Como Park 347 Acres of Urban Bliss By Jennifer R. Edlund
Dec 12, 2014
Como Park347 Acres of Urban Bliss
By Jennifer R. Edlund
Where is Como Park?
Hamline University
Como Park
384 Acres
Getting the Park Started• In 1872
– 5 commissioners were appointed to purchase between 500 and 650 acres of land
– Had to be within a convenient distance from down town St. Paul
• In 1873– City of St. Paul attained 300 acres of land on
the shores of Lake Como.• Land was originally used as farmland• Land was purchased with private
money for $100,000.• Some people were upset that such
valuable land was going to be ‘wasted’ as a park.
• In 1887– Land had changed hands many times– Finally, it became a landscape park for
“physical and moral sanitation”
Getting the Park Started
• Late 1880’s – Victoria Water Platters
• 1894 – Gates Ajar
• 1897– 3 deer were given as a gift.– These were the Como Zoo
until 1900.• Then Elk, Fox and Cebu
Cattle were added
• In 1915– 2 ‘buffalo’ were added
• gifts from Lt. Gov. Thomas Franklin
Early History
• 1904– First Japanese Garden
• Nov 7th, 1915 – Como Park Conservatory
Opened
• 1930’s – Trolley Car’s made it possible to
easily access the park at this time.
• That changed in the 1950 when GM purchased the Tracks and ripped them up.
– 1st major construction of the zoo.
– 1936 fire place erected in honor of poet Joyce Kilmer
Trees Trees Trees Trees
Trees by Alfred Joyce Kilmer
I think that I shall never seeA poem as lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prestAgainst the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,And lifts her leafy arms to pray;A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
More Recent History• 1956
– Archie Brand’s Seal Show Opened at Como Zoo
• 1957– First Director of the Zoo arrived, John A.
Fletcher– Had a limited budget of about $30,000 a year!
• 1974– Como Park Conservatory was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places• 1978
– City of Nagasaki, Japan (St. Paul’s Sister City) gave a garden design as a gift.
– Funds to build it were donated by the Ordway family.
– completed in 1979 and renovated again in 1991
More Recent History
• 1998– State Bonding passed $8,500,000
for Como Education Resource Center
• 2005– Education Resource Center
Opens– Victoria Water Platters return to
the Park• 2006
– New Tropical Encounters exhibit opened
• 2008– Early April Corpse flower
bloomed
Restoringan urban forest
Restoringlocal history
Restoringa child’s sense off wonder
Restoringconnections to nature
Location of Como Woodland
Como Woodland
Horton Ave.
Como Ave.
Project’s Goals
• Improve native species diversity in woodland
• Save historic features
• Increase storm water retention
• Improve student understanding of environmental science
• Improve stewardship behaviors
• Build 2,930 feet of trails • Put up 50 numbered posts
that correspond with online lesson plans
• Restore Joyce Kilmer Fireplace “Dutch Ovens” and adapted into a meeting place and story circle
What are they going to do?
“As an environmental education organization, the Center for Global Environmental Education (CGEE) is committed to fostering environmental literacy and stewardship. Critical to our mission are the outdoor classroom spaces that offer urban K-12 students opportunities to study, explore and understand the natural world that supports human culture. The Como Woodland restoration project would offer a unique opportunity for students to not only study the natural world, but participate in bringing a natural system back to health through the best practices of service learning and place-based education.”
Peggy KnappAssistant Professor, Center
for Global Environmental Education
For more information go to…
http://www.comowoodland.org
For more information about Como Park go to…www.comozooconservatory.org
Check out…
Japanese Lantern Lighting Festival (August 19th)
Skiing at Como Park (all winter)
Spring Flower Show (late March –Late April)
Birth of Coffee Photo Exhibit (March through Mid-May)
Party for the Planet (April 19th – April 22nd)
Sources
• Como Woodland; www.comowoodland.org; viewed April 12th, 2008.
• Como Park Zoo and Conservatory; http://www.comozooconservatory.org/; Viewed April 12th 2008.
• Ramsey County Historical Society: Como Park Neighborhood; http://www.rchs.com/neighborhoods/como_neighborhood.htm, copyright 2005.
• Minnesota Street Car Museum; http://www.msmuseum.org/; Viewed April 16th, 2008.