MEADOWBROOK MANOR
6860 Excelsior Blvd.

In 1953, the Donovan Construction Company completed Meadowbrook Manor, located at 6860 Excelsior Blvd. The project started in 1947. It was first advertised as having 640 units in 89 buildings, although the count now is 556 units in 58 buildings on 25 acres.  The complex was constructed at a cost of $6 million. At the time, it was the largest apartment housing project in the Midwest.

The construction photos below are courtesy of Mr. Denn Evans, Manager of  Meadowbrook Manor.

At opening, rent for an efficiency apartment was $62 a month. One bedrooms went for $85, and two bedrooms peaked at $95.



In 1963, the following ad for Meadowbrook Manor appeared in the TV Times. 

In the beginning, Meadowbrook Manor was a stylish address, serving singles, young couples, and schoolteachers in a market with few apartments.  There were two community garden spots, now taken over by parking.  (Community gardening has been added back in 2009.)  There was also a "Country Boy" convenience store located at 6920 Meadowbrook Blvd. This was an apartment that had been given a separate entrance, but has since been reverted into an apartment.  In an era before clothes dryers were common, clotheslines were provided.

One drawback is that it did not come with air conditioning, which was installed in the late 1990s.  It was at this time that many improvements were made to the units.  One big job was to remove fuel oil tanks that first provided heat for the buildings.

For many years the complex has been owned by the Bigos family.

THE MEADOWBROOK COLLABORATIVE

By the 1990s the complex had become "low-income housing," with many units rented to low-income people holding Section 8 rent supplement vouchers.  Conditions were described by Linda Trummer in 2006:

"Meadowbrook [was covered with] overgrown weeds and broken glass and discarded beer cans.  This was a scary place to visit in the early '90s and an even more frightening place for good people to live.  I still remember one mother telling me that the day after she moved in, she looked out the window to see the police in their SWAT gear surrounding her corner townhouse, preparing to kick in a neighbor's door.  Felony drug arrests were common a dozen years ago."

To address these problems, the Meadowbrook Collaborative was formed in 1993, led by Linda Trummer.  The Meadowbrook Collaborative is a partnership among the City of St. Louis Park, St. Louis Park School District, Park Nicollet Health Services and the Ridgedale Branch of the YMCA. The collaborative works with the Meadowbrook property owner and residents to offer services and activities aimed at ensuring that residents' health, education and safety needs are met. Initially the program was run out of an apartment at 4115 Meadowbrook Lane.  A police substation shared that space.  In 1995-96, a former laundromat was briefly used for youth programming. (The laundromat had been shut down when it was discovered that the water was being pumped into Minnehaha Creek.)

Linda again:

"The 'Kids' Clubhouse' was an abandoned space filled with garbage.  The police had initially used it as their "COP Shop" until their windows were shot out, and we invited them to share space.  It was a cold, dirty, musty building - but it was where we met every day to play games and have a snack.  That ugly old room may have been cold, but there was always a lot of warmth and laughter and love..  We built a playground and basketball court, and created a community center with a computer lab and library and warm place for kids to come after school.  Later the City added a sun shelter and shade trees so we could expand outdoors during the summer months."

In about 2003, the program moved into two combined townhouses at 4072 Meadowbrook Lane.

The Meadowbrook Collaborative is a State and national success story, and has been visited by Governor Pawlenty and First Lady Laura Bush. Mrs. Bush recognized the Meadowbrook Collaborative as an example of the type of communities in her initiative, Helping America's Youth. "The great example that Meadowbrook is for the rest of the country is it is a housing project that's turned into a real community where a number of groups work together to make sure all the children and adults in the community have a chance to live in a real community," Bush said.



 

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.