MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — By Molly Rosenblatt. It’s been almost three years since the Upper St. Anthony Falls closed to boat traffic on the Mighty Mississippi. Now, there’s a vision to transform the area into a major destination for locals and tourists. While in the early stages, there are plans to revitalize the Minneapolis riverfront. With a 49-foot drop … Read More
ALONG THE RIVER — The Mississippi runs the spine of America, touching 10 states and draining waters from 21 more, a vast waterway with a rich mythology, a sometimes powerful beauty and an always alarming propensity to flood. Nearly 30 locks and dams hold back water in the river’s upper reaches. Every river bend to the … Read More
“Spirit Island Projection,” by Andrea Carlson. The lock at St. Anthony Falls doesn’t send boats up and down the Mississippi River anymore. Now it hosts art. On Friday and Saturday nights, St. Paul artist Aaron Dysart will project a rock-concert-like light show inside the lock’s empty tank. Huge colored floodlights will be arranged on the … Read More
For the first weekend of “Illuminate the Lock” artist Aaron Dysart used data from 47 years of lock-keeper logbooks to program a light show. Courtesy of The Soap Factory You can usually only get past security into the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock as part of a tour. But for “Illuminate the Lock” events, the gates … Read More
National Park Service superintendent John Anfinson looked out over the lock and dam. The National Park Service is drawing up ambitious plans to provide more public access and to restore the Mississippi River and its waterfront above and below St. Anthony Falls now that Lock & Dam #1 has been turned into a visitor center. … Read More
Public access to the lock may be a sign of what’s to come in the future. When the lock at Upper St. Anthony Falls was closed to ship and boat traffic two years ago, it became pretty much just that: a closed lock. After years of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sponsored tours, the lock … Read More
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The Upper St. Anthony Falls lock and dam will open to visitor traffic this weekend — but in a new way. It’s been two years since any traffic on the water navigated through it after its 2015 closure. Lockmaster Mike DeRusha’s workload all but dropped to a weekly visit. “Very quiet,” DeRusha … Read More
MINNEAPOLIS – The Upper Saint Anthony Falls Lock and Dam is scheduled to open for public tours on Sunday. The Saint Anthony Falls are the only major waterfall on the Mississippi River. The Lock and Dam gave boats the ability to travel north of the falls, up until 2015 when the lock was closed to … Read More
Upper St. Anthony Lock and Dam has little use to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which currently operates it. It’s eight years away. At best. And there remain some sizable hurdles to clear between now and then. But that hasn’t discouraged some in the Twin Cities from imagining something previously thought improbable for downtown … Read More
A new proposal for the downtown Minneapolis riverfront, the Falls Park and Visitor Center (above) seems to be gathering momentum. However, a 20-plus-years-old effort to build a hydroelectric power plant in this area has re-emerged. Image courtesy of VJAA. Crown Hydro is continuing their decades-old effort to locate a hydroelectric facility at Upper St. Anthony Falls on the west … Read More