NRP Success Stories - Ward 8 - Some of the Success Stories from Ward 8

• Housing Programs – Bancroft invested more than 64% of its $2 million NRP allocation in a home improvement loan and grant program, a first-time homebuyer program, and a troublesome vacancies housing program.  Together, these three programs directly benefited 13 percent of Bancroft’s 1,415 households. • Phelps Park Community Center – Residents in the Bancroft, Powderhorn Park and Bryant neighborhoods worked together to create and invest in a joint-use facility shared by the Boys and Girls Club of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. The neighborhoods funded construction of the new gymnasium and computer center with the Boys and Girls Club.  Both the Boys and Girls Club and the Park Board provide staff and programming at the facility.  Bancroft's NRP investment in the park renovation and crosswalk improvements for safe crossing on Chicago and Park Avenues (1995-96) was $220,000.   • Bancroft School Improvements – Bancroft neighborhood residents invested NRP funds in improvements to the property surrounding Bancroft School including the construction of a new playground, new benches, the planting of shade trees and the creation of an environmental learning area.  The Bancroft NRP investment in these public infrastructure improvements was $133,000.

 

• Meridian Gardens – Residents invested a small amount of their NRP funds in the creation of an important community garden and gathering site.  Meridian Gardens is a former polluted and blighted property that was acquired with an NRP investment of $31,000.  Neighborhood volunteers spent hundreds of hours clearing, cleaning, planning and developing a beautiful garden that is now a neighborhood landmark.

• Hosmer Library – Residents living in five Minneapolis neighborhoods (Bryant, Central, Kingfield, Lyndale, and Powderhorn Park) invested $440,000 of their NRP funds in the renovation and restoration of the Hosmer library. The major facility improvements at the rejuvenated 90-year old library included a computer lab and tech center, and community meeting room. Library patronage at Hosmer increased 100 percent over each of the first four years after the renovation was completed in 1997.

• Artists on Chicago – Residents living in the Powderhorn Park and Central neighborhoods invested $450,000 of their NRP funds in this 10-unit scattered site home-ownership housing project designed for artists. All of the studio spaces, which are on the street side of the complexes, have patio doors that open to the street, thus creating a storefront appearance. By design, artists living and working in the units help promote community safety by acting as extra eyes on the street. Three of the housing units were sold to homeowners at or below 50 percent of the area's median income, three units to buyers below 60 percent of median income and two units to buyers below 80 percent of median income. The last two adjoining units are a rental/owner-occupied duplex.• Hosmer Library – Residents living in five Minneapolis neighborhoods (Bryant, Central, Kingfield, Lyndale, and Powderhorn Park) invested $440,000 of their NRP funds in the renovation and restoration of the Hosmer library. The major facility improvements at the rejuvenated 90-year old library included a computer lab and tech center, and community meeting room. Library patronage at Hosmer increased 100 percent over each of the first four years after the renovation was completed in 1997.

• Housing Programs – The Field Regina Northrop Neighborhood Group invested 60 percent of its NRP funds in housing. The neighborhood has made over $1 million of its NRP funds available to residents for home improvements. 

• Town Oaks Water Reconstruction Project – The Field Regina Northrop Neighborhood Group helped residents of this major housing complex address a structural problem that threatened their homes. Using NRP funds, residents worked with the Public Works Department and the Town Oaks Association to reconstruct the water system for this housing project.

• Nicollet Avenue Streetscape (40th to 46th Street South) –The neighborhood provided $222,796 in NRP funds to the Nicollet Avenue repaving project to add pedestrian scale lighting along Nicollet and wrap the lighting around the corners at intersections.  NRP funds covered approximately 78% of the lighting costs.  Neighborhood investment in the repaving project also coved new trees and sidewalk improvements.

• 40th Street Greenway – The neighborhood invested $290,000 of its NRP funds to plan and begin construction of a bike and pedestrian friendly greenway along 40th Street that would connect Lake Harriet and the Mississippi River.  The project is a collaboration between Kingfield and the neighborhoods along the rest of the greenway route.

