In 2011, the garden and Cowles Conservatory combined to bring in $33,000 in revenue generated primarily through event fees. But the Park Board and the Walker Art Museum spent $246,000 to operate the garden and conservatory, losing about $211,000, even though 325,000 people visit each year. 

One of the biggest expenses, according to Park Board Assistant Superintendent of Planning Services Bruce Chamberlain, is the big, glass conservatory, where an outdated heating system has to pump in hot air in order to keep plants alive in the winter. Over the past two years combined, Cowles utility bills have cost nearly $100,000.
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The number of retail operations in Block E continues to dwindle. Three more retail tenants have closed their doors, with the movie theater likely to follow soon. Both the GameStop and Jewel Spa have closed, and the Mrs. Field’s Cookies franchise has “temporarily suspended service.”

The GameStop branch closed its doors on Nov. 10, 2011, according to GameStop corporate. Jewel Spa closed its doors on Dec. 3. Mrs. Field’s corporate did not respond to requests for a statement, but the downtown location is no longer listed on its website.

In a related story, the Eight U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Paul upheld a previous ruling that the AMC Theater in Block E does no
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Three people have been robbed on the Midtown Greenway this month.

In the most recent incident reported to police on Jan. 16, a cyclist was knocked off the bike by two robbers demanding money on the Greenway near 12th Avenue South at 10:30 p.m., according to a crime alert. The cyclist had injuries to the face and the robbers got away with the victim's backpack.

Two people walking along the Greenway near Elliot Ave. S. were robbed a gunpoint by two men on Jan. 9 at 11:20 p.m. They were not injured, but had a cell phone, cash and credit cards stolen.

Similar suspect descriptions have been reported to police. In one case, they were described as Native American or Hispanic men around 20 to 25 years old. In the other incident, they were described as Na
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“Regrettably, there is not yet a stadium proposal with a complete and sufficient financial plan, one which assigns equitable obligations to the Vikings, the local partner, and the State of Minnesota,” he said in his written analysis.

Dayton did, however, indicate that two Minneapolis sites were the most viable because legislators would allow the Minneapolis City Council to bypass a referendum for diverting existing sales taxes to the project.

Dayton praised the Linden Avenue site for its proximity to Target Center, Target Field, hot
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Popular Minnesota State Fair and street food vendor Turkey To Go will open its new skyway restaurant location on Jan. 23 in the Baker Building, 706 2nd Ave. S. on Monday, Jan. 23. 

In addition to Turkey To Go’s trademark turkey sandwiches, the restaurant also offers salads and pitas and a new toppings bar so patrons can customize their meal. Toppings include lettuce, tomatoes, mozzarella, salami, jalepenos and much more.

The 16-table restaurant is decorated with vintage photos of the State Fair Turkey To Go Booth that stretch back all the way to the booth’s debut in 1958.

His proposal includes $25 million to rebuild Nicollet Mall downtown and $8.5 million toward renovations at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

Also included in Dayton’s proposal is $25 million toward a future Southwest Corridor light rail line that would run from Eden Prairie to downtown Minneapolis.

Nicollet Mall was the city’s No. 1 request for bonding money. Downtown businesses say the Mall’s granite pavers are cracking and require millions to repair.
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Minnesota’s three largest local Chambers of Commerce ­­­– the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce and the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce – have jointly voiced their support for Gov. Mark Dayton’s inclusion of $25 million in state funding for the Southwest Light Rail Transit line in his Jan. 17 bonding proposal. The proposed Southwest LRT would connect the southwest suburbs with downtown Minneapolis and the regions three existing Light Rail lines, the Central Corridor Light Rail, Hiawatha Light Rail and Northstar Commuter Rail.

“As the economy edges toward improvement, major Twin Cities employers will be looking to expand – either
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After a weekend of preview servings, Eli’s East Food and Cocktails is officially open at 815 Hennepin Ave. E. 

“Today is the official first day, said general manager Kate Maxey.

