Published on: Tue, 11/13/2007 - 14:01
From November 8 to December 21 you can vote to help win support for three local community improvement projects through HGTV’s new television program Change the World. Start at Home. Nine cities across the country are competing for life-transforming assistance – and viewers will decide.
The Saint Paul projects feature a mix of historic preservation, community, education, and environmental improvement, including:
- Helping a deserving family with an unfinished home renovation. After her husband passed away 18 months ago, Kris Nelson’s dreams of restoring their three-story Victorian era home were put on hold. She and her two sons hope to be able to complete their home with a help from HGTV, Rebuilding Together and the National Trust for Historic Preservation;
- Transforming the grounds of the Wilder Recreation Center/City Academy. The WPA building was designed by Saint Paul City Architect Clarence (“Cap”) Wigington, the country’s first African American municipal architect. School administrators at City Academy building teach their students the importance of giving back to the community through volunteering and caring for the environment. Without a much-needed facelift, the growth of the school and neighboring community center is stunted by space and environmental limitations;
- Restoring and interpreting the ecological and cultural resources in the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, a Mississippi River area open space just east of downtown Saint Paul that includes remnants of our industrial and indigenous history. Though the park has come a long way since its days as a contaminated rail yard, there is still much to be done and it remains a work in progress.
Kristenza and Kids: Kris and her kids shared their story (and toys) during the Restore Saint Paul tour for the National Preservation Conference
Click here to read more about the projects and view photos in an article by Chris Havens of the Star Tribune.
Historic Saint Paul has connections to all three projects: (1) the Nelson’s exterior renovation was sponsored in part by the Restore Saint Paul loan program (2) Historic Saint Paul worked with the Lower Phalen Creek Project and the National Parks Service to install interpretive panels at the entrance of the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary; and (3) City Academy students painted a vibrant mural on a Restore Saint Paul commercial restoration project. Historic Saint Paul can attest that these are truly worthy community building efforts, but…
YOUR VOTE IS NEEDED TO HELP THESE PROJECTS!
Go ahead, really – Change the World. Start at Home.
“Click here to VOTE SAINT PAUL”:http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/ah_change_the_world/text/0,,HGTV_30676_65470,00.html
