Open House Recap

Thanks to all the great neighbors, friends, and family who came out last night to share their thoughts about the outdoor seating plans for Sandcastle! 

There were over 40 people who showed up and we were flowing into the hallway. The MPRB did a great presentation on what went into the current design plans and then there was a healthy question/comment time. Here are some of  the topics that came up.

• How to manage the bike lane to lessen chance of accidents for bikers and pedestrians
• A desire for as much space as possible for seating
• Talk about materials for the seating; decking vs. paving
• Canoe parking
• More picnic tables in the larger park area
• Moving bike rentals to other side of beach and adding bike parking
• Interest in making this happen sooner than later (MPRB stated a timeline as beginning construction after Labor Day) so that beer and wine would be available sooner than later also (nothing like a beer on the lake!)

Updated plans will be posted on the active projects section of the MPRB website. Also, the MPRB announced they will be having public events for input on master planning the entire Lake Nokomis park area later this summer. 

Here are some photos from the night. 

Ward 11 City Council Member John Quincy, Sandcastle owners Chele Payer and me, and Ward 12 City Council Member Sandra Colvin Roy. 

Cliff Swenson, Director from MPRB presenting. 

Paul Neseth from Locus Architecture presents with MPRB. 

Friends of Lake Nokomis Founder Steffanie Musich and Sandcastle's contractor from The Big Room, John Booth. 

An Amazing Lake

Lake Nokomis was named for the grandmother of Hiawatha in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem The Song of Hiawatha. It was originally called Lake Amelia. As one of three sailing lakes Nokomis offers canoe rentals, bike rentals, two beaches, and playgrounds. You can also find a lot of baseball diamonds. We thought this would be a perfect place for Sandcastle!

After participating in a survey aimed at identifying what neighborhood residents wanted from the concession at Nokomis (we are residents of Longfellow and walking distance to the lake), my husband and I figured we could offer all that we wanted to see in the concession. Our desires for food and ambience were shown to be most of the community's desire as well from the survey results. That is when the process began...