Scandia celebrates Gateway Trail extension, heritage center funds

For a city with a population of fewer than 4,000 and an annual budget of just $2 million, Scandia is a lobbying powerhouse.

The community in north Washington County recently got a major boost – $2 million – from the state bonding bill for its Water Tower Barn Arts & Heritage Center.

In addition, the city will receive $2.68 million through the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources to build an extension of the Gateway Trail through Scandia.

The efforts of city residents involved in the two projects have been extraordinary, said Mayor Christine Maefsky.

"We have very committed people, very smart people, people who are willing to work hard," she said. "We tapped into the strengths of the various members of the community that we’ve got."

Both efforts are textbook examples of how to lobby for projects at the Capitol.

An architect's rendering of the future Water Tower Barn Arts and Heritage Center in Scandia. The Minnesota Legislature included $2 million for the project in its bonding bill during the 2023 session. The renderings were created by architect Peter Hilger, with assistance from CAD designer Vicki Heschke. (Courtesy of Scandia Heritage Alliance)

An architect's rendering of the outdoor amphitheater that will be part of Scandia's Water Tower Barn Arts and Heritage Center. (Courtesy of Scandia Heritage Alliance)

An architect's rendering of what the Water Tower Barn Arts and Heritage Center in Scandia will look like. (Courtesy of Scandia Heritage Alliance)

An architect's rendering of the Water Tower Barn Arts and Heritage Center's water play area. (Courtesy of Scandia Heritage Alliance)

An architect's rendering of the Water Tower Barn Arts and Heritage Center site in Scandia. (Courtesy of Scandia Heritage Alliance)

Members of the Scandia Heritage Alliance gave their first presentation to the House Capital Investment Committee in March 2021 via Zoom. Longtime lobbyist Bill Strusinski, who moved to Scandia four years ago, and retired Rep. Bob Dettmer, R-Forest Lake, secured the group's "place at the table," said Sue Rodsjo, chairwoman of the Scandia Heritage Alliance board.

Then the Capital Investment Committee came to Scandia on their bonding tour in November 2021, and the group presented the plans for the project during an information session at the Gammelgarden Museum, Rodsjo said.

"Little towns don't have the revenue to do big projects, so we need funding to make things happen," Rodsjo said. "We have tapped into a network of amazing Scandia volunteers – you wouldn't believe the talent in this community. Never underestimate what a group of passionate individuals can accomplish."

The Water Tower Barn Arts & Heritage Center will be located just south of the Scandia Community Center and east of the Gammelgarden Museum. The city is having its historic Hilltop Water Co. barn – complete with working windmill – reassembled on the site. The center will include a museum on the history of Scandia, an outdoor amphitheater, an indoor stage, a splash pad play area for kids, and a wetland overlook and trails.

The board owes a "debt of thanks" to Strusinski and attorney John Herman, who live in Scandia and "just happen to be experts on legislative funding opportunities," Rodsjo said.

Strusinski said he and his wife, Kirsten Libby, were looking for "a space out in the country" when they decided to leave St. Paul's Crocus Hill neighborhood four years ago. In Scandia, they "found a beautiful community with very friendly and accommodating folks, and we fit right in," he said. "They’re progressive minded on a lot of things."

The Legislature is interested in participating in projects if they have regional or statewide significance – projects like the Gateway Trail extension and the Water Tower Barn Arts & Heritage Center, Strusinski said.

Communities that can raise some money locally to help match the state dollars have an even better chance of getting their projects funded, he said.

"In the case of Scandia, we have people here from a philanthropic outlook, happy to step up to the plate to help finance these projects," Strusinski said. "They have loyalty and commitment to the community, and it demonstrates why it's a good place to live and recreate. That let the state dollars get spread to many other local communities."

To date, Scandia Heritage Alliance has raised about $600,000 in cash and donated professional services, materials and park land provided by the city, Rodsjo said.

Alliance members plan to launch a capital campaign this fall to raise additional foundation grants and individual contributions.

"We are confident in our ability to raise the remaining funds, and we hope to begin construction in 2025," she said.

SHA board member Dan Willius said the city's Water Tower Barn is historically significant because it was the "first appearance of commerce in the community."

"If you look at Gammelgarden's focus it's really on the first settlers who came here to get settled and once they were settled, the next chapter happens, and that's what we want to start with," he said. "The fact that this was the first site of commerce in the community was important, but the Water Tower Barn was also all about clean water. Farmers would come with their tank trucks because it was a lot less expensive to get water here than to build a well. It fed the neighborhood with clean water."

Bicyclists and walkers in the Scandia area also were big winners this legislative session. Backers of a three-mile extension of the Gateway Trail received $2.68 million in LCCMR funding. The Gateway Trail currently runs 19 miles — from St. Paul to Pine Point Park in Stillwater Township — and attracts an estimated 125,000 users a year.

The $2.6 million will cover one mile of trail from downtown Scandia – the trailhead will be located behind Meister's Bar and Grill – to Oakhill Road, where there will be a tunnel going under Oakhill, said Lisa Philippi, president of Friends of Scandia Parks and Trails, who helped lead the effort.

The money also will cover a realignment of Oakhill Road to accommodate the new tunnel, Philippi said; the trail extension will be built by December 2026.

Friends of Scandia Parks and Trails will be working to raise additional funds to cover the mile of trail that would take bicyclists from the Oakhill tunnel to William O’Brien State Park and another mile of trail within the park, she said.

Eventually, the Gateway Trail will connect Pine Point Park and William O’Brien State Park, Philippi said. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources can't do that section yet "because they haven't purchased the land yet," she said. "But that will happen someday."

Both projects will help put Scandia on the map, Mayor Maefsky said.

"They are going to encourage the kind of growth that we want to have here, which is people who care about the history, who care about the arts, who care about the environment and recognize that that's what the city is committed to and want to be a part of it," she said.

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