The plaza at 376 Wabasha Street has been a city park since 1979. For most of those 47 years, people used it as a way into a skyway and two office towers and gave it little thought. The renovated space reopens as Wabasha Park with a ribbon cutting on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at noon. Its design gives the clearest sign yet that this block of Wabasha, between Fifth and Sixth, is being rebuilt for the hours after 5 p.m.
Forty-Seven Years as Somebody's Front Door
The names tell the story. The site has been Capital Centre Plaza, Ecolab Plaza and Osborn Plaza, each named for the buildings around it and not for the park itself. City Council approved the change to Wabasha Park on April 22 of this year. The city's own project page describes the plaza as "a prominent pedestrian access point for the skyway system and two privately-owned towers," and says the main goal of the redesign was "to activate the site for extended use."
St. Paul Parks and Recreation Director Andy Rodriguez put it more plainly when he spoke with the Pioneer Press in late September:
"A lot of people didn't know this is parkland. People thought it was just the front door to the Osborn building, or Ecolab at the time, so that distinction will be nice."
He told the paper the old site had reached the point where everything needed replacing, "broken pavers and all the things." Concept plans had been moving through City Hall since 2017. Construction took more than a year. The $4.1 million cost came from the city's Common Cent 1% sales tax.
What the Redesign Added, Sorted by Time of Day
Here is the final site plan, grouped by the time of day each piece serves.
For the lunch hour
- Movable tables and chairs, plus precast seating
- Food truck parking along the street
- A drinking fountain and streetscape seating
For after dark
- A wave-shaped stainless steel pergola that Rodriguez said would get programmable, multicolored lighting within weeks of late September
- Updated site lighting, according to the city's project plans
For people who live next door
- A pet-relief area
- Bermed plantings and low groundcover, with removed trees replaced one for one
The last two groups point past the lunch hour. Programmable lighting is only useful at night, and a pet-relief area only makes sense when people with dogs live close by. "We haven't even turned the lights on yet," Rodriguez told the Pioneer Press as he stood under the pergola. "It's going to be cool when that happens." As of the city's Sept. 29 update, lighting was still on the list of remaining work. There's no public confirmation yet that the pergola has been lit.
The park's best-known feature stayed where it was. Skygate, the ring sculpture by R.M. Fischer, was fabricated by American Structural Steel and installed in 2000. Its stainless steel rings and blue acrylic sphere were inspired by St. Paul's ice palaces and garden gateways, and the city says they stand for infinity, water and sky. The piece began rusting soon after it was unveiled and was treated in 2004 to stand up to Minnesota weather. Starting July 24, crews took it apart, restored it, and put it back in the same spot.
The Neighbors the Pet-Relief Area Was Built For
The tower on the park's north edge used to be Ecolab University Center, an office building from the 1970s that Ecolab left around 2018. A Chicago-based developer later defaulted on the property, which ended up in receivership. Kaeding Development Group bought it and completed a three-year, $68 million conversion into Stella, a 17-story building with 178 apartments. Residents began moving in this July.
Stella's grand opening was Thursday, Sept. 24. Crews took down the north section of the park's construction fence that same day so the building's front doors could be reached. Rodriguez told the Pioneer Press that the timing of the park and the apartments "just worked out… just coincidentally." Coincidence or not, the result is a block with a few hundred new residents and a park designed with them in mind.
The park also links Stella to Osborn370 at 370 Wabasha St., which is still an office building. Its tenants include the Greater MSP Partnership, Bridgewater Bank, Blck Press, NEOO Partners, several city offices, and HepCat Coffee. The daytime crowd hasn't gone anywhere. The difference now is that people live upstairs too.
