The Minnesota Legionnaire
RICHFIELD — Lawmakers showed up left and right for a meeting about the future of Minneapolis-Richfield Post 435.
And that future does not involve selling the property.
There were state Reps. Emma Greenman, Patricia Torres-Ray, Michael Howard, Donald Raleigh and Kaela Berg. There was state Sen. John Jasinski, who sits on the Senate bonding bill committee. Veterans Affairs Commissioner Larry Herke and Richfield Mayor Maria Regan Gonzalez were there, too.
The emcee, former Blaine Mayor and Transportation Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg, led the talk as a consultant on behalf of Post 435.
“I hope you understand how important it is so many legislators came,” he said.
The vision for the site where Post 435’s building and parking lot is now along Portland Avenue calls for completely new construction. It is going to be called Veterans Village.
“It can serve as a model to preserve posts like this all over the country,” said Commander Adam Seamans.
The plans call for a restaurant with bar not operated by the post, banquet space for weddings, reunions and other gatherings, along with apartments and underground parking, all right next to a Richfield centerpiece — Veterans Park with its Legion Lake — as well as the Richfield Ice Arena and Richfield Outdoor Pool.
“It was important to the city to protect the unique character for the site,” Tinklenberg said. “They wanted to build something that would fit in.”
He described the project further.
There will be underground and surface parking for a total of 360 spots. Townhomes will line Portland Avenue, with the main building behind them. Post 435 will have 1,800 square feet of office space. The restaurant will have 6,000 square feet, with a large outdoor seating area with a view of the park, and above the restaurant will be a banquet facility with another 6,000 square feet.
The plan calls for a winding sidewalk with trees and shrubs, creating a community space that focuses on the Honoring All Veterans Memorial in the park.
There will be 195 apartments, with 20 percent classified as “affordable” and the rest at market rates. They will be particularly aimed at veterans. Four units will be for reserved for families who have loved ones staying at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center.
The apartments, Tinklenberg said, can’t be exclusively for veterans because of the financing involved, but they can be veterans-preference.
The post will own the apartments, the offices, the restaurant and the banquet space, the entire ball of wax. The restaurant and bar will be operated by a third party, not the post. Construction begins in July 2023, Tinklenberg said.
“We’re in the beginning of a marathon,” said Post 435 Immediate Past Commander Mark Barthel, president of the new Post 435 Holding Corporation.
He said the holding corporation will receive revenue from the tenants and use it to pay off the debt.
Regan Gonzalez said she was excited to support this project and to keep Post 435 an integral part of Richfield.
The restaurant investor is an Air Force veteran who has been in the restaurant business for 20 years, involved in Twin Cities concepts such as Green Mill, Crooked Pint Ale House.
Paul Dzubnar, CEO of St. Paul-based Hightop Hospitality, grew up in White Bear Lake. He said he involved in the Post 435 project because he loves America, loves veterans and knows how to operate restaurants.
“What an opportunity to do a lot of good in a lot of different ways,” he said.
He said the restaurant will offer traditional American fare, and there still will be fish fries like the old Post 435 had at times.
