come to the central riverfront to watch Aquatennial fireworks from a public
park facility: the Nicollet Island Park Pavilion, its parking lot and its
patio.
This time, police tape is strung all around the pavilion area, keeping people
off parkland, off trails, and off the popular deck with benches and picnic
tables at the island's south tipâprime viewing spots on public land reserved
for a private party. Ordinarily, even when private events spill out of the
pavilion, the path along the riverbank, including the deck area, remains open
to the public.
All this violates specific contract language reserving the pavilion for the
public on Aquatennial fireworks night: "Until further notice, the MPRB hereby
perpetually reserves December 30, December 31, January 1, July 4, the last
Saturday of Aquatennial in July, and three additional date to be determined by
the MPRB each year for events sponsored by MPRB" (from page 2, "CATERING
AGREEMENT for NICOLLET ISLAND PAVILION BETWEEN MINNEAPOLIS PARK AND RECREATION
BOARD AND MINTAHOE HOSPITALITY GROUP," dated Oct. 20, 2004).
I posted about this problem to Mpls-Issues in 2010: http://tinyurl.com/c5pqts4
That year there was no police tape, but a park police officer guarding the
private event told me thatâdespite thousands of people in the area for
Aquatennial fireworksâthe public couldn't use the pavilion's toilets and would
have to go ask at bars and restaurants on Main Street:
What it is about its own contracts guaranteeing citizens and taxpayers a mere
eight days of access per year to the Nicollet Island Park Pavilionâincluding
Aquatennial fireworks nightâthat the park board still doesn't understand?