MWMO Installing Water Monitoring Equipment - Stormwater Basin at Bridal Veil
August 06, 2026
A little technological update for our stormwater storage basin! For those of you who don’t know, we have a massive cistern beneath Bridal Veil Gardens that captures and filters stormwater to be used by the surrounding properties and for plant watering along 4th street. Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO), our partner organization, is responsible for making this project happen. They recently installed new monitoring equipment to track volume and usage, as detailed in this video. Take a walk on down to Bridal Veil and check out the rain garden and read more about the storage basin on the large circular sign at the southeast corner of the park.<a target="_blank" href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LOJxYgNV-EB-BsQaol-15CJvaCJIqAWX/view?usp=sharing" rel="noreferrer noopener">MWMO Installation </a>
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Green 4th Street Planting - Community Workshops with Spark-Y
August 03, 2026
Community planting workshops, hosted by our contracted partner in Green 4th Street maintenance, Spark-Y, are happening later this summer! Spark-Y will be hosting four planting workshops for the community and youth in August and September. The community workshops will be August 25 and September 15, and the youth workshops will be September 22 and September 29. Alternate rain dates will be shared later if necessary. Save these dates and come on out!Our other contracted partner for the area of 4th Street east of 29th ave, MetroBlooms, will be doing their updated planting around the same time. Be on the lookout for them as well!
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Creative Enterprise Zone + Towerside Innovation District - District Economics and Economic Development Study
July 16, 2026
Linked here is a study conducted by Towerside, along with the CEZ. The goals of this project were:• Engage a larger, broader audience to understand the work of the CEZand Towerside (“the Partners”) and their significance, including localchambers of commerce, public agency and philanthropic partners.• Acquisition and potential reuse of property in the Project Area bynonprofit and private partners allied with the mission.• An intentional strategy to take advantage of industry clusters at playin the Project Area, to maximize community benefit.<a target="_blank" href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lqLxHuNt5zmUO4m7g5GfIeK_15FxRerN/view?usp=sharing" rel="noreferrer noopener">CEZ + TID Econ</a>
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Bridal Veil Watershed by Sarah Nassif - MWMO Resident Artist Donated Painting
July 14, 2026
This community-created watercolor illustrates the historic natural features of the Bridal Veil subwatershed which drains into the Mississippi River. Created during the Earth Week Water Party held at Malcolm Yards in April 2025, the artwork illuminates the waterways that shaped this landscape before they disappeared underground because of urban development.Community participants worked with Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO) Artist in Residence Sarah Nassif to watercolor features she identified through historical research, including Kasota Wetlands, Bridal Veil Creek and Falls, and the lake that once occupied the area now known as Langford Park. Today, water flows through a built environment of streets, stormwater pipes, and the innovative storm sewer infrastructure Towerside is known for. By painting its historic contours and waterways, participants explored how water continues to connect neighborhoods, ecosystems, and communities.
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Annual Meeting Slide Deck - 07/09/2026
July 13, 2026
Thank you to all who came out for our annual meeting! You can find the slideshow detailing what was discussed, including project updates and community survey statistics, at the link below.<a target="_blank" href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vQ1fr8P0qqgb3LdVfEe5mDd7dyf4A-NKaG-JZl6MGBOSUGYPY4VoxJ533g78JY4HbOq1MaR0-i2N3fg/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=5000&slide=id.g273801a2dc5_0_476" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annual Meeting Slide Deck - 07/09/2026</a>
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Come to the Towerside Innovation District Annual Meeting!
June 17, 2026
When: Thursday, July 9th from 8:00-9:30am / Where: 3rd Floor Conference Room of the Court Building, 2550 University Ave W, Saint Paul 55114 / Free breakfast included! / Agenda will be sent out to guests who RSVP prior to the meeting. Send RSVPs to staff@towersidemsp.org
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Welcome Our New Executive Director - Kim Havey
June 10, 2026
We’re thrilled to welcome Kim W. Havey (he/him/his) as the new Executive Director of Towerside Innovation District. Kim brings more than 20 years of experience in sustainability, renewable energy, climate policy, and equitable urban development, and we are excited to celebrate the leadership, vision, and dedication he brings to Towerside as we look ahead to an inspiring new chapter.
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Harvest Festival 2022
December 11, 2022
The Fall Harvest Festival was held on September 22nd in the newly named Bridal Veil Gardens.
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Towerside Energy District
October 01, 2021
The vision of Towerside Innovation District always included innovation in energy use; sustainability, energy independence, and without the use of fossil fuels.
That groundbreaking sustainability project moved a significant step forward on September 24, 2021 when the Minneapolis City Council approved a loan for the construction of an aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system.
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Chroma Zone Mural Festival
September 27, 2021
It started as an idea, to install large outdoor murals on the vast walls of a gritty industrial area of Saint Paul. That idea became reality through a founding partnership with the Creative Enterprise Zone (CEZ), a city recognized district and nonprofit organization dedicated to attracting and supporting creative people and businesses.
