The story of the Stinson Parkway Conservancy is one of beauty – elegant flowering trees, carefully tended gardens of azaleas, daffodils and roses, and committed neighbors. The neighbors share not only the love of beauty but the vision to imagine a reborn Parkway, the artistic sense to plan just the right colors and layouts to fit the space, the persistence to persevere against all odds, and the strength to haul hundreds of gallons of water to the arid median whose access to the pipes that once carried water to the median strip have fallen to rust and ultimate cut-off.
The Stinson Parkway Conservancy is a charitable organization and has filed with the State of Minnesota and the IRS. To date the annual receipts of the Conservancy do not meet the minimum threshold set to require 501(c) (3) nonprofit status. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent of the law.
The Stinson Parkway Conservancy has adopted by-laws and selected a board of community members headed by Lois Kelly, a long-time Windom Park resident and community activist. It was Lois who took action when she and others saw a need to create a Stinson Parkway deserving of its prestigious standing as part of the National Scenic Byway of the City’s Grand Rounds system. The political and financial history of Stinson Parkway is a story for another day; the fact is it has suffered from neglect over the years.
Stinson Parkway is that .7 mile stretch of the Grand Rounds that connects St. Anthony Parkway with a unfulfilled vision, a section of the 50 mile Grand Rounds system that has yet to be. The South end of Stinson Parkway, at the crossroads with New Brighton Boulevard, offers a gracious welcome to a quiet residential community that includes the Windom Park and Audubon Park neighborhoods. That same gateway swings out of the neighborhood into the industrial strip of Stinson that once housed some of the City’s largest industrial giants, including Honeywell Aerospace in the more recent past.
Stinson Parkway, and all of the Grand Rounds system, is under the purview of Minneapolis Park and Recreation which has long planted and maintained the brilliantly colored flowering trees that line the Parkway. Conservancy volunteers complement the trees with flowers and shrubs often contributed by local business and other organizations. Just this month the last of the flowering beds, including renovation of the gateway garden, were completed.
The Stinson Parkway Conservancy welcomes visitors to the gardens and is happy to share information with to who may be interested in the project to maintain and enhance the Parkway and the Northeast neighborhood it serves. Contact stinsonconserv@gmail.com, find the Conservancy on the web at http://www.parkwayconservancy.org or call 612 781 9936. Contributions to the Conservancy should be directed to Stinson Parkway Conservancy, c/o 2243 Roosevelt Street Northeast, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55418.
Most important, find time to explore Stinson Parkway and all of the magnificent parkways that shape and enhance Minneapolis as the renowned Grand Rounds, one of the nation’s premiere Scenic Byways.
D.Erickson photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviderickson/2973212488/
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