The South East Como neighborhood may see two summer events this year.
Members of the South East Como Improvement Association’s Community Building Committee presented ideas Tuesday to the neighborhood group's Executive Board about a community garden event August 10 — National Community Garden Day.
The event would be held at the Como Corner garden, said Ricardo McCurley, SECIA neighborhood coordinator.
“In the past, we’ve tried to smash a lot of events into the [Como] cookout,” McCurley said.
The garden event would serve as a smaller get-together focused on local artists and musicians, McCurley said. He added the cookout attracted hundreds of people last year and may seem slightly impersonal.
“I think it’s going in the right direction of making Como feel more like a community,” said board member Alpa Goswami.
Other board members expressed concerns that the garden event could siphon resources from the cookout. The board tasked the CBC with fleshing out their idea and bringing it back for July’s executive meeting.
Work with Vikings
Como residents will meet with representatives of the Minnesota Vikings for the first time Thursday to discuss how to appropriate a large donation from the team.
The Vikings have donated more than $200,000 to the Good Neighbor Fund, said board member Joan Menken. The money is intended to fund local projects during the 2014 and 2015 NFL seasons, when the Vikings will play at TCF Bank Stadium so a new stadium can be constructed for the team.
"They're not gonna come in and buy a huge chunk of property for us," Menken said. But the board raised possibility of using the money to add more green space to the neighborhood.
Blueprint update
Board members also laid out the timeline for further work on the Como Blueprint, a Small Area Plan the neighborhood hopes to file with the city of Minneapolis.
The next public meeting for the plan will be held early in the fall. The Blueprint Committee will present its recommendations to community members, who will have a chance to ask questions and comment on the plans.
The next SECIA Executive Board meeting is Tuesday, July 2 at 6:30 p.m. at Van Cleve Park. Meetings are open to the public.
