A nonprofit that played instrumental roles over the past 33 years in promoting and designing the downtown St. Paul riverfront — from Harriet Island to a proposed “river balcony” promenade — will shut down in July.

The St. Paul Riverfront Corp. announced Thursday that it will cease operations on July 31. A cause for the closure was not immediately announced, but in a written statement, a corporation board member alluded to difficulties raising operating funds.

The corporation was funded, in part, by grants and fees for its design consulting work on riverfront projects.

The corporation’s 2016 tax form indicates it took in $1,050,308 in total revenue while incurring $1,070,567 in expenses.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Riverfront Corporation played a visible role in reclaiming the downtown St. Paul riverfront, which had been left saddled with vacant and little-used industrial structures from a bygone era.

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Frogtown Community Center unveils new artificial turf field, playground and outdoor fun In addition to accepting and disbursing grants for riverfront projects, the corporation brought together representatives of the public and private sector — from state lawmakers and representatives of the mayor’s office to the real estate development community — to design improve connections between the river and downtown St. Paul.

In the written statement, corporation board vice chair Anne Hunt praised “the development of a public/private community partnership to address problems that no one sector can solve on its own.”

Hunt, who had been a policy aide to former St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, added: “However, it takes time to translate a new concept into a revenue stream, and there is not sufficient operating support for that development.”

A STORIED HISTORY

St. Paul Mayor George Latimer established a Riverfront Commission in 1984 to explore downtown riverfront revitalization, and the commission formed the nonprofit Riverfront Development Corporation. A decade later, St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman bolstered its role with the city, giving the corporation its current name.

From the mid-1980s onward, various plans led or promoted by the corporation called upon public and private leaders to acquire underused, blighted and vacant lots along the river and convert them to housing and other amenities, with the river serving as a unifying force.

This is a significant loss for St. Paul. They helped many neighborhoods find ways to capture and express visions for a better city, and an enormous amount of institutional memory could be lost forever when they close. https://t.co/py6iDQciXY — Jim Ivey (@stpauljim) April 26, 2018

They included the Riverfront Land Use Plan of 1986, the Great River Park vision in 1992, and the St. Paul on the Mississippi Development Framework in 1997.

Helping the corporation’s cause, the National Park Service designated a 72-mile stretch of the Mississippi River — including St. Paul’s 17-mile river valley — as a National River and Recreation Area in 1994. The St. Paul Riverfront Corporation adopted its own design center in 1998.

Riverfront improvement hit its stride from 1998 to 2004, with projects including the opening of the new Wabasha Street Bridge, Harriet Island as a public park, the Science Museum of Minnesota, Lower Landing, Landmark Plaza and initial work on Upper Landing.

SEEB LEAVES, WORK WINDS DOWN

The corporation’s work in recent years has drawn less widespread attention.

The organization convened St. Paul’s annual Great River Gathering community dinner, which from 2012 through 2016 included a “place-making residency” featuring visiting land-use and urban design experts from around the world. The annual dinner was not held last year or this one.

Through the Knight Green Line Challenge, the corporation in 2015 received a grant to host a River Balcony Prototyping Festival, which convened in September 2016.

The design competition and outdoor festival showcased how a potential elevated walkway, running parallel to Kellogg Boulevard for 1.2 miles, could someday connect existing and future development to both downtown and the riverfront. The winning design included 22 potential stops or attractions, such as landings, parks, stairways and elevators to grade level. Related Articles St. Paul district reports enrollment drop as pandemic moves school online

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After 20 years as executive director, Patrick Seeb left the Riverfront Corporation in late 2015 to help lead the “Destination Medical Center” project in Rochester, Minn. Executive director Darlene Walser joined the organization in July 2016.

Walser led a year-long process to identify challenges and solutions for the downtown business community. The “Downtown Vitality Vision” work led to the creation this year of a new 16-member St. Paul Downtown Alliance, co-chaired by St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Securian Financial Group CEO Chris Hilger.

Walser will “continue to work in leadership and consulting roles with cities across the U.S.,” according to the statement from the corporation.