Reserve Saturday, August 12th, for the 5th annual Dayton's Bluff  Summer Fest and Children's Parade. Once again 'The Scary Guy' returns to emcee the entertainment on the main stage from Noon 'til 4. Gather your friends and neighbors together and plan to spend a fun filled Saturday afternoon at Indian Mounds Regional Park. 
   Lineup for the parade begins at 10 a.m. at Dayton's Bluff elementary school and the entire community is invited to participate. Step off will be at 11 a.m. with Grand Marshall 'Snoopy' leading the procession east on Conway Avenue to Earl Street then south on Earl Street to the festival grounds. Join the parade or line up to cheer as this tradition continues for another year. In addition to entertainment the festival will include food vendors, a children's art area, informational displays, and much more. 

Proposed Liquor Store Sparks Debate 
   by Allen Clausen 

   On July 11th, residents opposed to the opening of a liquor store in the Mounds Park neighborhood voiced their objections during the quarterly meeting of the Mounds Park Area Block Clubs. Increases in traffic and littering in the vicinity of the store were two of the concerns expressed by those in opposition to the proposed Mounds Park Liquors at 243 North Point Douglas Road. 
   Frederic Jariklow has applied for a license from the City to establish the store in currently vacant space adjacent to the Mounds Park Quick Stop convenience store. He maintains that fears of increased traffic are unfounded, as the an- ticipated liquor clientele would be persons who are already visiting the convenience store. Neighbors urged him to explore other business options for the space that was formerly used as an auto repair garage and video store. 
   Also at the meeting, John Wirka from the division of Parks and Recreation gave a presenta- tion on the design and location of the new Mounds Park restroom building. Residents selected a site northeast of the existing building as this allows the existing restrooms to continue being used during construction. 
   Todd Mathieson from Hawkins Chemical reported on the Risk Management Plans they've filed with the Environmental Protection Agency for the two facilities they operate south of Mounds Park. 
   The next meeting will be 7 pm October 10, 2000 at the Marian Center Nursing Home, 200 Earl Street. Representatives from the 'Pigs Eye' sewage treatment plant are scheduled to speak on improvements they have made to their facilities. 

New Life for the Old Mounds Theater
   by Greg Cosimini

   Anyone who has recently gone by the old Mounds Theater at 1029 Hudson Road knows that something is going on in there.   The building, used as a warehouse for over 30 years, has received a new coat of paint and some decorative artwork.  A mysterious “Coming soon…Mounds Theater” sign adorns the front of the building. People have been seen in and around the building, accompanied by music, lights and a lot of activity.  So what is happening to the Mounds Theater?
   The what, or more correctly, the who is Raeann Ruth.  Raeann is the founder of the Portage for Youth, a non-profit organization and after school enrichment center for girls and young women ages 8-15.  Last year she was looking for more room for her group and came across the old theater building. 
   She contacted the owner, George Hardenbergh, and asked him if he would donate the building to the Portage.  To the surprise of both, he said yes, with the condition that it be renovated and turned into a neighborhood arts and culture center.  Considering the condition of the building, this would seem to be a daunting task. Fortunately, Raeann was undaunted and she accepted the challenge of converting an old warehouse into a functioning neighborhood performing arts theater.
   The building had seen better days.  It was dark, dirty and filled with all sorts of things.  George had originally planned to set up various kinds of organs in the theater and use the building for organ recitals.  There were a number of organs all right, in pieces, because they never got assembled.  Keeping the organs company were obsolete computers, magazines, furniture, plumbing fixtures and even three commercial roof top air conditioning units.
   There was also one extremely valuable item stored in the building that would make the renovation possible. It was the most important item of all, actually.  It was the old theater itself.  Unlike other abandoned theater buildings, this one had never been gutted and remodeled. 
   All the seats were still in place, facing the tattered screen and the stage behind it. The balcony, ticket box office and even the projection booth were intact, although crowded with decades of storage. The lobby, with its 1950s style wallpaper, wood trim, lighting fixtures and concession area was filled to the ceiling but recognizable as the entrance to a once great theater. The whole interior was like a lost city, frozen in time, buried under rubble, just waiting to be restored to its former glory.
   The key to any restoration effort, be it a lost city or an old theater, is money.  It is estimated that it will take $750,000 to renovate the Mounds Theater. Raeann has raised over half of it already through 3M Foundation and S.T.A.R grants and from private donations. More grants have been applied for and other fundraising activities are in the works.
   The most noticeable of these occurred on June 15 in the theater itself. State Senator Randy Kelly and St. Paul Councilmember Kathy Lantry sponsored the event. Following weeks of work by Raeann Ruth, her family and neighborhood volunteers, the lobby was emptied, cleaned, painted and decorated. The outside was spruced up. Lighting was restored. Parts of the theater and balcony, while not exactly returned to their original condition, were at least made presentable enough for tours.  Over 200 people came to see the theater that night. Many of them reminisced about earlier times at the Mounds Theater while enjoying food, refreshments and music.
   A neighborhood event that will not be a fundraiser is planned for National Night Out on August 1. It will be a more modest affair, with games for the kids and a chance for their parents to learn about what the future holds for the theater and the surrounding area.
   And what does the future hold? As it stands now, renovation work will begin later this year.  It will take about 12 months to complete the project.  The grand re-opening of the theater should occur before the end of 2001.  That will signal the start of a new chapter in the history of the Mounds Theater.

