The Other Mike and I took on two Longfellow Community Avenues last night: 44th and 43rd from near their Northern ends to their Southern stop at Minnehaha Park.
We started by heading North on 44th, crossing Lake Street past the East Lake Dairy Queen (which is open):
Two blocks later, we hit Dorman Ave, went left, and circled back on 43rd where we passed The Craftsman at Lake St:
American Rug Laundry represented at Lake St too:
At 43rd Ave S and 38th St E, we noticed a sign for an upcoming meeting regarding future plans for the Howe Community School.
Howe has been closed for a few years now. At one time, plans were in the works to use the building for artist’s quarters and a day care among other things but that fell through. If you have information about the latest plans, drop a comment or send me an email.
At that point, we crossed into LoFo: an unofficial definition for “Lower Longfellow” – the blocks below 38th St E. Above that, unofficially, is Lake-8 (Lake to 38th) and parts of Longfellow North of Lake are uncharted.
A few blocks later we passed through an icy Hiawatha School and Park:
After reaching Minnehaha Park, we headed back up 44th, into the Cooper Neighborhood, and passed the closed Cooper Community School a block before the end of our run:
As you can probably tell, it started to snow before we finished our run. That was probably better than the drizzle we were dealing with earlier on.
I haven’t heard any recent news about plans for reuse of this elementary school. Any scoops?
So you carry a camera while jogging? That doesn’t get old?
Do I get a prize when you jog in front of my house?
Reuben, let’s run your hood together. I like local guides.
I kind of like carrying the camera. So far, it’s working for me.
Nick sent in some details on the Howe School situation:
Howe School Site Proposals to be Revealed
In December, Minneapolis Public School Board received three proposals for re-using the Howe School site that has been shuttered for three years. Two of the proposals would save and re-use the school building. One proposal is for single family housing, while the others would create senior housing. At this point I do not know which of the proposals are financially viable but MPS should have completed their review by the time of the community meeting on February 25th at the CWA Hall, 3521 E Lake St, starting at 6:30 pm. Interested community members will not want to miss this meeting which may be our only chance to comment on a preference.
The district is also looking at radically changing how schools are chosen by parents and maybe eliminating magnet status for some. This could also include closing more schools. http://mpls.k12.mn.us/The_Plan
Ed, I think the current preferred option for the Howe site is to demolish the school building and build single-family housing. I don’t know about the Cooper site.
Running? That doesn’t sound like a prize.