1970
Census: 16,845
(The highest population Robbinsdale has ever had)
The decade of the seventies included both heartaches and good events for our town. The closing of the Library and the Junior High School saddened many citizens However, a new Civic Center, a senior citizen building, two new parks, the renewal of Arbor Day ceremonies, the free income tax assistance program for the elderly, and the rehabilitation of Crystal Lake all helped to make “our town” a good place to live.
Robbinsdale’s new government offices, the Civic Center in Robin Center, was dedicated to Mayor Charles 0. Wallace. The plaque at the Civic Center also mentions the aldermen initiating and constructing the building: J. J. Johnson, Earl Hiller, Verl Weaver, Z. Joe Bauer, Howard Oberg, and Ray Mattson. George E. DeLay was city manager.
The “Diggers” had as their project “cleaning up” the bushes and grounds of the Library. Orpha and Bill Kranz, Sr., Helen and Walden Schoenheider, lone Strandberg (President), Helen Peterson and Ann Schommer spent many hours trimming, cutting, mowing, removing dead bushes and edging.
The Minnesota Highway Department had proposed upgrading Highway 100 to full freeway. There would have been ten traffic lanes as 100 crossed under Highway 52 when access roads were included. Lions Park on lower Twin Lake and Graeser Park (diagonally opposite) would have been used for cloverleafs. The League of Women Voters had a “Save Your Parks” campaign and pointed out that Robbinsdale had a population of about 6000 per square mile and needed those heavily used parks for open space. A committee had been meeting for over a year and pointed out the undesirable effects and thought the highway plans were a case of overbuilding.”
Mayor Charles Wallace said, “It doesn’t make much difference what the city council wants— the Highway Department will do what THEY want, regardless.” In the next two years, about 40 homes were removed along Unity Avenue and on Highway 52 north of 42nd Avenue. But in 1973 when the OPEC oil crisis came, traffic was reduced, gas tax money was reduced and the parks were saved.
This post is part of a series loosely based on the book Robbinsdale Then and Now by Helen Blodgett. The featured photo of the young woman reaching out from under a bedspread loud enough to keep her up all night is from the 1970 Robbinsdale High School yearbook.