In a lovely gesture, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board voted unanimously in February to rename Overlook Park in the Stevens Square neighborhood in honor of late resident and beloved community member Robert Skafte.
Readers may recall that in early December, Mr. Skafte was brutally murdered with a golf club while working at the Oak Grove Grocery, just off Loring Park, allegedly by a mentally ill assailant who was arrested after a six-hour standoff nearby. Mr. Skafte was a fixture at the grocery for nearly 20 years and was locally famous for his kindness and his many volunteer contributions to the Stevens Square area, where (among other things) he helped found the local farmers’ market, helped establish the LaSalle Community Garden, and served as greening coordinator for the Stevens Square Community Organization for 16 years.
Overlook Park sits along the heights of Stevens Square, overlooking I-94 between First and Third Avenues, across the highway from the Convention Center. Located on right-of-way land for the Interstate, the parcel has for decades been jointly managed as a park by the state, the city, the park board and (most crucially) neighbors from Stevens Square/Loring Heights. In 2012, Mr. Skafte led a successful effort to transform Overlook Park into a native habitat, which he then worked to maintain on a near-daily basis.
Originally from California, Mr. Skafte arrived in Minnesota as a professional ballet dancer, having spent a decade with the Kansas City Ballet, then moving to an 18-year career with Ballet of the Dolls in Minneapolis. Editor Craig Wilson knew Mr. Skafte, and had this to say: “Robert was a bright light. His incredibly kind disposition was always framed by a warm smile and welcoming eyes. He was the best of Minneapolis — an artist, a community leader, a food activist, an urban hippie, a friendly shopkeeper, a good neighbor and a friend. He would be so honored to know that the park that he helped to create is now named after him.”
For my part, I didn’t know Mr. Skafte, but I knew the Oak Grove Grocery well, having lived in an apartment just a few doors down for most of my 20s. It was a local institution and was what I would describe as an “essential” grocery store: if you truly needed something, they had it, and if they didn’t have it, it probably wasn’t a real need. Put differently, if you were looking for hand-churned butter or just the right olive oil, this wasn’t your place. But, if you’d had the sort of day that required a freezer pizza and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, the Oak Grove Grocery had your back. It was helpful, unpretentious, and almost always open. And walking down the steps to its half-basement entrance was like stepping out of time into a world that had never heard of gas-station chain stores.
By all accounts, Mr. Skafte was instrumental in preserving the grocery’s essential nature. In the raft of media reports following his murder, neighbors described him as a kind, reassuring presence who always let them know they were welcome. When I walked by the grocery in anticipation of writing this article, it appeared utterly unchanged from when I first came across it 30 years ago, but for two things: the railings by the front entrance are still covered with flowers and other tributes to Mr. Skafte, and the stairs leading down to the entrance are chained off. A sign on the front door reads “closed until further notice,” marking it as another casualty of the violence that took the life of a treasured neighbor and friend. Hopefully the renamed garden will help preserve his memory for a community still grieving.
