After Mixed Reactions Future St. Joseph Parklets In Doubt

ST. JOSEPH -- The parklet in downtown St. Joseph has been removed and future parklets in the community seems to be up in the air. City staff had the temporary park removed on Friday.

It was designed and built by students at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University and was installed on Minnesota Street in late April.

To help evaluate the success of the parklet, staff reached out to several businesses in early summer, with both positive and negative comments received. The St. Joseph Convention and Visitor's Bureau has expressed support for parklets.

An online survey was launched in August to get further input on the pilot parklet, of the 230 total responses 59 percent say they did not use the parklet, 40 percent say they would definitely use it next summer, and 41 percent say they would definitely not use it.

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City staff is recommending doing additional research and getting more input from the planning commission, Economic Development Board and the CVB before approving any parklets for next summer.