Overlook Gardens
We are residents of Stevens Square-Loring Heights neighborhood, long time friends of Robert Skafte and volunteers with our neighborhood organization, SSCO (Stevens Square Community Organization).
While we are pleased that Robert Skafte was honored and tribute given to his legacy by your publication, we feel the need to clarify some of the information for your readers.
The Overlook Gardens (not Park) is an area of green space along the I-94 south side corridor next to 17th Street, between Stevens and 2nd Avenues. The view from the Overlook facing Minneapolis Downtown and across the freeway from the Convention Center is spectacular. SSCO worked to transform this neglected land into a garden space in the early 1990’s. Robert Skafte was instrumental in working with the community to make this transformation.
It is premature to say that the Overlook has been renamed for Robert Skafte. The land is presently owned by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) passed a resolution on February 7th 2024, directing MPRB staff “to pursue methods of establishing site control through the State of Minnesota Department of Transportation allowing for the continued operation and maintenance of Overlook Gardens. . . and allowing for a naming process honoring Robert Skafte to be initiated once site control is established.”
The naming process, which cannot begin until site control is conveyed successfully to MPRB, may take up to two years, and will require community engagement and advocacy.
There are so many great and wonderful things to say about Robert Skafte, and he is sorely missed by his many friends and neighbors.
Maureen Wells
Dee Tvedt
Karen Ives
Stevens Square - Loring Heights