The "Forum" Is Back! 
   by Karin DuPaul 

   The Dayton's Bluff District Forum (DBDF) printed its first issue in October 1982. For months before that first issue neighborhood people were talking about the need for a new community newspaper in Dayton's Bluff - it was just a question of who would do it and when it would start. Kay Woitas agreed to be the editor and the newspaper was off and running. Kay was the organizer of the "Festival on the Bluff" and a board member of the Community Council. 
   Why would neighborhood people take on such a task? Because the existing community paper was not meeting the needs of the community council nor the community residents. 'Voice of the Community" was the mission. The Forum was a venue for the people of Dayton's Bluff to voice their issues. 
   The board of directors of the newspaper decided to organize under an umbrella organization which they named Hopewell Communications, Incorporated. The concept was to have Hopewell Communications include all types of communication: radio, TV, newspaper, and so on. They chose the name Dayton's Bluff District Forum, because the community council for the area is the Dayton's Bluff District Four Community Council (DBD4CC). Hopewell Communications was named for the area's early inhabits, the Hopewell Indian Culture. 
  Everyone was a volunteer - the editor, business manager, reporters, writers, lay out, key lining, door to door delivery, and ad sales. The DBD4CC board members and other community people delivered the paper door to door for the first few years. Later the Independent Delivery Service delivered the newspaper. For the first anniversary a list of volunteers was printed in the paper of people who worked on or helped out with the paper. There were 120 people on the list. As time,went on our volunteer pool became a troop of the most dedicated. 
   The Forum had a number of special editions and special features, including the opening of the new 3rd Street Bridge, a special on Saint Paul's Community Council system, East 7th Street Area Business Association Anniversary issue, and the special Police Department issue when the East Team moved to 699 East 7th Street. 
   Kay was the editor until she took a position as community organizer with the Payne and Minnehaha Community Council and the South of Case Community Council in 1986. The search was on for an editor. 
   Glen Blomgren became the 2nd editor of the Forum. Glen had edited another newspaper some years earlier. He brought many talents to the paper including his editorials, reporting, and cartooning. He was also actively involved in the Dayton's Bluff School, Dayton's Bluff Recreation Center and Dayton's Bluff Community Education. Glen and his wife Colleen ran a Licensed Family Day Care home on east 6th Street. 
   Glen faithfully edited the paper until 1994 when the Foruin's board was asked by the Dayton's Bluff Community Council to stop printing for at least two years because the Council received a grant to print a community newspaper for Dayton's Bluff. Now that paper is no longer in existence and the Forum is back! Help continue the great grassroots tradition! If you would like to get involved call Caroline at 772-2075. 

A Short History of the Mounds Theater
   by Greg Cosimini

   Depending on your age and when you lived in Dayton’s Bluff, the old Mounds Theater at 1029 Hudson Road will evoke different memories.
   From the 1920s through the 1940s it was a magnificent brick theater with a large vertical MOUNDS sign and a decorative marquee.  The theater, one of many in Dayton’s Bluff, was part of the thriving commercial district and neighborhood centered on Earl and Hudson Road, which at that time was called Hastings Ave.  Inside, black and white silent films on the screen shared the theater with live entertainment on the stage with both accompanied by music from a small orchestra pit. The silent movies and stage shows eventually gave way to “talkies” and black and white movies blossomed into living color.
   In the 1950s and 1960s the theater exterior gained a modern look with a stucco façade, a twinkling horizontal MOUNDS sign and flashing lights on the marquee.  The theater now faced Highway 12, a road that destroyed much of the commercial district and separated Mounds Park from the rest of the neighborhood. It was the only theater left in the area. The orchestra pit was gone but the theater now had 700 seats that were often filled as neighbors watched a family-friendly Disney film or were thrilled by the latest adventures of James Bond.
   The period from the late1960s through the 1990s was not kind to the theater.  Its sign and lights were gone. It now faced the drab wooden sound barrier of I-94, whose construction finished the job of splitting the neighborhood and killing the local business district.  The building was mostly ignored during the day but sometimes visited by vandals at night. No one went inside anymore because its interior had become a warehouse.
   These histories usually end with something like: “…and a few neighbors gathered at the condemned building and shared old memories as the wrecking ball destroyed the theater to make room for a parking lot.”
   But sometime in the year 2001 this story will have a much different ending.  It will be more like “… and the theater re-opened today as a neighborhood performing arts center while a large group of neighbors waited to purchase tickets for the first performance of the twenty first century at the new Mounds Theater.” 

Board Members Needed 

Interested in running for a Seat on the Community Council? The Dayton' s Bluff Community Council is looking for people to serve on our board of directors. This is an opportunity to work on neighborhood issues and events that will improve the quality of life of our community. The deadline for filing the board is September 18, 2000 and the election will be held on October 16, 2000. For more information call John Vaughn or Karin DuPaul at 772-2075.