News from around Kenwood

KIAA e-Newsletter:

Download our latest e-newsletter

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Crime and Safety Update:

Beginning October 14, Crime and Safety meetings will be held the 2nd
Thursday of each month from 6:30 to 7:30 PM in the Upstairs Conference
Room at Lund’s grocery store, 1450 W Lake Street. These meetings will be
geared toward residents living in East Isles, Lowry Hill, Kenwood, and
Cedar-Isles-Dean neighborhoods. The Minneapolis Police Department 5th
Precinct Crime Prevention Specialist and Crime and Safety Committee Chairs
from the East Isles and Kenwood neighborhoods are sponsoring these
informational sessions.

For more information and/or to be added to a Crime and Safety mailing
list, please email: lakes.area.safety@gmail.com

Jordan Hart,
KIAA Crime and Safety Committee Chair

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Update on KEIP:

The Kenwood (School) Environmental Improvement Project (KEIP) was
conceived to address several problems at the area along the south end of
the Kenwood School playground. Phase 1 was completed in September 2009
by project contractor Tree Trust. Phase 2 was developed in spring 2010 to
extend the aluminum wrought-iron style fence installed in Phase 1 around
the complete perimeter of the Kenwood School playground, to reclaim green
space on the south side of Kenwood School for a student garden, and to
build a second brick pillar at the northwest corner of the fenced
playground area with space for 200 additional engraved donor bricks.

The old chain-link playground fence has been replaced by Midwest Fence.

A garden managed by the Kenwood School “Green Team” for use by students
and teachers is ready for planting. Tree Trust removed the existing
chain-link fence, asphalt and concrete wall along the south side of
Kenwood School. A retaining wall along the back edge of the garden will
serve as a bench for students during “garden instruction” time. Two
free-standing walls with limestone caps were built along the sides to
match the retaining wall in Phase 1. A flagstone walking path snakes
through the garden to ensure all plants are kept safe from foot traffic.
Two apple trees frame the garden.

The new second brick column matching the first has been built. 187
engraved bricks were sold at $150 each to help fund the Phase 2 project.

Two neighborhood associations also donated NRP funds to the project - KIAA
with $2,000 and CIDNA with $5,000. The Kenwood School PTA agreed to donate
up to $2,000. Finally, individuals around the neighborhood donated
additional dollars for the student garden. The total project cost came in
just under $40,000.

Thanks to all who participated!

Kristi Pearson,
Lowry Hill resident, KEIP Coordinator

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Lake of the Isles Park Restoration Update:

During spring and summer 2010, the Park Board has moved closer to
completing the park renovation project. A few new trees have been planted
and young tree survival has been outstanding, thanks in part to the tree
“gators” (drip-watering bags) initially suggested by KIAA and financed
with our NRP funds. New mulch was added around all young trees this
summer.

A 4-neighborhood project review team has identified on-going challenges in
the project, including: how to deal with too-tall shoreline bushes; stony
soil, uneven surfaces and weed growth in restored turf areas; ongoing
maintenance plans for shrub beds; bench placements; south shoreline
vegetation; and the increasingly overgrown, buckthorn-infested areas
between the bike and walking paths at the south and southeast edges of the
park. The review group hopes to meet with MPRB staff this fall to discuss
issues and to help figure out ways to resolve them.

Pat Scott, KIAA Vice Chair

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Southwest LRT Update:

Planning for the proposed Southwest LRT (SWLRT) continues to move forward.
Recent activities have focused on station area planning. Neighborhood
stations are proposed at 21st Street and near Penn Ave. Hennepin County
awarded a $300,000 contract to AECOM consulting group in May, and
requested that neighborhoods appoint representatives to a "Community
Members Working Group." KIAA members who have attended these meetings
include Roy Williams, Kathy Williams, Larry Moran, Eric Sjoding, Pat
Scott, Eric Lind, and me. Many issues related to station development are
still outstanding including questions of noise, traffic, public safety,
and visual impacts.

Kenwood neighbors participated in open houses to review station area plans
in July and September. The next open houses will be held in November;
watch your KIAA e-newsletter for dates, times and locations.

