When construction of Interstate 94 ran through St. Paul, it upended more than 600 families and 300 businesses in the historically-Black Rondo community, many of whom never saw just compensation for their property loss.
Marvin Anderson, a retired state law librarian, remembers the haunting day in his childhood when he saw his father’s face crumple as he learned he would receive a fraction of the value for the 12 apartment homes he built with a group of fellow railroad chefs.
It was the first and last time he ever saw his father cry.
In addition to the loss of property came a change in street signs, which Anderson and other Rondo residents recalled as another visible piece of the neighborhood’s identity stripped away. Much of the former Rondo Avenue that remained after I-94 was completed was renamed Concordia Avenue in 1964.
Dignitaries hold soon-to-be-installed Rondo Avenue signs at a ceremony celebrating the renaming of Concordia and St. Anthony Aves. to Rondo Avenue at the Rondo Commemorative Plaza in St. Paul on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
A new sign
On Tuesday, Anderson joined dozens of current and former Rondo residents — including St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and four other officials who have sat on the St. Paul City Council — for a reconnection of sorts.
Carter, whose great-grandparents moved to Rondo a century ago, was lifted by a public works truck to the top of the street sign at the former intersection of Concordia Avenue and Fisk Street, which now bears a different name. With a flick of the wrist, the mayor unveiled a new street sign returning the name Rondo Avenue to the block.
The name change, made official this week, will apply to all of Concordia Avenue between Griggs Street and Mackubin Street, as well as a block of St. Anthony Avenue, north of Interstate 94, from Western Avenue to Rice Street. Areas east and west of the designated cross streets will keep the names Concordia and St. Anthony avenues.
Address changes
For residents and business owners, the renaming may come with some paperwork.
St. Paul Public Works will reimburse residential residents up to $100 and business owners up to $300 to update driver’s licenses, business licenses and other important documents, provided they get their receipts into the city by Nov. 1.
The city has already initiated address changes with the U.S. Postal Service, so that part is already taken care of. Visit StPaul.gov/RondoAvenue for more information.
The street sign unveiling was attended by City Council Member Anika Bowie and former council members Debbie Montgomery, Nick Khaliq and Russel Balenger, who initiated the street name change last year.
Carter, in remarks to the crowd, noted that the city has invested in an “Inheritance Fund,” aimed in part at helping former Rondo residents buy and maintain homes in the neighborhood through downpayment assistance and funds for property rehab.
Through a separate effort, dubbed Reconnect Rondo, Anderson and other neighborhood advocates have urged the state Legislature to build a land bridge over several blocks of I-94, creating a reconnective lid of sorts that could host new housing, parkland and commercial structures while stitching together streets long split by the deep trench of the interstate.
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