The 2400 sq ft space under the 20th St overpass at Minnesota presents challenges both old and new. The space has long been a headache for neighbors due to dumping, graffiti, its use as a toilet, and worse. Now changes are coming to 20th St. that include the construction of a sidewalk adjacent to the overpass. The new sidewalk will block the (already illegal) parking under the overpass and the city plans to enforce the no parking rule for safety reasons. If some beneficial public use is not made of the space under the overpass, it will likely be fenced off and cause more safety concerns and negative uses.
Neighbors, disheartened by the conditions around the overpass, approached the Green Benefit District in 2018 to ask for help in reimagining the space. The GBD hired noted urban engineers Nelson Nygaard and our local, award-winning designers at David Fletcher Studio to help re-envision the street. Fletcher Studio’s plans create a flexible, planter-ringed, multi-use space - covered, cozy, a neighborhood living room, a gathering place for friends, parents’ groups, craft meets, ping pong games, or hanging out with a coffee and laptop.
Twenty-five hundred new apartments and condos have been constructed within 3 blocks of the site since 2017. The new Institute of contemporary Art opened a half-block away. The street connects the district’s only Rec Park facility and a school. As Dogpatch evolves from its post-industrial past to a more residential and mixed-use future, we are looking to add green and public spaces, places where neighbors can meet.
Permits are in process and we hope to construct and open the space in 2024, once the street work is completed.
The site offers 2400 sq ft of multi-use space
The street will be repaved and a sidewalk added
The area in 1927