On another front, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) will
begin to assess the impact of a SWLRT on parks and trails. The proposed
LRT is adjacent to, or intersects, areas of parkland in and around Cedar
Lake, Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun, Bryn Mawr Meadows and Park Siding.
The MPRB plans to convene a Citizen Advisory Committee to help develop
recommendations. Though no dates have been set, I will represent KIAA when
these meetings begin in September.

For more information on the proposed SWLRT, go to www.southwesttransitway.org

Jeanette Colby,
KIAA LRT Committee Chair

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NRP Update:

In May, KIAA was informed that we would receive an unexpected increase in
our Phase 2 NRP funding. 70% of NRP Phase 2 funds must be directed to
housing-related uses; in 2007, we had allocated ¾ ($45K) of our earlier
housing funding to support the transitional housing building project of
The Bridge for Youth, located at Emerson Ave S and W 22nd St in the East
Isles neighborhood. The remaining ¼ ($15K) was allocated to the Clare
Apartments, a housing development in NE Mpls for previously homeless
people living with HIV/AIDS.

Following discussion and consideration, the KIAA Board decided in July to
allocate the unexpected, new $10K in housing funds to the Bridge for
Youth, for its supportive transitional housing and scattered-site housing
for youth. Our Board wished to put the money to work quickly, and believes
it is wise to follow our earlier capital funding with support for the
programming that The Bridge provides to homeless young people in Mpls.

In June, the KIAA Board allocated $2K of our Neighborhood Livability funds
to support Phase 2 of the Kenwood (School) Environmental Improvement
Project (KEIP). Our funds this year will help with the new garden area
being created next to the school, east of last year’s improvements.

At this point, our neighborhood has about $6K in unallocated Neighborhood
Livability funds. Our Phase 2 NRP Action Plan is almost completed.

So what’s next? We don’t know yet, as uncertainty abounds in the new
city-run community engagement approach being constructed. Draft
guidelines have recently been released, so we will attempt to evaluate and
comment on those to see where, if at all, our neighborhood organization
fits in.

Pat Scott, KIAA Vice Chair & NRP Committee Chair

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Kenwood Park Playground Improvements Coming Soon!

In April 2010, the KIAA Board allocated $12K of our remaining neighborhood
livability NRP funds to improve the very popular Kenwood Park young kids'
play area. Although concerns about the condition of some play equipment in
the park have surfaced in the past year, this playground is not scheduled
for a Park Board-funded “makeover” for many years.

These modest improvements will include:
1. Replacing worn out parts of the train and the toddlers’ “adventure house.”
2. Digging out the old dirty sand and replacing it with clean sand around
and under the newer big kids' climber and the big kids' cable zip line;
and in the little kids' sandbox play area that will be separated by a curb
from the rest of the play area.
3. Removing all sand in the rest of the younger kids' play area and
replacing it with high quality wood fiber material under the swings, under
and around the train and adventure house, under and around the tall metal
slide and the traditional "pipe"-style jungle-gym climber.

The NRP contracts were completed in early summer and the Park Board will
oversee the project this fall when all the replacement parts are
delivered.

Pat Scott, KIAA NRP Committee Chair

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New to the Neighborhood?
Or know someone who’s new? Kenwood Welcome Kits are now available. These
helpful kits contain important information about the neighborhood, its
history, activities, and resources. Contact Kathy Williams at 612 377-6146
or kathyroyw@gmail.com.

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WESAC SOCCER:

The WESAC Soccer program had a near record turn out for the summer
session. The response from parent volunteers was equally as impressive.
The number of coaches and assistant coaches set a new record.

For the fall session, we anticipate over 350 kids (ages 3-8) flooding
Kenwood Park with brightly colored uniforms spread out over 10 different
fields.

WESAC Soccer continues to thrive as one of Minneapolis’ largest programs
with enthusiastic volunteers and energetic kids having fun in our parks.
For more information regarding the season including dates, fees, and
registration, please visit www.wesac.org.

Charlie Smith,
WESAC Soccer Director