MILESTONES AND INVESTMENTS

If you’re standing at the corner of N. Asbury Street and Spruce Tree Drive, looking northwest to the Snelling/University intersection, you will be staring up at “The Calling,” otherwise known as the giant loon sculpture made by international artist Andy Scott. The sculpture stands 32.5 feet high with a wingspan of 89 feet, and was officially unveiled in October 2024. At the event marking the occasion, Mayor Carter said it would become the “most Instagrammable site in Minnesota.” Whether or not that’s become accurate yet, it has already become very common to see visitors taking photos and walking around it.

If you were to look toward the Snelling/University intersection, you would see the backside of the loon as it appears to be taking flight from the water. The image can be interpreted as the future of the Midway and what’s to come as the United Village development takes shape. What’s also noticeable is how the loon appears to be squaring off against the vacant CVS. The visual is emblematic of the Snelling/University intersection, and the Midway overall, as it faces its past, present and looks to the future.

Investments continue in the neighborhood with new and expanding businesses. In a few months in late 2024, the Midway Chamber helped cut ribbons on businesses including: the newly expanded Udo’s Market, Hotworx, Dilla’s Sports Bar, and welcomed new ownership for Black Garnet Books. Notably, Udo’s took over the former Hardware Hank’s site at 755 University and Dilla’s opened in the old Midway Uniform store at 1625 University. Both storefronts stood vacant for years before being redeveloped by immigrant families.

Other business owners celebrated major milestones in 2024, including many in the brewery industry. Urban Growler and Burning Brothers both marked their tenth anniversaries last year, while Lake Monster will celebrate their tenth in December 2025. And Dual Citizen is wrapping up expansion work which will include upstairs space for guests; they also moved most of their production to a nearby warehouse. Many taprooms both locally and nationally occupy space previously zoned industrial, which breathes new life into old buildings.

Many breweries have seen the popularity of THC products increase their sales, and the Midway’s future could see a boom in the expanded marijuana laws as well as an increase in spirit distilleries. Similar to breweries, the Midway has a lot of industrial space for manufacturing the products and also has adequate, centrally located space for socializing. Moving forward, we hope to see easier access to these hot spots with placemaking, more signage, and better transit, bicycle and pedestrian options.

Going back to United Village, The Calling wasn’t the only addition in 2024. PK’s Place, a playground accessible for children with all abilities, opened in June. This means the first two projects in what’s called Phase One of United Village are both free and open to the public. Once the ground thaws in spring 2025, ground will be broken for three more parts of the project: office space, a hotel, and restaurants. At a community meeting in February 2025 about United Village, Dr. Bill McGuire shared more news about potential developments in future phases.

Heading north on Snelling, we can see another redeveloped building – the new home for African Economic Development Solutions. Named Little Africa Plaza, the building is home to African-immigrant businesses, a museum and African Economic Development Solutions. The organization held a ribbon cutting in August 2024 to commemorate the construction work, with an official opening in late 2024. Originally a car showroom built in 1926, the site is perfect for AEDS as it supports many nearby African businesses and has a front row view of the annual Little Africa Fest the first Sunday in August.

As we look toward the future, we do so knowing we have present-day challenges. In a neighborhood that should be one of the most walkable in Saint Paul, residents are concerned about fentanyl use. Efforts are being made to help stabilize Snelling/University, which include work by the Midway Chamber of Commerce, Hamline Midway Coalition and Union Park District Council.

Special elections are bringing in new leadership to the Midway. Trista Martinson stepped down as Ramsey County Commissioner in District 3 to become the first Executive Director for Ramsey/Washington Recycling and Energy, which led to the election of Garrison McMurtrey. In a rare moment, 2025 will see both a mayoral race and a special election for the Ward 4 City Council seat. This places added emphasis to our neighborhood and we hope candidates in both races will provide details in showing support for the Midway.

The Midway is constantly changing, and always has been. The developments that took place in 2024 and will this year are going to have ripple effects leading to more changes in the coming years. The Midway Chamber remains committed to working with other community groups and elected officials to ensure we continue to build a stronger Midway.