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 ative Americans once gathered here in large caves overlooking the Mississippi, burying their dead in mounds on top of the cliffs. Floodplain wetlands where Phalen Creek and Trout Brook met the Big River teemed with fish and wildlife, before the streams and wetlands were filled in and a railyard took their place. Now nature is reclaiming the land, and the Lower Phalen neighborhood east of downtown St. Paul is reclaiming its historical connection to a vital community asset.
Late in November 2002, collaborative efforts of state and local officials, conservation nonprofits and neighborhood groups culminated in the creation of the 27-acre Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary below
Indian Mounds Regional Park. In 2003 community partners secured a $400,000 US Environmental Protection Agency grant to carry out soil remediation activities, and the land is expected to be clean and open to the public by fall 2004. A regional trail link to the nature sanctuary will soon be completed, effectively connecting this new park to the surrounding East Side and Lowertown/downtown neighborhoods and filling a gap in more than 85 miles of existing recreational trails.
Working closely with Dakota tribes, project partners are now planning the restoration of the land's forests, prairies and wetlands. Planning is also underway to determine how best to interpret the park's numerous historic and cultural resources, which include Carver's Cave/Wakan Tipi, a sacred area of international significance to both native people.
Protection of the core 27 acres as a nature sanctuary also is encouraging other urban revitalization efforts in the surrounding community. An old warehouse adjacent to the sanctuary is being converted to housing. Rainwater gardens, designed to filter stormwater runoff, are cropping up, complete with miniature wetlands and hardy native plants. Linked to Swede Hollow Park and other urban open spaces, the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary represents a key addition to a growing network of area greenways and recreational corridors.
About the photographs
In conjunction with this campaign, we invited 10 Minnesotan photographers to photograph each of our Twin Cities Treasures. This page includes low-resolution images of the Lower Phalen Creek area by JoAnn Verburg, who also received McKnight Artist Fellowships for photography in 1984, 1988, and 1994.
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