Marcia Ratliff/Winonan
Live at the Levee, a one-day music festival at Levee Park, featured great music. But it also featured a great community.
Levee Park was crowded with Winonans this Saturday, from toddlers trying out a slackline for the first time to artists showing and selling their work to people of all ages listening to music beneath two tents.
The place was alive with energy and community.
I got to talk to a woman who sculpted a statue of John Latsch, the Winona millionaire who donated Latsch Island, Aghaming Park, the Winona airport and many other lands for public use.
I watched kids make huge bubbles with giant bubble-wands, courtesy of Yarnology.
And of course, there was great music. I stayed for the WSU Faculty Jazz, John Smith and Dan Sebranek, and Driftwood Bones.
The sky behind the tents was dark, but the rain held off most of the day. Towards 6 p.m., the sun broke through the clouds and lit the shore of Latsch Island behind the musicians.
Live at the Levee was a free event. The only thing the event organizers requested of the listeners was that they buy shirts and spread the word, so that future Live at the Levee days can be even better.
It was a celebration of what Winona is, and what Levee Park can be.
In 2012, Mark Peterson was elected mayor of Winona. One of the things he promised to do was revitalize Levee Park and make it a center of everything Winona has to offer: great food, great recreational opportunities, great music and art, and a great river, to name a few.
He has followed through on his promise so far. In February, he created a redevelopment committee to look at ways to improve the space.
Levee Park has looked different throughout the years. In the late 1880s, it was a smoky, bustling rail yard. Later it became a manicured Victorian garden with lots of walkways. Several severe floods in the 1960s made a flood wall necessary.
At Live at the Levee, I stopped by at the redevelopment committee’s table. I got to see pictures of Levee Park through the years. As Winona continues to change, and as plans for a new interstate bridge move forward, it’s time for Levee Park to get a facelift as well.
The table had a map of Winona that highlighted all the existing parks and bike paths and water access points—basically a web of ways to get outside, with a few missing strands.
I currently run on many of the county roads surrounding Winona, and I’ve often wished for just a bit wider of a shoulder for the busy mornings.
I chatted with a few people around me about what it would look like to add more bike paths and bike lanes to the roads around here, so that people could get connected with the outdoors more easily.
The Center for Changing Landscapes from the University of Minnesota College of Design is bringing its expertise into the project. The project must consider what the park will look like after the new interstate bridge is constructed.
At a public open house on Oct. 24, Levee Park and riverfront revitalization information will be available for viewing and feedback. The Levee Park Committee and the Center for Changing Landscapes will present the history and current state of the project, followed by a group discussion.
The event will last from 4:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. at the Winona County Historical Society.
I’d love to see a bunch of Winona State students there. We may not be in town longer than 4-6 years, but we’ll be back as alumni, even employees.
I want Winona to be just as beautiful, if not more, in 30 years as it is today.
Contact Marcia at [email protected]