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Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary and Trail Link

Watercolor by: Leo Mao

Situated on the Mississippi River within walking distance from downtown St. Paul, the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary will be accessible to a wide range of visitors, from downtown office workers and local school children to bicycle enthusiasts from around the state. The location of a nature sanctuary on the edge of a downtown is a remarkable attraction unparalleled in other cities. Its transformation will be a national model for reclaiming former industrial land to create something truly beautiful in the urban core.

Special features to attract and educate visitors

Interpretive signage and a walking path in the park will make the sanctuary a place where people can learn about ecology and history as they enjoy the natural world.

• Bluffs -- Breathtaking sandstone bluffs will be explained to provide lessons in geology.
• Caves -- Two fascinating caves will offer insights into glacial movement, bluff geology, sandstone rock formations, water seepage and erosion.
• Springs -- Natural springs exist on the site and plans include recreating a wetland area.
• Habitat -- Ecological restoration will increase habitat in this critical urban stretch of the Mississippi River flyway — a migration corridor used by 40% of the continent's migrating birds and waterfowl.
• Unique History -- Remnants of the land's former use as a railyard exist, and the sanctuary will include important interpretation of the land's transformation from a vital floodplain to industrial land and back to riverfront habitat.

A critical new trail link

The nature sanctuary site is currently a "no man's land" where several existing trail systems dead end. Less than two miles of off-road trail on and around the site will fill the key missing link, creating a seamless and exciting corridor that will link several existing regional trail systems and connect East Side neighborhoods to Lowertown, downtown St. Paul and the Mississippi River.

The new trail link will attract recreational bicyclists from around the region. The link will also be a new amenity for families in the area and offer non-motorized access between centers of employment, commerce and cultural activities.

The first link of the trail — known as the Fourth Street Trail — will extend the Bruce Vento Regional Trail out of Swede Hollow Park to Indian Mounds Park, and Lowertown. More than half of the needed funds have been raised for this project. Achieving the local match needed to make the project happen is a top priority for community partners and the City of St. Paul.

A strategic location — recreationally, ecologically and socially

The Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary and trail link project is a priority for a range of agencies, based on the project's location along the Mississippi flyway and its situation between areas in the midst of successful economic and community development. Project partners are working to ensure that the park and trail are developed in a way that maximizes mutual benefits for adjacent projects which include:

• Housing initiatives in Lowertown and the Dayton's Bluff, Railroad Island, and Payne/Phalen neighborhoods of St. Paul's East Side.
• The job creation and other economic revitalization work associated with Lowertown's cyber village and the Phalen Corridor Initiative.
• Ecological restoration plans underway through the Trout Brook Corridor and Pigs Eye Greenway, which both touch the site.
• Recreational improvements planned in surrounding parks, including Swede Hollow Park and Lower Landing Park.

A Vital Public/Private Partnership

Creating the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary and trail link has been — and will continue to be — a long-term partnership effort.

Over the years, key Lower Phalen Creek Project partners have played a particularly important role in the project.  Friends of Swede Hollow members founded the project, and along with the Lowertown Redevelopment Corporation, they continue to provide critical leadership.  The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, City of St. Paul Division of Parks and Recreation, City Council, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and National Park Service have been important government partners who have helped advocate for the project, raise funds and carry out research activities.  The Trust for Public Land has provided much-appreciated leadership in land acquisition fundraising and negotiations.  The early and consistent support of the McKnight Foundation has also greatly contributed to the Lower Phalen Creek Project's success, as has support from an array of other public and private funders.

The Lower Phalen Creek Project's community leadership, and its combination of ecological restoration and community revitatlization, have generated state and national attention.  The project received a 2001 award from the Department of Natural Resources Metro Greenways Program and it was spotlighted at the 2001 Brownfields Gray Waters conference at Harvard University.