THIS 'N' THAT
From the Re-Echo, December 2009

WESTLING HOUSE: On October 30, members of the Historical Society were invited to inspect the Westling House after it had been remodeled by the owners, Peter Knaeble and Matt Pavek. The place looked great! It was a wonderful combination of updated and rustic. Some of the hardwood floors had been discovered under three layers of carpet, tile, and linoleum. The address has been changed from 8550 Minnetonka Blvd. to 2950 Aquila Ave. to reflect the fact that the driveway is off of Aquila. In the course of their cleaning out the barn, Peter and Matt found a metal sign and architectural drawings of the houses that the Westlings designed for the Aquila/Boone neighborhood. They donated the sign and these drawings to the Historical Society, and we are looking forward to driving around the neighborhood and matching the drawings to the houses. If you’re looking to buy a piece of history, the house (originally built in 1874), as well as the other three lots made from the property, is for sale.
 

SOMETHING IN THE WATER: We have finished digitizing the book and it on its way to the printer. If you would like to order a copy, use the “One Stop Shopping” form included in this issue. Thanks a bunch to Doug Johnson for all of his work, especially the scanning of every picture! The book is a collection of memoirs of people who grew up “before the war” in St. Louis Park. It sells for $20 including U.S. postage.
 

DON SWENSON’S FILES were sent to us by Connie, and we have been going through them, integrating them into our own files. Much of the material appears in Don’s Book, “Something in the Water,” but there are some anecdotes that didn’t. One is precious; seems there was a girl from the country that was staying with a family in St. Louis Park while going to nursing school. One day she just had to ask what that horrible smell was. The answer was “Why that’s the Creosote Plant.” Perplexed, she went out in the garden, scratched and sniffed, and after awhile she came back and asked, “Which one is the creosote plant?”

CENTURY HOUSE PROJECT: The Board is continuing to discuss this project and how it will be run. Homes will have to be at least 100 years old and still have the essential character of the original house. What that entails exactly will still need to be determined. Our count is that there are 96 homes in the Park that were built before 1910 (28 in 1890 alone). The list is on our web site at http://www.slphistory.org/history/oldestbuildings.asp

We have pictures of them all in binders at Lenox. The Historical Society will provide a plaque to place on eligible homes; the homeowner will pay $100 of the cost and the Historical Society will pay the rest. We hope to have this program up and running by the time the next Re-Echo comes out.
 

HISTORIC PRESERVATION TASK FORCE: Kathy Johnson, Will O’Keefe, and Nancy Rose attended a Grants workshop for Minnesota Legacy funds. They have suggested using any grant money received for a housing inventory, possibly starting with the “Westling neighborhood,” using the blueprints and building plans as a starting point. Will has volunteered to help with the research, documents and plans that need to be submitted to apply for the grant in March 2010. The Board voted to create an unpaid internship for Will so he can put this work on his resume.
 

RECIPES WANTED: This request came in almost a year ago, lost in a file. Does anyone have the Lincoln Del chocolate cream pie recipe? Gloria Rice avers that it was the best pie in the history of pies! We’ve also received requests for Palm Bakery recipes, and we may have some of those.

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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.