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A true synergy was represented in this miniature theatre. Several plans emerged from many different angles for improvement in the area. Among other plans, the environmental arm of the HMC is starting by adding a bit of flora in planters along the avenue, and a mural is going to be constructed on Hamline’s campus with leadership from several Hamline art students as well as the Hamline-Hancock Collaborative.

There is no doubt that everyone’s intentions are in line with the HMC’s mission statement to “[make] the Hamline-Midway community a better place to live and work.” However, neighborhood revitalization in the Hamline-Midway area has been on the table for years. There have been several studies of the Snelling corridor over the last decade, but the area has seen little actual change.

The current glimmer of hope comes from students at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota who have been working with the existing studies, which range from the 1997 Hamline Midway Community Plan to the Snelling Avenue Business Survey done in 2004 by Hamline students. “We found that the plans that existed were representative of the population in the area,” said Humphrey Institute student Nancy Nelson. “There was a great deal of public involvement in these studies. Everyone that should have been involved was.”

The students and HMC board presented a preliminary vision at the meeting and sought feedback from others present at the meeting. In summary, the vision calls for a safe, green, neighborhood-orientated corridor that incorporates public art, cultural elements, and history. The vision generated quite a bit of conversation as participants in the meeting left feedback on post-it notes. More than one post-it note read, “This [proposal] lacks direction.”

“If you can think of a worse place to plant things, you’ve got me beat,” said Jansen, sitting at his chair in Shirtz Unlimited č an outfit he owns and operates that does custom screen printing for orders “from one to 1,000.” “Plants and trees along [Snelling Ave.] are breathing exhaust, and they’re cut off from water.”

Although planters are a busywork task at first glance, it is a much more complicated process than it seems. The plants have to be resistant enough to pollution so that they don’t choke, native to the area, and short enough as to not obstruct vision. Once they’re planted, the pesky things have to be taken care of too.

“Our major concern is to make sure that the planters are watered,” Jansen said. “It is hard to get water to the things without making people carry five gallon buckets around.” The plants need to be watered three to four times a week, depending on natural rainfall. The planters will also need to be weeded regularly.

Right now, Jansen’s group is not looking too far into the future. “We just want to get this under our belt so that we can have accomplished something,” Jansen said. “It is a good place to start. Planters are visible. We’re also going to be doing cleanup along the avenue; of course, that’s always a losing battle.”

“Last week we went into class with the third graders at Hancock,” said Hamline senior art student Katey Lee. “We had them design some of the symbols we are going to use on the mural, and later we’re going to have them actually paint it with us.” The mural, which represents the collaboration between Hamline and Hancock, and barring any delays will be the first proposal from this round of revitalization to come to fruition when it is completed at the end of April.

The mural will consist of 3 squares that are 4’ by 5’. The original plan was to put them on the corner of Snelling and Englewood for maximum visibility for students at both Hamline and Hancock, as well as those driving through the neighborhood. However, university administration and public works took issue with the location.

“We are generally careful with anything we put on campus,” said Associate Vice President for Facility Services Lowell Bromander. “That corner is an entrance to campus and we wanted to keep it that way for pedestrian traffic.”

Bromander said that Hamline and other parties came to an agreement to place the mural just to the west of Sorin Residence hall, but not quite on the intersection. “This new location satisfied all parties involved,” Bromander said. “The mural will still be visible, and we’ll get to preserve that area on the corner as it is.”

There may have been a small amount of controversy regarding the placement of the mural, however it is still the first tangible thing to come out of this project thusfar. “We do a lot of things together with the elementary school,” said Lee. “We have the H.O.S.T. program, Hand-in-Hand, and we host their Earth Day celebration. This mural is a way to show that collaboration through art.”

The mural will be in line with HMC’s proposal to use public art, and it will also reflect Hancock’s motto that “college begins at kindergarten.”