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Green 4th Street Volunteer Day
September 01, 2021
This summer, representatives of Towerside and Prospect Park Properties joined Mississippi Watershed Maintenance Organization (MWMO)’s Green Team extending a little tlc to Towerside’s green space, and exercising its core objective—to bring community together—supporting renewable energy, including a sustainable and restorative infrastructure, and creating a new century nexus for people, to live, work, learn, research, explore and engage.
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MWMO Towerside District Storm Water System
September 01, 2021
The District Stormwater System at Towerside, captures, treats, and reuses stormwater runoff draining from a roughly two-block area next to the Prospect Park light rail station, near the University of Minnesota. In addition to keeping pollutants out of the nearby Mississippi River, the system creates opportunities for reusing captured stormwater for purposes like irrigation and industrial use.
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The Market at Malcom Yards Open
August 16, 2021
The long-imagined The Market at Malcom Yards opened its doors to the delight of adventurous diners, eager neighbors, late-night couples and curious tourists.
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O’Shaughnessy Distillery Opens
July 01, 2021
Started by cousins, Patrick and Michael O’Shaughnessy, with a vision to make whiskeys worthy of their rich Irish American heritage, O’Shaughnessy Distillery employs a distinctive approach to their art. Using the Irish-style three copper pot stills and tapping our northern waters and midwestern grains to bring a whole new genre of whiskey to life. But they didn’t just bring in any old distiller; they brought in Brian Nation, the former master distiller of Jameson, who has left Cork, Ireland for Minnesota.
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Plans for East Gateway - UMN
March 01, 2021
A gateway to campus: The vision for Stadium Village comes to fruition. The East Gateway Project, a plan led by a University of Minnesota Foundation (UMF) partnership, aims to forge an entry from the Prospect Park neighborhood and Interstate-94 into the University of Minnesota campus.
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The Pillars of Prospect Park Opens
July 01, 2020
In May, as University of Minnesota students were departing their resident halls and heading home for the summer, the first seniors began moving into their new residents—down the street—at The Pillars of Prospect Park.
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Review: Winners Take All, the Elite Charade of Changing the World
April 11, 2019 by Steve Quam
“All around us in America is the clank-clank-clank of the new—in our companies and economy, our neighborhoods and schools, our technologies and social fabric. But these novelties have failed to translate into broadly shared progress for the betterment of our overall civilization.”
With these words, Anand Giridharadas introduces his book, Winners Take All, the Elite Charade of Changing the World. He points out that we live in a society constructed to benefit the elite, and though our winners wish to be viewed as benevolent and well-intentioned, they are not inclined to consider fundamental structural change that would solve major social problems or reverse the flow of wealth – if it requires sacrifice from them.
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Minneapolis 2040 Plan includes Innovation District Policy
December 12, 2018
Towerside suggested a change to the Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan to add an “Innovation District” policy that would fulfill the City of Minneapolis’s Resolution 2015R-336 (Aug. 13, 2015), which resolves “that the City of Minneapolis will develop a definition of Innovation Districts to include in the City’s Comprehensive Plan update.” This recommended policy addition was included in the approved Minneapolis 2040 Plan. It establishes and supports Innovation Districts to employ district-scale infrastructure and systems and to implement flexible policies and practices to allow for experimentation and innovation consistent with the City’s most ambitious goals.
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Today's Industrial Market: What's New?
August 20, 2018 by Julie Kimble
The industrial segment looks dramatically different than it did even five short years ago. No longer the “ugly duckling” of commercial real estate, industrial leads the way as changes in technology, supply chain and consumer habits drive demand for industrial property. Industrial is no longer just warehouses and smokestacks. Today, industrial means high-wage, life science research and development jobs.
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Planning for 2040: We must come together; our future depends on it
August 14, 2018 by Catherine Reid Day
Clustering more closely and increasing the density of our cities will leave space for the rest of life to have a fighting chance. It's a bold vision, but the stakes are great.
Editorial by Catherine Reid Day, Towerside Board Member and Board President of the Creative Enterprise Zone, Star Tribune, August 14th, 2018.
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From the Neighborhood Up: EcoDistricts Incubator
May 15, 2018
Towerside attended the EcoDistricts Incubator program in Portland this May with support from the Surdna Foundation and Minnesota Design Center. The dynamic three-day workshop brought together key project stakeholders from six district and neighborhood-scale projects around the country. In this charrette-style learning environment EcoDistricts helped each team create a customized Roadmap for their project.
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Cultivating Place - 2017 Harvest Festival
October 30, 2017
Harvest Festival is a fall evening gathering of community to share food, music, art, laughter, conversation and ideas. It takes place on the land immediately south of United Crushers grain elevators and is an event that showcases the value, importance, the unique potential of this site to become a signature green gathering place for the neighborhood. The event featured
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Pioneering District Stormwater Management Solutions
June 01, 2017 by Towerside
The District Stormwater System at Towerside is a first-of-its-kind system that provides cost-effective stormwater management and reuse while providing public green space. It captures and stores runoff draining from a roughly two-block area next to the Prospect Park light rail station, near the University of Minnesota. In addition to treating the stormwater to remove pollutants, the system creates opportunities for reusing captured stormwater for purposes like irrigation and industrial use.
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