Big changes at Park Square Court Building Acacia Park Cemetery

bids on the construction, and Marriott has approved the building, so once our money is lined up, we’ll start construction.”

It’s expected to take about a year to complete construction, with the hotel opening in late 2024 or early 2025. The construction will not affect the Big Biscuit Bar, Noyes and Cutler, or the Green Lantern Night Club, which is in the basement. Both restaurants offer patio dining in the summer.

“The Big Biscuit Bar will be the breakfast venue for the Marriot hotel and Noyes and Cutler will be the evening steakhouse venue for the hotel,” said Crockarell. “The [nearby] A’bulae wedding event center is also in a building we own so we expect a lot of the wedding parties to stay at the hotel and eat breakfast at the Big Biscuit.”

The Big Biscuit Bar is located at 203 E. Sixth St. For more information, visit bigbiscuitbar.com a pristine beauty and strategic location that was recognized by our state’s earliest settlers. Pilot Knob, the plateau on which Acacia Park is situated, was an early 19th Century viewing point for such frontiersmen as Zebulon Pike and Josiah Snelling.

A Day of Remembrance Memorial Day is May 29

Please join

Our beautiful cemetery is conveniently situated on the Pilot Knob plateau above the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers in Mendota Heights. We are proud of our majestic scenery and natural environment that is uninhibited by upright monuments, which creates a stunning park-like setting. We have provided quality, personal service to families since 1925. We offer the following options to our families:

• Sections specifically designed for casket or cremation burial

• Convenient no-interest pre-payment plans for three years

• No-obligation information and tour of the cemetery grounds

• Markers, vaults, vases and urns for purchase

• Newly developed cremation gardens

• Serving all faiths

2151 Pilot Knob Road, Mendota Heights | 651-452-1555 | www.acaciaparkcemetery.org

{ THE FULLER FILES }

Metro Transit plans to spend $6 million over the next two years to supply additional security at six transit stations. The stations include Central Station in downtown St. Paul, four in Minneapolis and one in Brooklyn Center. Allied Universal will supply unarmed security personnel to supplement Metro Transit’s police force. Ridership has increased 23% on busses and trains in the first months of 2023 over last year. Between 120,000-140,000 passengers ride each week. Before the pandemic, weekly ridership was about 250,000.

Ecolab, which is celebrating its 100th birthday this year, will spend $2 million to convert a concrete plaza and sidewalk into community green space. The 26,000-square-foot area, bounded by Ecolab headquarters, Landmark Center and the Historic Hamm building, is expected to open next year landscaped with trees, native plantings and park benches. The site is owned by the City and Ecolab. Ecolab will fund the initial construction and the City of St. Paul and the St. Paul Parks Conservatory will lead development and implementation of the project.

The fate of the recently dismantled 1852 Justus Ramsey house from the patio area of Burger Moe’s restaurant on West 7th Street is now uncertain. Don Kohler and Rita Dalbec had plans to reassemble the house elsewhere in St. Paul for their private residence but have since decided to build a new house instead. The house is in storage in its dismantled state and the Fort Road Federation is looking for someone to reassemble it within the city.

St. Paul intends to have its first fully electric firetruck by 2025. It will cost about $1.8 million, about twice the cost of a traditional diesel fire engine. The move is part of the city’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan, which seeks carbon neutrality in city operations by 2030.

New sidewalk poems will appear on city sidewalks this year, thanks to a contest sponsored by St. Paul Public Art and St. Paul Almanac. The poems of 15 winners will be stamped into new sidewalk sections that will replace damaged sections.

A proposed $392 million community land bridge project for the Rondo neighborhood has received $2 million in federal funding for an environmental impact analysis, traffic study and community outreach. The project would span I-94 for several blocks between Chatsworth and Grotto streets and is expected to attract new jobs, housing, businesses and public space to St. Paul’s African American cultural enterprise district.

Minnesota Book Awards will present Stu Abraham with its 2023 Kay Sexton Award at its annual ceremony on May 2 at the Ordway Center. The award is given to someone who has made a significant contribution to literary life in Minnesota. Abraham, a sales manager in the publishing industry for four decades, has supported books published by local small publishing houses including Coffee House Press, Graywolf Press and Lerner Publishing, as well as national publishing houses. He has also worked and volunteered as a conduit, connecting

NowApplicationsAccepting

Paraprofessional - Work with students in a classroom assisting teachers, before/after-school child care OR supervise groups of students. Full-time or part-time.

Starting base wage $19.63/hr. (DOQ).

Bus Drivers - Safely transport students to and from school. Paid training & CDL certification. Starting base wage $22.90/hr. (DOQ).

Nutrition Services - Prepare and serve breakfast and lunch for students. Starting base wage $16.50/hr.

Custodian - Perform cleaning, event set-up/clean-up, and ensure safety of buildings. Full-time starting base wage $21.76/hr. Part-time and seasonal starting base wage $16.80/hr. (DOQ).

Kids Club Supervisor - Lead a school-age child care program in one of our elementary buildings and supervise paraprofessional staff. Full-time, 12-month. Starting base wage $21.50/hr. (DOQ).

For more information and to apply: sowashco.org/careers

by Roger Fuller

writers, readers, publishers and bookstores.

Minnesota Transportation Museum, 193 Pennsylvania Ave. E., has an exhibit on Black railroad workers during the early 20th century. The “Twin Tracks” exhibit shows how they worked as red caps, Pullman porters, cooks and waiters, and repaired tracks and locomotives. The hours were often grueling but these were some of the best paying jobs Black men were hired for at the time. The decent salaries were a gateway to the middle class for Black people, as exemplified by the Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul.

Laugh Camp Comedy Club, 490 N. Robert St., will present Steve Gillespie, May 5-6; Mandee McKelvey, May 12-13; Larry Reeb, May 19-20; and Adrian Washington, May 26-27. Zeitgeist quartet will perform the works of Douglas Ewart at 7:30 p.m., May 12-13, at Studio Z, 275 E. 4th St.

Subtext Books, 6 W. 5th St., will present Jim Ruland, author of “Make It Stop,” at 7 p.m., Friday, May 12. St. Paul Farmers Market will host a market 10 a.m.2 p.m., Wednesday, May 3 at Union Depot. The main market at Fifth and Wall is open 7 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturdays and 8 a.m.-1 p.m. on Sundays. Free parking and pedicab delivery service is available.

The St. Paul Farmers Market operates a weekday market at Union Depot 10 a.m.-2 p.m. the first Wednesday of each month through October. You’ll find more than 20 vendors on the North Plaza selling a wide selection of fresh food, local crafts, pet products and other items. In inclement weather, the market will be held inside the Union Depot Head House. For more information, visit uniondepot.org/farmersmarket.

Penumbra Theatre , 270 Kent St., is presenting

“What I Learned in Paris” through May 14. The play follows a group of campaign workers in Atlanta after the mayoral race of 1973.

Books and Bars will discuss “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus at 7 p.m.,