Fresh start for Fresh Grounds May 18, 2007

Fresh Grounds Coffee Shop (which we previously wrote about here) has recently become part of a larger, national effort to provide job training for young adults. Partnering with Starbucks and modeled after a program in Seattle, Fresh Grounds has undertaken a mild remodel, managed by our own Nate Golin, to accommodate a larger menu including Starbucks coffee and lunch fare prepared in partnership with Kitchen of Opportunities.

A grand re-opening was held last week to celebrate the new partnership and remodeling. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman (pictured above) attended and addressed the crowd, telling of his childhood a few blocks away, and offering continued support of the coffee shop and the housing project located upstairs.

For parent organization RS Eden, the project represents a very visible face to their work supporting youth and adults as they exit our foster care and correctional systems. You can read more about Fresh Grounds here.

 

Planting seeds/ A present delivered

Cermak Rhoades Architects convened on the bluffs of the Mississippi River last Saturday morning to make good on a holiday gift to our clients, associates, and friends. Through Great River Greening, we helped to plant native woodland grasses, shrubs and trees, and in all, some 5,000 plants were given a new home along the Mississippi.

Our site was located just north of the Lake Street Bridge at the Meeker Island Lock & Dam ruins. This was the first lock and dam built on the Upper Mississippi and though it took 10 years to build, it was only in operation between 1907 and 1912.

The lock and dam was demolished to make way for a hydroelectric power generating dam to be built downriver. The ruins, which can still be seen when the water is low, were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. A walking tour will explore the history and significance of the site this September. More information on that and other walking tours of the Twin Cities can be found here.