Thursday night's Three Rivers Park Board meeting discussing the future of Silverwood Park wasn't the kind of local government meeting you hear about that often.
Neighbors and fans of Silverwood Park from around the metro packed the park district's small boardroom until it was standing-room only and filled two overflow rooms. More than 30 people rose to speak, all of them telling commissioners how Silverwood Park has been important in their lives, their friends' lives or their children's. Some became emotional in the process.
One speaker, Colin Silver of northeast Minneapolis, recalled numerous trips to Silverwood, which is in St. Anthony.
"I have brought my two sons for Nerf war birthday parties and I have had friends visit from both coasts and I've always said, 'Check out this incredible place that we have that is so nearby,'" he said. "I have done walks with my father, who's 80, and I have done walks with friends in recovery and we have had incredible experiences in this place."
In the end, everyone seemed to agree that Silverwood and its programming are worth preserving and even expanding so more people can enjoy it.
This discussion about Silverwood's future began in the fall at a Three Rivers meeting where some commissioners expressed concern that Hennepin County taxpayers largely fund a park that isn't in their county and that data suggest they don't heavily use. In the last decade or so, commissioners have debated where to spend park money as tax dollars have become harder to come by.
The Three Rivers Park District's tax base is suburban Hennepin County, where it gets 79% of its operating budget. But Silverwood Park, which the district opened in 2009, is located in Ramsey County. The park is unique, Three Rivers Superintendent Boe Carlson said, in its dedication to arts and arts programming. Silverwood features sculptures, an art gallery and hundreds of programs that focus on art and nature each year.
A study found 45% of visits to Silverwood are made by Ramsey County residents, compared with 22% from Anoka, 15% from Minneapolis and 12% from suburban Hennepin County. Forty-five percent of participants in Silverwood's on-site programs live in suburban Hennepin County.
In October, commissioners directed Three Rivers staffers to develop recommendations for the park, given comparatively low use from suburban Hennepin County visitors.
Those recommendations, presented Thursday, included focusing more of Silverwood's off-site programs on suburban Hennepin County, better publicizing Silverwood events and programs in suburban Hennepin County, developing more partnerships with surrounding local governments, potentially increasing revenue from renting facilities and advocating for more outside funding. This year, Three Rivers began giving priority registration for summer camps to residents of suburban Hennepin County and Scott County, which it partners with.
Erin Kolb, a commissioner who had expressed concern in October about the burden on Hennepin County taxpayers, said she left that discussion hoping to see the park's partnerships expand and said Thursday she felt optimistic, given the overwhelming community support, that could happen.
Board members said they received hundreds of written comments from community members, too. Kolb thanked community members for their enthusiasm. "It's left me confident that we'd be able to continue existing levels of servicing and also, using these staff recommendations to expand and share that love and that impact to you to our other Three Rivers areas," she said.
Concluding the discussion, Board Chair John Gibbs said he sensed genuine support for staff recommendations.
"It was a clear ... opportunity that's been surfaced that we can get contributions from others because this particular park is so well-loved," he said. "Clearly, there are opportunities to address the funding, opportunities to not just support this park but have it thrive."
