This year, two treasures, rather than one, were discovered during the ‘Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt for the Medallion’ in conjunction with the Saint Paul Winter Carnival.
Treasure #1 was a medallion frozen in a big chunk of ice and uncovered in Lilydale Regional Park by seasoned treasure hunters Jake Ingebrigtson and Rob Brass. This award, thanks to the fact that Jake and Rob purchased Winter Carnival buttons, and thanks to support from Fury Motors, was a whopping $10,000.
Treasure #2 was the discovery, or re-discovery, of Lilydale Regional Park by hundreds of medallion hunters. Like the treasured medallion, this 400 acre, two-and-a-half-mile long natural parkland within easy walking distance of downtown St. Paul surely qualifies as a buried treasure. Lilydale Regional Park has suffered for many years beneath the rubble of past use and abandonment.
But all this is about to change.
The Saint Paul Parks Conservancy has chosen the enhancement of Lilydale Regional Park as its first major project. Formed over the past two years, the Conservancy was the brainchild of then Parks and Recreation Director Bob Bierscheid and Mayor Chris Coleman. With early support from the McKnight Foundation, the Conservancy’s board of directors — led by Priscilla Brewster — and enthusiastic support from new Parks and Recreation Director Mike Hahm, the Conservancy is becoming a potent force for improving parks and recreation activities throughout St. Paul, starting with Lilydale.
Today the Conservancy, in concert with St. Paul Parks and Recreation, Friends of Lilydale Park, and many other public and non-profit collaborators, is about to tackle the task of removing the tarnish on Lilydale Regional Park’s otherwise verdant natural environment. Recent Parks and Rec efforts have resulted in shoreline improvements to Pickerel Lake, and major public funding has also been secured to remove invasive species throughout the park, beginning this spring.
During 2010, funds raised by the Conservancy will create a dramatic entrance to Lilydale Regional Park: a stone and brick gateway entry from Harriet Island and extending into the park via a road split by a native wildflower-adorned median. Subsequent improvements will include a stone-lined creek along the roadside to capture runoff from the surrounding bluffs and the creation of three resting spots along Water Street that offer dramatic views of the Mississippi River. Due to generous funding from the Huss Foundation, the Scrooby Foundation, the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation, Betty Wold Johnson and many others, in just eight months the Conservancy has raised over half of the $531,000 needed for these improvements. The Conservancy hopes that continued support will raise the remainder of the funding in 2010. The treasure hunt continues.
While the overall Lilydale enhancement effort will be a multi-year, multi-partner, multi-million dollar adventure, the work has begun. Ultimately this most important physical feature along the Mississippi River corridor will prove an appealing venue for expanded recreational and environmental development. The park has tremendous potential as an inviting place for those who enjoy fishing, hiking, biking, camping, skiing, or just escaping the bustle of city life and enjoying natural beauty close to home.
The Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt was a fun component of the Winter Carnival this year. As good fortune would have it, planting the Winter Carnival treasure in Lilydale Regional Park helps signal a new beginning for this parkland and for the Conservancy’s role as a catalyst for critical park and recreation initiatives throughout St. Paul.
Jim Olsen works with Saint Paul Parks Conservancy. More about its plans and progress, and how to support the Lilydale park project and other programs, is on the web at www.saintpaulparksconservancy.com.
Copyright 2010 Pioneer Press.