCIAL LIVES TOGETHER WEAVING MULTIPLE THREADS FOR A NEW GENERATION, JUST AS THE MISSISSIPPI HAS WOVEN FOR CENTURIES.

YR 0

YR 25

YR 20

YR 15

YR 10

YR 5

23STREAMLINES

GRAND ROUNDS(EXISTING)

MISSISSIPPI STRANDS(EXTENDED)

THE NEXT GENERATIONOF PARKS

+ =


Xcel Energy, Energy Constituent Group

The Mississippi River from the Stone Arch Bridge, 2005, photographer unknown (http://www. ickr.com/photos/popabigballs/4217503511/sizes/l/)

Hennepin Avenue Bridge at night, 2007, photographer unknown (http://www.panoramio.com/photo/5777761)

Reconstructing St. Anthony Falls, by Peter Gui Clausen, 1869. Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society

St. Anthony Falls, by Henry Lewis, 1848-1849. From First Came the River National Park Service Minnesota National River and Recreation Area Brochure

Hennepin Bridge, 2010. Courtesy of Applied Ecological Services

Falls of St Anthony, High Water, photograph by Benjamin Frankiln Upton, 1818. Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society

Looking up West bank of Mississippi River when sawmills and lumber piles abounded, 1890, photographer unknown. Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society

Mississippi Logging Industry, photographer unknown. Courtesy of Min-nesota Historical Society

TEAM + CREDITS

STOSS LANDSCAPE URBANISMLANDSCAPE + URBANISM

MICHAEL MALTZAN ARCHITECTUREARCHITECTURE + INFRASTRUCTURE

UTILE, INC.URBAN DESIGN

RAFAEL LOZANO-HEMMER, ANTIMODULAR INC.INTERACTIVE PUBLIC ART

CLOSE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE +ASSOCIATE LANDSCAPE + PLANNING

APPLIED ECOLOGICAL SERVICESECOLOGY + NATURAL RESOURCES

BURO HAPPOLDSUSTAINABILITY + INFRASTRUCTURE

HR & A ADVISORS, INC.ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

PLANDFORM LTDECOLOGY + ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING

PROJECT PROJECTSIDENTITY + ENVIRONMENTAL GRAPHICS

MOFFAT NICHOLWATERFRONT + HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING

NELSON\NYGAARDTRANSPORTATION PLANNING

DAVIS LANGDONCOST ESTIMATION

PINE & SWALLOWSOIL SCIENCE

JIM TITTLE, NICE PICTURESVIDEOGRAPHY

ERIC SILVAAUDIO

Documents

Stoss Proposal