Keep up on Lilac Way news.

Browse the stories for event info, restoration updates and announcements.

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The Gateway District – From flophouses for Lilac Way workers to a Four Seasons Hotel

June 14, 2019. One in three adults in Minnesota were out of work during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Unemployed men lived in 15 cents/night flophouses in the ‘”Gateway District” of Minneapolis. Many were hired as Works Progress Administration (WPA) day laborers to build Highway 100 and its showcase Lilac Way section. Often called…

New non-profit group formed for future Graeser Park fundraising

May 18, 2019. More Graeser Park good news! The new Graeser Park Restoration & Preservation (GPR&P) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with one mission – fundraising to restore Graeser Park.

Rock Island Cleanup Day – May 2019

May 6, 2019. An amazing, hard-working crew showed up for the first Rock Island Cleanup Day on May 4, 2019. So much work was done in just three hours.

Lilac Way inspired by National Park Service ‘Parkitecture’

April 14, 2019. If you’ve been to a National Park, you may have seen structures that resemble Lilac Way features. Designed by Landscape Architect Arthur Nichols,

View ‘Lilac Way Stories’ presentation online

April 12, 2019. Did you miss Karen’s ‘Lilac Way Stories’ presentation in February? Restore Lilac Way’s own Karen Laukkonen presented ‘Lilac Way Stories: History, Restoration and Graeser Park’s Beehive Fireplace’ at the February 19th meeting of the Robbinsdale Diggers Garden Club. If you missed it, you can view the full presentation. Or, just check out…

‘Rock Island’ cleanup event, Sat. May 4th, 9-noon

April 6, 2019. Help bring Lilac Way’s historic ‘Rock Island’ back to life! Come to a cleanup event, Saturday, May 4th, 9am-noon. Rock Island is all that remains of the original Lilac Park

Graeser Park beehive fireplace gets protective fencing

March 28, 2019. This can only be good news! For the first time in four months, I impulsively stopped by Graeser Park in Robbinsdale, MN. As I pulled up,

Hear Lilac Way stories at Diggers Garden Club, Feb 19, 2019

Lilac Way Stories: History, Restoration and Graeser Park’s Beehive Fireplace. Restore Lilac Way’s own Karen Laukkonen will be

“Meet me at the Beehive” – Rick Shefchik’s 1960s Rock ‘n Roll stories

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 6:30pm, in Robbinsdale’s Graeser Park. Don’t miss the big finish

NEW LOCATION! Beehive Musical event, Sept 4, 2018

MOVED TO Wicked Wort Brewing Co. due to rain.

Hear songs from ‘Beehive’ at Graeser Park’s Beehive on Tuesday, Sept. 4th!

Don’t miss ‘Beehive’ at the Beehive! Everyone is welcome. FREE event on Tuesday, Sept. 4th at 6:30pm.

Join a Graeser Park clean-up on Sat. June 9, 2018 from 8-11am!

Love Lilac Way? Become a Graeser Park Angel! Join an amazing group of volunteers to give Lilac Way’s Graeser Park a cleanup, and see all the work they have already completed.

A new Lilac Way web site, and a new mission.

The 2007 Campaign to Restore Lilac Way has evolved into a Lilac Way living repository with a new purpose. A new restorelilacway.com mobile-ready website launched in spring 2018, with 30+ pages, hundreds of new and old photos, MnDOT inventory reports, map, and videos.

Why are they called ‘beehives’?

Lilac Way fireplaces were nicknamed ‘beehives’ because they look like skeps—baskets placed open-end-down—used to house bees for more than 2,000 years.

What happened to the Campaign to Restore Lilac Way?

Life got in the way. I started that Campaign in 2006, while caring for elderly parents. In 2008, dad died. Then the recession hit, nearly wiping out this single, self-employed gal.

Lilacs tell the story of climate change.

How can lilacs teach us about our environment? They’re telling us that our climate is changing. Phenologists consider lilacs to be a crucial tool in tracking the Earth’s warming. Phenology is the science of measuring our climate with repeating biological events, such as the blooming of lilacs.

When restored, Graeser Park will need some new signage.

When Lilac Way’s restored Lilac Park had a grand opening in St. Louis Park, MN in 2009, it included new information signage. When I designed that signage through Laukkonen Design, it featured WPA-era graphics and short blocks of info that told the story of Lilac Way and the park’s restoration.