Lyndale Gardens Developer 'Disappointed' By Bandshell Location Recommendation

The developer of the long-vacant Lyndale Garden Center is "disappointed" by a city commission's recent recommendation regarding the building of a bandshell in town.

The Richfield Community Services Commission recently recommended Veterans Memorial Park, however, Lyndale Gardens developer, The Cornerstone Group, was also planning on building a performance stage and hoping the city would be a part of it.

After unveiling initial design plans for the blighted site in August, The Cornerstone Group told Richfield Patch it planned on going forward with the performance space regardless of the city's participation. This is still the case.

"We were disappointed to hear that the commission was recommending Veterans Park as the location for the bandshell," Colleen Carey, president of The Cornerstone Group, told Patch in an e-mail last week. "Either way, we will be creating a space where we can have concerts, movies, performances, weddings and other events."

The city has been tossing around the idea of building a bandshell for nearly a decade. In a previous interview, Richfield Parks and Recreation Director Jim Topitzhofer said Veterans Memorial Park was being recommended for a number of reasons, including its visibility from 66th Street, access to highways, proximity to restrooms and, of course, the fact that the park is the venue for the city's annual Fourth of July celebration. If the site was approved, the bandshell would actually be built where the performance stages are typically set up for the Fourth of July festivities, near the Richfield Ice Arena.

The commission's recommendation has yet to be presented to the city council; thus, no action has been taken on it. Carey said she and her firm would still like to work with the city on the project.

"If the city decides that they want to work with us, we'd be happy to make Lyndale Gardens the location for their bandshell," she said. "If not, that's OK too."

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