Roof Depot | Southwest Connector

“You’re talking about our children breathing. You’re talking about our children living past 25 and not having heart issues that we don’t understand where they got them. It’s our future and our children,” said Jolene Jones on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at the Roof Depot site.

Residents speak: No city project at Roof Depot Site

For the Indigenous people and allies living in south Minneapolis, the Roof Depot conflict is an issue of life or death. And they can back it up with data.Their decade-long fight to stop a city-run … more

By Tesha M. Christensen | 3/23/23

Protestors attended the Jan. 26 city council meeting to show their support for the community plan for the Roof Depot site, as well as the Feb. 23 meeting. There was no public comment during the meetings, and city council members approved demolishing the Roof Depot building and continuing with the plan to build a new public works facility there. (Photo submitted)

Mayor Frey – what are you hiding?

At the corner of 28th St and Longfellow Ave in East Phillips neighborhood, south Minneapolis, the Roof Depot building quietly awaits its unknown fate.The city wants to demolish the Roof Depot to … more

By Daniel Colten Schmidt | 3/1/23

Occupation at the roof depot site broken up

Over a hundred Minneapolis Police Officers and 50 squads shut down an eight-block radius around the Roof Depot site at Longfellow and 27th on Tuesday evening, Feb. 21, 2023, at about 6:15 p.m., and … more

3/1/23

Marisa Miakonda Cummings said, “We have suffered. We suffer from the effects of institutional and generational trauma and we live in this every day. Some times it feels like we are being left again to die…. This is the definition of institutional genocide.” She said they are standing up “because it is the right thing to do.” “We’re not asking for anything outside of basic human rights.” (Photo by Aurora Pass)

'What we want first and foremost is the city to not demolish the building'

2/22/23

Cassandra Holmes at the Roof Depot site on Tuesday evening, Feb. 21, 2023. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

PROTESTING CITY’S PLANS FOR ROOF DEPOT SITE

Over a hundred Minneapolis Police Officers and 50 squads shut down an eight-block radius around the Roof Depot site on Tuesday evening, Feb. 21, 2023, at about 6:15 p.m., and forcibly removed … more

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN | 2/22/23

Delaney Russell, a south Minneapolis resident, is interviewed by Unicorn Riot during the occupation by Indigenous people and allies of the Roof Depot that began at dawn on Tuesday, Feb. 21 and lasted through evening when Nenoocaasi Camp was disbanded forcibly on the orders of Mayor Frey by over 100 officers and 50 squad cars. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

Minneapolis Police officer pushes Longfellow elder at Roof Depot

Longfellow resident Delaney Russell was shocked when a Minneapolis Police Officer pushed her back on the slippery sidewalk when the occupation at the Roof Depot site was being cleared by over 100 … more

by Tesha M. Christensen | 2/22/23

City recognizes problems with expansion at Roof Depot site

Supporters of the indoor urban farm at the Roof Depot site unearthed a city report from June that shows city construction would be "problematic" given the lead and arsenic contaimination in the area, … more

by Tesha M. Christensen | 10/1/21

Ward 9 council member Alondro Cono speaks to the crowd of her own neighborhoods and constituents.

Community rallies in support of indoor urban farm at former Roof Depot site

Supporters of the East Phillips Indoor Urban Farm rallied on Thursday night, Sept. 23 in between two votes that will determine the future of the project. On Wednesday, Sept. 22, the city council … more

10/1/21

For Joe Vital, the city's refusal to support the EPNI indoor urban farm at the Roof Depot site is an issue of environmental racism. "It's absolutely frustrating," he said. "I want to see the urban farm happen because every year at Little Earth we bury people. We have the highest rate of asthma and lead poisoning in the city. East Phillips has been the dumping ground for the city since the 1920s. One death should be enough to motivate anyone." (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

1,063 COMMENTS AGAINST, 2 FOR

The city received 1,063 comments from individuals and organizations opposed to expanding the public works facility into the Roof Depot site at Hiawatha and 24th, and only two in favor of it. Instead, … more

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN | 5/26/21

This map shows the affect that the pollution from the city's expanded public works site will have on south Minneapolis. The site is in the city's Green Zone and sits along the popular Midtown Greenway bike and walking path.

City plans to increase pollution in Green Zone, tear down Roof Depot building in April

The pollution from the city’s proposed plan to expand its public works facility at Hiawatha and E. 26th would affect a majority of South Minneapolis, pointed out representatives of the East … more

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN | 3/24/21

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN ACTION

As more people see the need to not just talk about environmental justice and racism but to do something about it, support is growing for the East Phillips Urban Indoor Farm.During a virtual press … more

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN | 1/27/21

Green housing, jobs and farm along Midtown Greenway

Community members push city to use former Roof Depot site to solve current needs There are some nights in Cedar Field Park that "there's a fog in the air we don't know where … more

by TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN | 10/2/20

Who are the Global Shapers?

Global Shapers Community is a network of young people working together to address local, regional, and global challenges. Locally, they are collaborating to support the East Phillips Indoor Urban … more

10/2/20

Poor governance to bring new toxicity to the ‘Arsenic Triangle’

In the heart of Minneapolis’ Southside Green Zone, in an area nicknamed the “Arsenic Triangle,” East Phillips community members have vied – so far to no avail – … more

By Erin Niehoff | 10/2/20