On Oct. 25 there will be a public hearing on Minneapolis Public Schools’ (MPS) proposal to demolish the building at 2019 East Lake Street. 4:30 p.m. in Room 317 of City Hall, 350 South 5th Street (this is a meeting of the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission). MPS has purchased this and several other properties at 21st and East Lake, and has demolished the other buildings to make way for a new 90,000 square foot, four-story education facility with a 160-stall off-street parking facility to house its Adult Basic Education (ABE) and Transitions Plus programs. The CNO Board is on record supporting these plans and led efforts to find this location in order to keep ABE in Corcoran with strong light rail and bus connections, consistent with the desires of ABE students and faculty. ABE will need to move from its current home at 2225 East Lake by the summer of 2018 to accommodate the next phase of Hennepin County’s master development plan for that site. The CNO Board is also on record supporting the preservation of the history of Burma Shave company’s former operations at 2019 East Lake, but is aware of no viable plan to invest in and repurpose the structure proposed for demolition. For more information on CNO’s position please contact executive director Eric Gustafson at 612-724-7457 or eric@corcoranneighborhood.org.