Eli’s East is the second location for Eli’s Food and Cocktails, 1225 Hennepin Ave. S. According to Maxey, the owners of Eli’s have been considering an expansion for a few years and always liked the Northeast building that is now home to Eli’s East. After negotiating with the building’s owners, they closed on the property in August. The building was completely gutted, so everything inside is completely new, including a custom copper
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CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT — The former home of the original Hell’s Kitchen and short-lived restaurants Subo and The Inn at 89 10th St. S will soon become Devil’s Advocate, a new restaurant intended as a neighborhood bar for people who live downtown.

“The food is very approachable,” said Forsberg. “Think American bistro. What’s missing in my mind is something that is a repeat kind of place. It’s not a special occasion kind of place. It’s the kind of place with approachable food with a comfortable atmosphere that creates a great everyday experience.”

Forsberg has hired Mathew Frederick, formerly of Porter & Frye as the restaurant’s head chef. Forsberg said Frederick was the only chef he inter
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Washburn Center for Children planning new treatment center on Glenwood for children with mental illnesses

The Washburn Center for Children, a mental health center based in the Whittier neighborhood, is planning a major expansion and drafting plans for a new campus near the International Market Square on Glenwood Avenue.

The plan calls for a 50,000-square-foot building designed to be a state-of-the-art treatment center on a 2.5-acre site at Glenwood and Dupont avenues. Pending fundraising efforts, groundbreaking will be in 2013 with an opening planned for the following year, said Steve Lepinski, executive director of the Washburn Center for Children.

Washburn is in the midst of a $21 million capital campaign to raise money for the new facil
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Trivia players pack the 331 Club in Northeast every Sunday to compete for prizes like a $50 bar tab, a random object from the basement, or the opportunity to watch an emcee sit on their car.

Trivia Mafia, a company that has expanded into 26 bar events across the metro, is celebrating its fifth anniversary this month.

Trivia Mafia was started by two guys: Chuck Terhark, a freelance writer who created the Zombie Pub Crawl and plays in a jug band; and Sean McPherson, a songwriting professor and bassist in Heiruspecs.

“Neither Chuck or I are star trivia players,” McPherson said.

“I do take advantage of that, and pretend I know all the answers,” said Terhark, who also writes a column about life in Northeast for The
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Behind the scenes of ‘The Lion King’

On July 8, 1997, a musical unlike any the world had ever seen opened at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. “The Lion King” was not the first stage production of a popular Disney movie, but it was easily the most daring. Directed by avant-garde theater veteran Julie Taymor, the show’s combination of traditional Disney material with African masks, Japanese puppetry techniques and cutting-edge set design seemed like a huge risk.  

“We all wondered whether or not it was going to work, especially when we saw the costumes. They were something that no one had ever seen before,” said Orpheum Theatre operations manager Dave Marietta. “But this one we knew was a succ
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For years we’ve all been hearing about a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings. In the current go-round, the first specific stadium proposal was released way back in 2007. Since then, we’re read about studies, heard proposals for financing it, and seen fancy drawings of several sites.   

But with all this talk, including a popular idea of a People’s Stadium, we’ve heard shockingly little about what the people are actually going to get out of this project.  

Yes, Minnesota will keep some of the revenue, and keep associated business like hotels and bars that rely on the Vikings. And yes, Minnesota will get to keep the heartache associated with rooting for the Vikings. But these are things we already have, and they contribute to a
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Today, for the second time in two months, Rybak went before the full City Council and made his case for using existing sales taxes for a new Vikings stadium. Despite promising them that he would lower the city property tax levy annually by $5 million for the next five years and remove the Target Center off the back of Minneapolis residents, the City Council remains highly skeptical.

Prior to the meeting, at least six City Council members — Betsy Hodges Lisa Goodman, Robert Li
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Crown Hydro in October met with the Corps of Engineers to discuss a proposal that would allow the company to build intake valves near the St. Anthony Falls lock wall, according to documents filed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Jan. 20. Crown says the proposal would not require the approval of the Park Board, which has fought tooth and nail against the project.

Those documents were sent to FERC in order to convince the commission that the project
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