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By Erik Hare

At the corner of Sibley and Fourth, in Downtown Saint Paul, there is a remarkable little place apart from the tall buildings all around it.  Some call it the Tot Lot, some the Downtown Playground, and others the TPT Playground. My kids call it the Pirate Ship, even if the best part of it is a steamboat. But they have a right to call it whatever they want, I think. They grew up with it, and they along with all their friends, from Highland or Mac-Groveland or the West End, know it mostly as the coolest playground in the whole city.

What few people realize is that this was never meant to be a permanent installation. The Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) owned the land, and it was slated for some kind of condo project. Rumor has it that they nearly got their quota of pre-sold units, and thus would start building, just before 9/11 happened. It was a project that just wasn’t meant to be. The condo market never picked up enough to make it happen.

But the park has been there for 13 years now, and nearly an entire generation has grown up loving it. Kids visiting their grandparents in Downtown condos have played there. Kids who came to the Children’s Museum or Science Museum routinely make a stop before they leave downtown. It’s more than a public amenity, its a landmark. The trees have grown up enough to shield it from the noise and sights of the city around it in all this time, creating a world apart that makes the cute playground into more of a fully realized fantasy world apart.

This little space was just made an official Saint Paul park this week. It took a lot of attention from our city council member to make it happen, but it finally did. It wasn’t just that everyone wanted to save this world apart, because someone had to make it so. This little park might be a great place for wishes, but the hard reality of the city is something else. Having the right person in place to force the bureaucracy to do the right thing is another world again, even further apart. But it is essential.

This Tuesday is the day for municipal elections in Saint Paul. Many people don’t pay attention to these, as the issues don’t appear to be all that interesting. But they are plain wrong. The people that run our city are the people that determine what happens all around us, everyday. They are the ones that shape what our life looks like much more than the people that we send off to the state capitol or Washington. Worried about crime? It’s the City Council that determines how many police we have. Concerned about schools? Those are run by our School Board. Having chest pains? It’s a paramedic paid by local taxes that will save your life.

This as yet unnamed park may be a great island of quiet nature and bubbling whimsy in the middle of the city, and it may be a landmark on top of that. But it’s even more. It’s a symbol of what the perseverance and dedication to public service of one member of the City Council can do to make our lives better. That’s why it’s important to be involved and to make our voices heard – every day, but especially on Election Day.

My fellow Saint Paulites, please don’t let this Tuesday’s election pass you by. Our city needs you. If it doesn’t seem sexy enough, consider this: what’s more important to you – what you see on teevee, or what you see when you open your front door?

The St. Paul Real Estate Blog, endorses Dave Thune, for the St. Paul City Council, Ward 2.  Please get out and vote on November 6th.  If you don’t know where to vote follow this link.