Land near Saint Paul’s High Bridge power plant could come back into public use

Environmentalists and neighbors were cheered when Xcel Energy announced its plans to convert its coal-burning High Bridge power plant to natural gas. Re-powering this 267-megawatt facility will have numerous environmental benefits, not the least of which will be the significant reduction of emissions from the plant. Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter will be reduced by approximately 90% and mercury emissions will be eliminated entirely.

Another less well known benefit of the conversion is that approximately 55 acres of riverfront land formerly used for storing enormous piles of coal can now be put to another, preferably more public, use.

Last month, Xcel hosted a design workshop organized by the Design Center of the Saint Paul Riverfront Corporation. Community stakeholders and design professionals spent two days exploring possible reuse scenarios for the land, which lies between the Mississippi River and Shepard Road, just upstream of the Smith Avenue High Bridge.

The workshop developed several scenarios illustrating different possible land uses, including a natural park, soccer fields and housing. Xcel owns the property and wants to consider community input before making a final decision about which direction to go.

Its a terrific site on a very scenic stretch of the river, says Whitney Clark, FMRs executive director. Standing on the site, the high wooded bluffs of Cherokee Park across the river tower dramatically over you.

FMR would like to see the land become part of Saint Pauls system of riverfront parks and trails. This could be a wonderful opportunity to create a new destination park to serve the Citys West End residents and the residents of the new Upper Landing development, Clark says.

Another suggestion is to designate the park as a new off-leash area for dogs, a difficult use to site when it involves converting an existing park.