Shoreham Area Advisory Committee (SAAC)

Shoreham Area Advisory Committee (SAAC)

Shoreham Roundhouse (Photo by Gayle Bonneville)

The Shoreham Area Advisory Committee invites you to join us for our monthly meetings and to join in the discussion of issues related to this 230-acre rail yard in northeast Minneapolis.

When: Second Monday of each month, 7 p.m.

Where: Holland Neighborhood Improvement Association office, 2516 Central Ave. NE, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

What's New:
1. The "Nine Lives" Poster Project -- Visit us at the huge and wonderful Art-A-Whirl May 15-17 outside room 355 at the Northrup King Building, 1500 Jackson St. NE, Minneapolis. Our "Made in Minnesota" poster featuring icons of the Historic Shoreham Roundhouse is now available. Purchases of the "Nine Lives" Project poster are tax deductible as a charitable contribution. A huge "thank you" to artist/sculptor Foster Willey for donating his vision of the Historic Shoreham Roundhouse to help SAAC as it works to save this important landmark. Click on the "Nine Lives" link at left or below for further details and to see the poster.

2. Redevelopment News: Requests for Proposals are due June 1, 2009, for either of two parcels -- nearly 18 acres each -- at Shoreham Yards. One parcel includes the Historic Shoreham Roundhouse. Details are at:

3. Interesting Reading - The Rochester Coalition (www.protectrochester.com) as well as Citizens for Rail Safety (www.citizensforrailsafety.org) provide interesting reading for anyone living or working near railroads. Minneapolis' Eastside neighborhoods, home to nearly 60,000 of our city's 384,000 residents, are impacted by many of these same issues and concerns.
3. Shoreham Roundhouse Reuse Study -- being finalized by city.
4. Great City Design Team Charrette -- Our thanks to the AIA and its partners for this great work in helping our community define a vision for our neighborhood's future.
5. Central Avenue Small Area Plan -- includes recommendations on Shoreham Yards along Central Avenue NE.
6. The Historic Shoreham Roundhouse is still in place, although some demolition took place recently despite community requests for public hearings and more effective handling of this issue by the city and property owner. Contact us or join us at our monthly meetings to learn the details.
7. Many other issues are impacting our community due to the presence of this property owner. Find out more at our SAAC Community Meetings.

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SAAC is ...

a multi-neighborhood collaboration formed by a court order to serve as "a forum and method for community outreach and communication, and for non-binding, informal resolution" of issues stemming from Shoreham Yards.

Shoreham Yards is...

* a 230-acre rail yard/rail distribution center in northeast Minneapolis owned by Canadian Pacific Railway/Soo Line. Shoreham is bordered on the east by Central Avenue, the west by University Avenue, the south by 27th Avenue NE, and the north by St. Anthony Parkway. Shoreham is the historic home of the Soo Line's rail operations, dating back to the late 1800s.

* home to Minneapolis' largest polluted site, including a state Superfund site and three other contaminated parcels.

* a source of key regional groundwater aquifer contamination and soil pollution that includes TCE, PCE, PCP, VOCs and dioxin.

* the proposed site of a city- and community-approved redevelopment plan in 2000 that neighbors hoped would stimulate hundreds of new jobs, major corridor revitalization, tax-base enhancement and reduced collateral blight; neighbors continue to advocate for sustainable, community-friendly redevelopment that preserves Shoreham's historic assets.

* the site of the Historic Shoreham Roundhouse, named one of Minnesota's 10 Most Endangered Properties in 2003 and designated by the city of Minneapolis as a historic property.

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