Imagine having the sidewalk
or even the street in front of your home closed for use at 7 p.m.
or even earlier. That’s
been the case with some of St. Paul’s skyways, which connect
downtown buildings. Change has come with the adoption of consistent
daily skyway hours of 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. but the process of allowing
exemptions to some skyways has vexed advocates for the disability
community and downtown residents.
Rick Cardenas, a downtown
resident who uses a wheelchair, testified against several of the
exemptions at a St. Paul City Council hearing in July. “Skyways are part of our passageways, part of our path,” he
said. One of the most difficult challenges for persons with disabilities
is that when a skyway is closed, it means navigating to an elevator
to get to street level, then back to an open door and elevator elsewhere
to get back to the skyway system. In some cases, elevators don’t
work. In others, the access points to and from the skyway system aren’t
clearly signed.
For years downtown residents, workers and visitors have questioned
the lack of consistent hours skyways are open. Members of the disability
community have lobbied long and hard for consistent skyway hours. The
St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce has also weighed in support of consistent
hours.
But several companies
that own and manage downtown buildings raised a number of concerns
about security costs, safety of building occupants and practicability
of keeping skyways open later. Some building owners offered to
provide access cards for residents of neighboring buildings. Critics
say that’s not enough.
Ward Two Council Member
Dave Thune said there’s a need to make
the skyway system accessible for as many people as possible. Yet Thune
said there is also a need to be practical and realize that not every
skyway needs to be open late. For example, the Macy’s skyways
allow users to walk through the store’s open floors and merchandise.
Other skyways lead to destinations that close and don’t connect
to other buildings, such as the Minnesota Children’s Museum.
The city built much of the skyway system in the 1980s and 1990s, working
with property owners to obtain easements into each building. But the
costs of maintenance and security fall on the property owners, something
some object to when it comes to expanded hours.
A series of exemptions
granted July 23 by the St. Paul City Council allows Macy’s, Metro Square, Minnesota Children’s Museum,
McCullough Companies, St. Joseph’s Hospital, St. Paul City
Hall/Ramsey County Courthouse, Sibley Square and the Warren E. Burger
Federal Courthouse. But the Golden Rule Building, 85 E. 7th Place,
was denied its request to close its skyway access at 7 p.m. The building,
a department store converted years ago to office space, houses mainly
state offices.
Pat Wolf, who has managed
the Golden Rule Building for many years, raised some of the strongest
objections to not getting an exemption. She said the building owners
have spent more than $7 million restoring the Golden Rule and turning
it into a “historic
jewel.”
But members of the public and City Council members noted the Golden
Rule provides a skyway connection to a public parking ramp and key
downtown destinations. There have been complaints that visitors who
park in the ramp and then return have had difficulty getting to their
vehicles.
The exemptions can change over time. For example, if part of the downtown
area is redeveloped and a later skyway link is needed, an exemption
may be revisited. Building owners and managers go through a review
with the Skyway Governance Committee, a committee of CapitolRiver Council,
the district council representing the downtown area and a St. Paul
City Council hearing.
Longtime downtown business
owner and CapitolRiver Council Member John Mannillo said he views
skyways to his property as an asset and that other building owners
should do the same. Rod Halverson, a resident of downtown and member
of CapitolRiver Council, agreed. “Building
owners want the advantages of the skyway system but they don’t
want the responsibility of being open after hours.”
One exemption is for
the St. Paul City Hall/Ramsey County Courthouse, which will be
allowed to close at 5 p.m. weekdays and be closed weekends. Halverson
objected to the city seeking an exemption for its own building,
calling it “ironic.” He
had come to the building at 5:09 p.m. for the public hearing and
found the skyway connection already closed. People were trying to
get through the connection, without success. City Council hearings
start at 5:30 p.m.
Halverson said that
the city wants to dictate when skyways are open “and
yet you want an exemption for your own building.” The City
Council did agree to have a device installed that will allow skyway
users to leave via skyway 30 minutes after public hearings end. ![end of story]()