Across the Street, the Evening Was Already Booked
The block's buildings face the Amsterdam Bar and Hall and the family-run Ruam Mit Thai. The city-owned Palace Theatre is close by. That means the evening crowd the park's lighting is designed for already exists on most weeknights. Here's what the First Avenue calendar currently lists for both venues through mid-November:
| Date | Venue | Show |
|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 17 | Palace Theatre | Big Head Todd and the Monsters |
| Sun., Oct. 18 | Palace Theatre | Lenny Pearce |
| Thu., Oct. 22 | Palace Theatre | Sammy Rae & The Friends |
| Fri., Oct. 23 | Palace Theatre | Ryan Bingham and The Texas Gentlemen |
| Tue., Oct. 27 | Palace Theatre | The Dresden Dolls |
| Tue., Oct. 27 | Amsterdam Bar & Hall | Greg Freeman |
| Wed., Oct. 28 | Palace Theatre | Dweezil Zappa |
| Thu., Oct. 29 | Amsterdam Bar & Hall | Akeem Ali |
| Fri., Oct. 30 | Palace Theatre | The Tallest Man On Earth |
| Fri., Oct. 30 | Amsterdam Bar & Hall | New Constellations |
| Sun., Nov. 1 | Amsterdam Bar & Hall | Donny Benét |
| Fri., Nov. 6 | Amsterdam Bar & Hall | Static Dress |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Palace Theatre | Joy Oladokun |
| Sun., Nov. 8 | Amsterdam Bar & Hall | Maddie Zahm |
| Fri., Nov. 13 | Amsterdam Bar & Hall | Improvement Movement |
Venue calendars change, so check the listing before you go. Tuesday, Oct. 27 and Friday, Oct. 30 both have shows at the Palace and the Amsterdam on the same night. On those evenings a lot of foot traffic will pass the new pergola.
Elsewhere on Wabasha, the Minnesota Wild has an open-to-the-public practice at TRIA Rink, on top of Treasure Island Center, on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 10 a.m. The Pioneer Press lists Afro Deli, Pino's Pizzeria, Candyland and the Minnesota Children's Museum on or just off the same street.
Other Downtown Lights Came On First
Wabasha Park's pergola is joining a downtown that has been relighting itself all year. The "1st" sign on the First National Bank building was relit at a ceremony on Aug. 6. The owner said all three sides would be lit every night from dusk to dawn, without the old rotating blink, the Pioneer Press reported. The sign is visible from Stella's roof deck.
Below ground, Meritage co-owner Desta Marée soft-opened Meritage Underground this summer. It's in the Hamm Building space that held the Artists' Quarter jazz club and, after that, KJ's Hideaway. According to the Pioneer Press, the plan includes public wine tastings with importers on Wednesdays from 4 to 7 p.m. On Fridays from 6 p.m. until close, a speakeasy called "The Pearl" hosts music, spoken word and comedy. Marée called the format a work in progress that will follow community interest.
For mornings, River Valley Coffee Co. opened in July. It's on the first floor of the Lowry Building at 350 St. Peter St., across from City Hall. The Pioneer Press counts 21 or more businesses downtown that have opened or will open soon. A new Aldi at 10th and Robert opened the same Thursday that Stella held its grand opening and the park had its first trial run.
The Next Few Weeks Downtown
The ribbon cutting is Tuesday, Oct. 13 at noon, with remarks from community leaders. Until then, the north half of the park stays open, including the front doors of Osborn370, Stella and the Alliance Bank building. Small sections may be closed while crews finish signs, sealant and lighting. The city's downtown parks calendar doesn't list any Wabasha Park programming after the opening yet. Its next downtown listings are the Saint Paul Art Crawl at various locations Oct. 16 through 18, including a stop at Mears Park on Oct. 17 from noon to 8 p.m., then a Halloween movie screening at Mears Park on Oct. 23 and the Tree of Lights ceremony at Rice Park on Nov. 14. When the pergola lights do turn on, the Amsterdam's marquee will be right across the street.
New activity around a familiar block can make longtime downtown owners wonder what their own place is worth now, or whether a smaller home near the Palace and a lit park belongs in their next move. If Wabasha Street has you thinking about either, Mitchell Culbreath is happy to talk it through without any pressure. Let's Connect.
