On Thursday, the city of St. Paul said goodbye to Rice Park as thousands of St. Paul residents and visitors have come to know it.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter joined members of the Rice Park Association, the St. Paul Garden Club and the St. Paul Parks Conservancy to kick off a major revitalization project. Construction of new walkways, ambient lighting, expanded gardens and better connections to surrounding buildings will close the 1.6-acre park through the summer and into the late fall.
Even the park’s smell is expected to improve. The city has already removed 27 of the park’s 53 trees, though 13 are being replanted with better spacing between them. Among the goners is a group of fruiting ginkgo trees that drop a smelly fruit unappreciated by most passers-by.
To fund the renovation, the city announced last year it had raised $1.35 million in private philanthropy through the association, club and conservancy, which the city will match with $1 million in parks funding.
Donated to the city by Minnesota pioneer Henry Mower Rice in 1849, the downtown park was once a popular place for hanging laundry and grazing animals. It has evolved to become an anchor of downtown and the annual Winter Carnival celebration. Even diehard fans have said it’s overdue for a face-lift, however, and have pointed to safety concerns at night.
Copyright 2018 Pioneer Press.