An urban village once served by streetcar, Prospect Park is now a combination of multiple districts and uses. People live in single-family homes on Tower Hill, as well as apartment housing in the western districts. Estate homes of the early to mid 20th century line East River Road. University Avenue houses a mix of retail and restaurant businesses from the Stadium Village area.
The entire 138-acre (56 ha) core of the neighborhood was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015 as the Prospect Park Residential Historic District for its significance in the theme of social history. It was nominated for its cohesive community spirit, developed—despite the neighborhood's hilly terrain and diverse housing stock—through such innovations as Minneapolis's first community association.[4]
History
In 1874 real estate tycoon Louis F. Menage began plotting new subdivisions along Minneapolis's southern boundaries.[5] Menage petitioned the City Council to accept his Prospect Park plats in 1884. Construction lasted into the 1910s as topography and geographic isolation made building difficult.[6] Houses were designed in the popular architectural styles of the period, especially the Queen Anne and the Colonial Revival styles.[6] The Minneapolis Board of Education constructed the Sidney Pratt Elementary School in 1898.[7]
Thomas Lowry's interurban commuter train served the neighborhood with its stop at Malcolm Avenue[7] until eventually the intercity line between Saint Paul and Minneapolis along University Avenue was opened. The Franklin Avenue Bridge also eventually carried a line.
The SouthEast Industrial Area (SEMI) in the north contains light manufacturing, rail yards and remnant grain silos. Many plans for redeveloping the land have been created, including proposals from the nearby University of Minnesota.[9] Starting in the early 2000s, Wall Companies purchased land in the surrounding SEMI District with plans of creating a technology and research campus, with the goal of attracting businesses that wanted proximity to the University of Minnesota. After failing to bring this idea to fruition, a different proposal to create a food hall out of the neighboring Harris Machinery Building, taking advantage of the nearby Green Line and U of M Transitway was implemented.[10] The food hall, named Malcom Yards, was opened to the public in August 2021.[11]
A prominent structure in the SEMI is the ADM-Delmer #4 grain elevator locally known for its United Crushers graffiti on its side.[12] It was originally constructed as a part of the ADM-Delmer facility, named after its owner the Archer-Daniels-Miller company, which started construction in 1925 and ended in 1931. The site was made up of 4 grain elevators. After its abandonment, elevators #2 and #3 where demolished.[9] During the early 2000's, the local graffiti crew United Crushers tagged the southern wall of the elevator.[citation needed]
Demographics
The neighborhood is demographically diverse. Tower Hill extending south to the river contains families and retired empty-nesters. The Glendale Housing project southeast of 27th Avenue SE and University Avenue SE contains 700 families with the average household income slightly above $9,000 and 32% of residents living at or below the poverty level.[13] On the former industrial areas of the west and north are newer student housing apartment buildings for both undergraduate and graduate students.
Prospect Park is entirely within Minneapolis's Ward 2, currently represented by Robin Wonsley on the Minneapolis City Council. The neighborhood association, PPERRIA, founded in 1901, is the oldest neighborhood association in the city of Minneapolis.
Arts and culture
The neighborhood has an annual "Ice Cream Social," a get-together for the neighborhood with food, music and other entertainment. It is the one time of year when the interior of the Prospect Park Water Tower is opened to the public, allowing for a panoramic view of Minneapolis from the top.
Near the south end of the neighborhood on Bedford Street is the Malcolm Willey House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and named after a University administrator. The historic significance of the house played a large part in preventing its destruction when Interstate 94 was built in the 1950s. The current goal of the neighborhood is to establish an "urban-village" feel — that is, a somewhat self-contained feel in the context of a larger city. Prospect Park also has a few surviving houses from the 19th century.[7]
The neighborhood is home to two community centers, Pratt Elementary School and Luxton Park.
Gallery
Entrance to the KSTP-AM-FM-TV studios on University Avenue. The sidewalk leading to the building lies precisely on the city line, as does the central leg of the tower.
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