• Business Façade Improvement Program – KFNA designated $331,053 in NRP funds for business façade improvements and provided additional NRP funds ($30,132) for large, building exterior murals. Kingfield has several business nodes and unique businesses, which the neighborhood wanted to promote as a destination for shopping, coffee and dining. The façade improvement matching grant program was established to revitalize neighborhood businesses.  The murals discourage graffiti, promote the Kingfield business nodes as unique destinations, celebrate the City’s diversity, and create a visual sense of place for the neighborhood.

• MLK Park – Kingfield invested $152,016 in NRP funds (2002) to rehabilitate the park building and to make the multi-purpose room suitable for meeting space with improved acoustics and ventilation.  When the Kingfield Neighborhood Association (KFNA) began holding its board meetings at the Martin Luther King Park Community Center, they discovered that the multi-purpose room was not designed for meetings.  The cement block walls made for poor acoustics and the room became much too warm when larger groups were meeting.

• Hosmer Library – Residents living in five Minneapolis neighborhoods (Bryant, Central, Kingfield, Lyndale, and Powderhorn Park) invested $440,000 of their NRP funds in the renovation and restoration of the Hosmer library. The major facility improvements at the rejuvenated 90-year old library included a computer lab and tech center, and community meeting room. Library patronage at Hosmer increased 100 percent over each of the first four years after the renovation was completed in 1997.

• Artists on Chicago – Residents living in the Powderhorn Park and Central neighborhoods invested $450,000 of their NRP funds in this 10-unit scattered site home-ownership housing project designed for artists. All of the studio spaces, which are on the street side of the complexes, have patio doors that open to the street, thus creating a storefront appearance. By design, artists living and working in the units help promote community safety by acting as extra eyes on the street. Three of the housing units were sold to homeowners at or below 50 percent of the area's median income, three units to buyers below 60 percent of median income and two units to buyers below 80 percent of median income. The last two adjoining units are a rental/owner-occupied duplex.

• Midtown YWCA – Residents in five Minneapolis neighborhoods invested more than $1 million of NRP funds in the new $21 million Midtown YWCA Community and Urban Sports Center that provides youth, childcare and fitness programs to thousands of residents. The Midtown YWCA opened on August 1, 2000 and has helped fuel development of a previously neglected stretch of Lake Street.

• HOMS Initiative – The HOMS Initiative is a collaboration of neighborhood groups, foundations and non-profit developers that created affordable home ownership opportunities in South Minneapolis. The project leveraged over $2.6 million and produced 150 affordable housing units.

• Mercado Central –The Powderhorn Park and Phillips neighborhoods invested $327,000 of their NRP funds in Mercado Central -- a cooperative marketplace owned and operated by 47 Latino merchants. One of the best ways to stimulate economic development in a neighborhood or city is to create places where businesses can survive and grow. The Mercado, with its wide variety of Latin American foods and wares, is designed to simulate the outdoor markets found in many Latin American cities. By grouping many businesses together under one roof, the Mercado creates an exciting marketplace atmosphere and attract larger crowds than any single business could on its own. Vendors make a small payment each month for use of a 10-foot by 12-foot shop. Mercado merchants also have access to a number of in-house business and technical support services that help reduce the risk of failing. Vendors must complete small business training classes, submit business plans, and buy $1,000 of stock in the Mercado before they can join the cooperative. Hosmer Library – Residents living in five Minneapolis neighborhoods (Bryant, Central, Kingfield, Lyndale, and Powderhorn Park) invested $440,000 of their NRP funds in the renovation and restoration of the Hosmer library. The major facility improvements at the rejuvenated 90-year old library included a computer lab and tech center, and community meeting room. Library patronage at Hosmer increased 100 percent over each of the first four years after the renovation was completed in 1997.