Fed index/home

park index

There are many, many people and organizations that have contributed to the development of the High Bridge Park. Unfortunately, the many children who dug, planted, constructed, organized, kibitzed, and even played in the park cannot be named due to privacy purposes.

We will try to recognize all through their organizations:

• Joe Landsberger is the garden and park design and development coordinator. He is the chair of the High Bridge Task Force for the Upper Town Neighborhood and the local District 9 Council of the City of St. Paul, or Federation, and chief weeder of the gardens. He also is responsible for this website

• Paulette Myers-Rich, co-facilitator of the parks development, with Andrew and Becca Hine. 
  Many neighbors and associate neighbors of the park. 

• Betty Moran is the Community Organizer for the Federation and was key in supporting, promoting and organizing the project. She suffered through all the "complaints" as the project was underway, and never once complained. She not only worked in her official capacity, but also came and dug and weeded and encouraged

• The West 7th Fort Road Federation/District 9 Council of the City of St. Paul, Minnesota, USA was one of the first neighborhood organizations in the United States that actively promoted and developed community organization and control. "The West Seventh Community is in many ways the heart and soul of Saint Paul. It lies between the Mississippi River and the Cathedral Bluff, stretching out from Downtown to Homer Street along West Seventh Street (Fort Road), about 2.5 miles. We are sometimes called the Fort Road Community and sometimes the West End, because 100 years ago we sat on the western
  edge of the city of Saint Paul."

• Mary and Frank Jones, neighbors of the park, even when there wasn't a park. They were childhood sweethearts and central to the stability of the neighborhood. Mary lent her organizing skills, and Frank rolled sod, watered gardens, cleared brush, and together they kept watch over the park until they re-located in the later 1990's.

• Marion Stanberg donated hours of his time, and his bobcat's time, in the building the garden’s walls

• Instrumental to the park's development was the proactive cooperation of St. Paul's Parks Department Director of Operations (now retired), John Poor. He facilitated and generally made life easier for the neighborhood, and on schedule! His example was followed by many within his department including TK Walling (arborist), John Wirka (principal designer), Tim Agness (landscape architect), and Poor's successor, Tom Knutson

• Jean Hall's class of 7th-9th graders, St. Paul Open School , separated clumps, washed the roots and planted the first 21 varieties of daylilies in their own design in 1994. The dozen students were of many ethnic backgrounds

• Bob Frame, Kathleen Corley, and Joe Landsberger wrote the grant for the "Watcher"

• Mary Habstritt has left St. Paul for the "big city" and a new married life but was instrumental obtaining the grant for the "Watcher", and regularly weeded gardens in the Years 1995-96

• The Metropolitan Regional Arts Council funded the "Watcher" with a $4,000 grant and the Community 'gate Project with an $8,000 grant.

• Zoran Mojsilov is the sculptor of the "Watcher". He is Yugoslavian-American

• Joel Sisson is Director and resident artist of Two or More, Inc., which donated and installed "The Green Chair" in the park.  He also re-installed the second chair.

• Two or More, Inc., the inner city employment program of North Minneapolis, built and installed the Green Chair". Green Chairs are Adirondack chairs built in the work program and three giant ones were created as publicity for the program. The actual group who worked in the North High Bridge Park consisted of seven Hmong-American and four African-American teenagers

• The dozen or so Friends of the Park Pumpkin Carvers who carved 20 pumpkins for the grand opening: Joe Landsberger, Milt Sherburn, Kevin Lovejoy, Carol Foth, Pat Mehigan, Al Meyer, Jim..., Bob Horton, ..., Robert Huber, and Jody Grider

• Dan and ... Wing, with their new daughter, are relatively new neighbors of the park but were early supporters of the sculpture garden. Dan cleaned and painted the graffiti off of the Green Chair, and wheeled his daughter around the park.

• Rita and John Heine brought about the construction and installation of the Peace Pole. Rita is the advisor to the Girl Scout Cadett Troop 464 who funded and worked on the project, and originally came up with the idea

• Capitol Fence, Inc. installed the Peace Pole in the Park. Workers were Mike Tafinger, Deanno Nitty, and Chris Byrnes

Photo Credits for the
High Bridge Park North Website

• Photos and composites of the High Bridge Daylily gardens by Joe Landsberger (all rights reserved)

• Photo Sequence of High Bridge Demolition by Joe Landsberger (all rights reserved)

• Photo credits unspecified to Andrew Hine, including park clean up and Community Gate dedication.

• History of the High Bridge and construction photos adapted from St. Paul's High Bridge 1889-1995, a Photo-Essay of the History of a St. Paul Landmark, a publication of the Minnesota Department of Transportation District Nine, Oakdale, Minnesota, © 1985 State of Minnesota.

• Permission for the use of Photographs from the collection of the Minnesota Historical Society was granted December 11, 1996. Photo credits are as follows: