Pioneer Press
Even as Lowertown ballpark construction moves forward full-throttle, the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) still has concerns about the future home of the St. Paul Saints. Black masonry, a lack of punched window openings – it’s not quite compatible enough for SHPO’s liking with the neighboring Lowertown Historic District.
While the future 7,000-seat ballpark will not sit within the actual historic district itself, federal guidelines require neighboring construction to be both “differentiated from” yet “compatible with” the structures in the district. The glassy, open-air feel of the sunken ballpark has been giving SHPO the heebie-jeebies for months, though the office’s April 28 letter to the city of St. Paul indicates they’re feeling more and more comfortable with aspects of the design. See their letter from Feb. 1 and notice the somewhat cheerier language, especially when it comes to the landscape flourishes along Broadway Street.
They also acknowledge that the design has received more support than not from the city’s Heritage Preservation Commission, which reviewed renderings in January and held public hearings. At this point, SHPO is mostly focused on getting the masonry’s color changed and establishing a more prominent entry along Broadway.
So how much authority does SHPO have over construction? Not much — but they can make a case to the federal government, which has a lot more clout when it comes to construction involving historic properties. That’s called a federal Section 106 Review Process, a process that was triggered when the city accepted federal funds for site clean-up.
How intense will that 106 review be? Scoop readers may recall that the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell was in town not long ago heaping praises on St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and his local initiatives. Some see that as a clue that the review, which will likely be handled by a Department of the Interior official based out of Chicago, will focus less on design and more on public process. That may not sound too intense, but it could still be problematic for the city, given the number of members of the community design review committee who felt out of the loop during the architectural process.
Here’s more from the General Services Administration on the federal 106 Process:http://www.gsa.gov/portal/
St. Paul Parks and Rec officials say the design-build process allows the Ryan Cos. to change elements of the design right up to the point of construction, but some critics say the open-air design was a done deal from the get-go. (The city and the St. Paul Saints hand-picked the Ryan Cos. as their design-build team without so much as putting the project out to public bid until Gov. Mark Dayton stepped in and gave St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman a bit of a scolding. When the bidding was finished, Ryan won the contract again anyway.)
It should be noted that the open-air ballpark design has plenty of fans, and the Dept. of the Interior may hear more good tidings than bad from neighboring property owners and business leaders.
Here’s two letters from SHPO to the city of St. Paul: