Tuesday, June 26, 2007

"Assissi on Ninth", St Olaf's City Park

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Many of us have been enjoying the park and if you have not visited it, I invite you to do that. The trees have already blossomed and are replaced with leaves; the volunteer parishioners from St. Olaf have been out there on Saturday mornings planting flowers and creating a green paradise in the heart of our city.

When St. Olaf bought the building that stood on the corner of 9th Street and 2nd Avenue about 10-12 years ago, it rented the space to a business but soon after that business moved. Before new renters could move in, St. Olaf was required to renovate the building to meet new city codes. It was then that St. Olaf decided to demolish the building in the hope of creating more surface parking for the Church. But, happily for us, we were denied that request because no more surface parking was allowed by the city.

What was St. Olaf to do with this property? It was then decided to make it into a small park to beautify our city and St. Olaf staff members were asked to make suggestions for naming the park. I suggested it be called “ASSISI ON NINTH,” after St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis was a great lover of animals and nature and has now become the patron saint of ecology and inspires the movement to save and protect the earth. Sr Joan Tuberty, St Olaf's

1 comment:

Cathy_of_Alex said...

It is a pleasant green space. I used to work in the building right next to it.