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 urrounded by wooded knolls, a lazy creek, and wildflowers, it's hard to believe you're standing on a spot where war weapons were once made. Formally known as the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP), the Arsenal's four square miles are a key link in one of the region's biggest and best ecological corridors, running southwest from the 23,000-acre Carlos Avery Wildlife Area through Rice Creek's chain of lakes and on into the Mississippi River.
This place—Ramsey County's biggest piece of undeveloped real estate—has been relatively undisturbed because it was maintained by the military, but now the federal government wants to dispose of it.
Many interests are vying for a piece of it. Arden Hills officials are working with private consultants on plans for commercial and residential development along transportation corridors. The Minnesota National Guard and Army Reserve hold claim on about 1,500 acres for training exercises. Preliminary approval has been given for 162 acres to be transferred to Ramsey County for parkland that allows hiking and canoeing.
And the city of Arden Hills has given its nod to protection of a 49-acre parcel of habitat that ecologists had been particulalrly concerned about because it provides a key connection between Carlos Avery and the Mississippi. State and federal officials also are negotiating to determine how best to clean up portions of the property listed as Superfund sites due to contamination left over from weapons manufacturing.
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 Arsenal-TCAAP area by Stuart Klipper, who also received McKnight Artist Fellowships for photography in 1984 and 1987.
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