What was Lilac Way?
THIS TUESDAY! Hear Lilac Way Stories of Graeser Park’s Beehive Fireplace.
Tues., Feb. 19th, 2019, 7:00pm, Diggers Garden Club, 5530 42nd Ave. N. in Robbinsdale.
Restore Lilac Way’s Karen Laukkonen will be telling Lilac Way stories and discussing efforts to restore Graeser Park. Mingling at 6:30pm, presentation is from 7-7:45. Free and open to the public.
Beehive Fireplaces
Roadside Parks
Restored Lilac Park
MnDOT’s Commitment
Where were the seven Lilac Way parks located on Highway 100?
If you grew up in the area, you probably remember the roadside parks with ‘Fred Flintstone’-style picnic tables. The barbecue fireplaces had rounded tops, and were nicknamed ‘The Beehives.”
Only two of the seven parks remain today. Sadly, the other five parks were razed for Highway 100 reconstruction.
Check out the map to see their locations and get more info.
Browse the photo albums.
Start at the main album page, see the beehive fireplace design and how Highway 100 and Lilac Way were built.
RESTORED: Lilac Park (formerly Roadside Park)
St. Louis Park, MN
NEEDS TO BE RESTORED: Graeser Park
Robbinsdale, MN
NEEDS TO BE RESTORED: Graeser Park
Robbinsdale, MN
Join the groundswell to restore Graeser Park.
One of only two beehive fireplaces left in the U.S. is in Graeser Park in Robbinsdale, MN. Hand-built in 1939 by unemployed stonemasons as part of Lilac Way, this historical beehive fireplace desperately needs to be preserved. St. Louis Park, MN has restored the other beehive, now in Lilac Park.
Encourage St. Louis Park’s City Council to save Rock Island.
Rock Island (aka Monkey Island) was the North end of the large original Lilac Park on Minnetonka Boulevard in St. Louis Park, MN. Now hidden by a noise wall, we’d like the City of St. Louis Park to request that MnDOT transfer ownership to SLP so it can be restored. In 2008, the beehive fireplace in the South section of Lilac Park was moved and restored.
