 To our Wedge community:
Like so many of our neighbors, we are deeply angry and filled with pain over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers on May 25th. We are in the midst of a pandemic that is disproportionately affecting people of color, a 20% unemployment rate, and little support or clear plans for either from the federal government. Our communities have already been hurting, and Mr. Floyd’s death has sparked emotions rooted in anger, despair, exhaustion, and centuries of racial injustice. Right now allow yourself to grieve and to process your emotions. Ask tough questions and challenge people. And take care of one another and your communities. LHENA will continue to work with city, county, and community leaders to help rebuild and create relationships of trust and respect so that Minneapolis is a place of safety and well-being for everyone. LHENA strives to create a welcoming environment for all, and to advocate for equitable systems, processes, and policies here in our neighborhood. We know we can do better at this, and we will. If you or your business has been impacted by the unfolding events, please contact our Executive Director at paul@thewedge.org so that we can assist you. If you would like to help support small businesses that have been impacted please consider donating to this fundraiser hosted by the Lake Street Council. To donate to George Floyd’s memorial fund, you may do so here. LHENA calls for justice for George, and we ask you to join your neighbors on Monday, June 1st at 9pm on your porches, balconies, or at your windows to shine a light for him and for this city that we love. In solidarity, Paul Shanafelt, Executive Director Alicia Gibson, President
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By Kathy Kullberg
We all are spending a lot more time in our kitchens these days and enjoying many indoor conveniences. Have you enjoyed a nice cold glass of milk or a cup of ice from your fridge lately; opened the fridge, took out some fresh veggies or frozen fish fillet for dinner? Instant refrigeration only came about as recently as the 1910s. Prior to those days, jumbo cubes of ice were cut in the winter from the nearby crystal clear lakes – Cedar Lake and Bde Mka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun) – and stored in large ice houses, on beds of sawdust, at the north shore of the lake or on Nicollet Avenue. Ice from these lakes was also shipped as far away as Chicago. The iceman would come round weekly and put that jumbo block into the top storage area of the kitchen wooden ice box. As it melted, the cold air created from the ice would sink down inside the lower cabinet to cool the milk and foods kept there. Kitchens often had a small door located off the back porch that opened into the ice box for easy access. By summer time, the ice stored in the large commercial ice houses would be gone. The demand was high for a better solution for yearlong access and clean sanitary ice. By 1910, with cheap access to electricity, it was possible to capture fresh sterile water pumped from underground artesian wells and to freeze it into blocks within a large storage facility. The blocks could then be stored indefinitely and delivered on demand to businesses and residences. The Minneapolis Artificial Ice Company built several large facilities close to residential districts. The first one in Minneapolis was built at 402 Lyndale Avenue North. The one we can still see today is located at 2528 Nicollet (The Ice House). In the Wedge, the Minneapolis Sanitary Ice Company built its facility at the southwest corner of 29th and Bryant, just south of the Greenway. (Today and in its place stands a 54-unit, two story apartment building.) By the end of 1919, The Cedar Lake Ice Company and the Artificial Ice Company controlled all the artificial ice in the city. Modern technology eventually caught up with the industry and the facility on Bryant was no longer viable. Residents could buy a refrigerator that would not only keep products cold but would also make small cubes of ice in a tray placed inside a small freezer compartment, eliminating the iceman’s home delivery job. As a result, the Minneapolis Sanitary Ice Company building was wrecked in 1965. So next time you enjoy that cold drink on a warm day, try to envision how life used to be before modern refrigeration. The LHENA board of directors will convene Wednesday, May 20th for its monthly board meeting. The meeting will be held virtually via Zoom and is open to the public. The draft agenda can be found in the .pdf below. LHENA Board Meeting Wednesday, May 20 6:30pm - 8:30pm Virtual (email paul@thewedge.org to receive Zoom meeting credentials) 
ESG architects presented preliminary site plans for the property at 2841 Hennepin Ave at the May 13 Zoning & Planning meeting, which is available in its entirety in the .pdf below. The project team plans to present updated plans at our June 10 Zoning & Planning meeting. In the meantime, you can: -view initial site plans -read the team's responses to the LHENA project questionnaire -submit comments/questions that will be sent to the project team Main takeaways from the initial plans:
Please bookmark this page as we will include plan updates as we receive them.
 Location of project proposal (2841 Hennepin Ave). Image courtesy of Southwest Journal. |
May 2020
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