MINNEAPOLIS — Even before Minneapolis existed, Minnehaha Falls was drawing visitors to the region.
"We looked up things to do in Minnesota and this was one of them," said Christian Fisk, who is visiting town from Atlanta with his family. "I saw some pretty good photos of it."
"I wanted to see if I could film like the moving water and also just to look at the power," said Anna Disco, who traveled from Fridley to try out her new camera. "The power of the water is just so cool."
Carol Hajlstone, design project manager for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, says an upcoming redesign of the viewing areas around the falls will aim to balance that natural beauty with the collective desire to visit it.
"It was one of the first places I came to when I came to Minneapolis, so it feels extra close to my heart," Hajlstone said. "When Minneapolis was first a city there used to be a photo booth here where you could get postcards with your picture by the falls, so it's been a popular spot for photography for a very long time."
But all that traffic, and all that water, have also taken a toll.
"You can feel the mist on your face right now, we know there is a lot of groundwater pushing on this infrastructure," she said.
Standing on the viewing platform on the north side, Hajlstone pointed out several areas where the water is clearly winning.
"From here, you can see where the south slope has eroded," she said. "There are remnants of an old retaining wall that was installed, I believe, in the 90's, which didn't hold up too well."
Last fall, large sections of the 1930's infrastructure that established the south side viewing platforms crumbled and forced the closure of the entire slope.
"After the drought last summer, there were a couple of big rainstorms, and that was when all of this just had collapsed even more," said Hajlstone, pointing to fallen concrete that still blocks one of the stairways.
Fixing that infrastructure will require much more than the current patchwork of fixes, because she says the entire structure is at risk.
"Do you see the dripping water?" Hajlstone said, pointing to several areas of the viewing area where water is seeping from the slope. "That's a constant force on all this infrastructure."
She says seep holes in concrete and other modern techniques and materials are needed, which is why the Park and Recreation Board is working on a few proposals to improve the area around the falls itself, and a nearby boardwalk that also recently closed down.
"The coating that's on the current decking actually trapped water inside and caused the decking to rot out," she said.
While plans for the new the boardwalk decking will move forward soon, Hajlstone says the Park Board will seek public input on the larger restoration of the viewing areas.
"We're looking for input on some of the locations for viewing points, for instance, or what type of infrastructure and materials that we're using," she said.
She says one of the designs will likely blend in with the existing 1930's era stonework, while others may offer a bigger shift in style and overall design for the area.
Public input meetings haven't been scheduled yet, but Hajlstone says they will take place some time in July. Stay with KARE11 for more information.
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