Whose view? From where? May 2011
Congratulations to the three astute readers who correctly identified the site featured in last month's view.
Mary Thompson noted a personal connection to the area:
"The May picture is the intersection of Concord and Wabasha Streets in St. Paul's West Side neighborhood. This is significant for me because I grew up in the three-story apartment building partially visible in the background. As a child I would walk across the Wabasha Street Bridge over the Mississippi River to explore the stores downtown. I would stop to gaze down at the murky water, imagining huge fish swimming below. I always wished I had a boat with an underwater camera so that I could see just what was down there. I also remember going with my family to the caves on the south bank of the river to buy mushrooms grown in the cool, moist cliffs."
David Inman wrote: "It's Bread, Coffee, and Cake, which was seriously damaged (and permanently closed) when a 20-foot boulder from the bluffs above South Wabasha Street crashed into it in the early morning hours of April 8th."
Eric Otterness wrote: "This is the Artisan Bakery at 385 South Wabasha Street in St. Paul. It was closed by a rockslide from the bluff above. It looks like they are tearing down the building."
All very correct.
From FMR's perspective, there are two things that make this property notable. First, though it is several blocks from the river, it is within the Mississippi River Critical Area the area to which river rules apply as it is part of the enormous bluff-lined "bowl" around which downtown St. Paul formed.
Second, it shows why regulations that not only require setbacks from bluff tops are important, but also why setbacks from the bluff bottom, or toe, are important. St. Paul's draft ordinance is one of the only municipalities requiring a setback from the bluff toe. The building pictured here was not set back more than a few feet from the bluff, and the consequences were quite severe. We hope the new Critical Area rules being developed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will more uniformly protect structures at the bluff toe from another unfortunate accident like this.
About Whose view? From where?
Each month in this section, we feature a photo somewhere along the river corridor in the Twin Cities that is in some way significant or important or just plain scenic. Individuals may then e-mail us and identify the view and explain why they believe it is significant to the community or important to them personally. Well publish some of your responses in the next issue of Mississippi Messages, where we will also reveal the correct answer.
To submit your guess and response, e-mail Bob Spaulding, River Advocate, through our contact form. The respondent to provide the first correct identification of the view and hopefully some interesting thoughts about its significance will receive a valuable prize for their effort. All entries must be received by the first day of the following month for consideration.