Crown Hydro proposal revised again

A new proposal for the Crown Hydro project keeps the project essentially underground, but concerns remain about the projects historic and aesthetic impacts on the St. Anthony Falls district in Minneapolis.

The developers of the Crown Hydro project are back, this time with a project proposal thats essentially all underground. A previous version of the project was rejected by the Minneapolis Park Board in 2004, but developers hope this version meets a different fate.

The project would be located on the downtown Minneapolis side of the Mississippi River, adjacent to the Stone Arch Bridge. Water would run through a system of old tunnels left by the milling industry, and underground turbines would produce the energy.

But concerns remain. Completing the project would mean digging through parkland and key parts of the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District. The project envisions connecting with historic tunnels. Similar tunnel structures have been designated as contributing properties to the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District. There continues to be discussion around how the proposal would impact these historic resources.

Also of a concern is the impact the project might have on the look of the water going over the Saint Anthony Falls. Crown Hydro has pledged to maintain a minimum flow of 1,000 cubic feet per second over the falls, but stakeholders in the area are concerned about whether that does enough to maintain the aesthetics of the falls.

For the project to go forward, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board must approve a lease for Crown Hydros waterway to pass underneath its land. The Park Board is considering a review process for Environmental Assessment and community input that would stretch through mid-2009. The Park Boards Planning Committee voted to go forward with the review process on a 3-2 vote on December 6th, and the full Park Board will consider whether to go forward with the process at their December 19th meeting.

While FMR has not taken a formal position on the overall proposal at this time, we believe the historic and aesthetic impacts of the proposal deserve careful study and consideration before any agreement is finalized. Yet the review process that has been outlined by the Park Board seems geared toward securing an approval of the project. If a review process goes forward, we believe changes should be made to the review process to ensure the Park Board clearly preserves its option to walk way from this project if thats where the evidence leads.

The future course of review for the Crown Hydro proposal will become clearer after the December 19th Park Board vote.