FMR key to Highland Park Ford redevelopment planning

The City of Saint Paul continues steadily planning for redevelopment at the Highland Park Ford Plant, and FMR has taken on two significant pieces of those planning efforts.

In recent months, there have been equal amounts of rumor and backpedaling around the possibility that Saint Pauls Highland Park Ford Plant would stay open beyond September 2009.

And yet Saint Pauls planning process continues in earnest. In 2007, a City-appointed task force developed five very general scenarios for redeveloping the plant. Currently, the City is evaluating those scenarios through an environmental review process known as Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR), expected to be completed this year. Study also continues on topics such as pollution and site economics.

And FMR will be making two substantial contributions to these planning efforts. First, were working to understand the visual impacts various types of development would have on the site. Second, were working to develop concepts for park and open space that would strengthen the sites connection with the river.

Building public space around the river

From the Ford sites central location along the Mississippi River Corridor in the Twin Cities to the incredible amenities found in and around Hidden Falls, the Ford site offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The site offers us the chance to reconnect one of the Twin Cities most charming and central neighborhood centers to the river that runs through the heart of our region.

And so the first prong of FMRs work on the Ford site will be to create a set of design concepts to capture the key opportunities, and build on the existing resources there.

Expanding the river commons along Mississippi River Boulevard will be one priority in the design. The current footprint of the Ford plant creates a very narrow commons along the parkway, and a well-considered expansion of this space could better capture the Rivers central role in the sites sense of place.

One of the most unique natural resources on the site is Hidden Falls, and any concept for public space will doubtless build on the beautiful natural amenity found there and in the surrounding park.

Perhaps the most exciting parkland opportunity is the 22 acres of the site located between Mississippi River Boulevard and the river itself. The majority of this land is tree-filled bluff. A portion of the lower site is flatter, and offers opportunities for connections to the river flats and picnic areas at Hidden Falls Park. Ford recently added this parcel to its redevelopment, and has expressed interest in conveying the land as a park to the City of Saint Paul.

One of the key questions in redeveloping this riverward land will be what happens with an area that houses many buried drums of toxic waste. That area, capped by gravel in the 1980s, poses no immediate threat, and is currently used for truck fleeting. But the long-term storage of large amounts of toxic materials along the Mississippi River will likely be the subject of discussion as redevelopment for the site moves forward.

The University of Minnesota Metropolitan Design Center has agreed to work with FMR on concept plans for parks and public space, and we will work with partner organizations to come up with a thoughtful set of concepts. Like the visual impact study, FMR hopes the concept plans will provide yet another rich layer of information to inform design and redevelopment of the Ford site.

Visual Impact Study

With a few exceptions, the river gorge surrounding the Ford Plant feels amazingly untouched by humans. And so appropriately, the second prong of FMRs work on the Ford site is an analysis of visual impacts. The visual impact study will illustrate the impact that various options for development would have on the natural river valley surrounding the site.

Of course, some existing requirements will help guide the physical shape of redevelopment of the Ford site. Most notably, about half of the 125-acre site is in the Mississippi River Critical Area and National Park. Heights in that half of the site are limited to roughly four stories tall, in order to help preserve a park-like atmosphere.

But while those height limits offer some basic protection, we know that those limits alone are not especially sensitive to the unique conditions onsite. There will be some areas where new construction is more visible than others. Further, it wouldnt be especially surprising if a developer asked to exceed those height standards, and the analysis could help to shed light on the impact of various development scenarios.

Likewise, on the half of the site away from the river, our study of visual impacts will help inform the kind of development that is most appropriate for the site.

We hope the Visual Impact Study can be used as a tool alongside the other layers of information available about the site. Combining information on transportation, pollution, views, demographics, economics and other factors, we can come up with a detailed redevelopment plan that works for everyone.