A new television documentary and interactive website

It's the Main Street of the Twin Cities, connecting Minnesota's largest urban centers. Anchored at each end by the most prominent of public institutions - the University of Minnesota and the State Capitol - University Avenue has always defied description.  Known for most of the 20th century as a bustling business corridor with manufacturing, warehousing, printing and car dealers, its identity today is even more mixed.

On this single eight-mile stretch of road, one can earn a college degree, rent an apartment, attend bartending school, broadcast a TV show, browse used books, show off your classic car at a drive-in restaurant, purchase artwork, buy parts for your antique Ford, dine at dozens of ethnic restaurants, meet with a lobbyist, attend a worship service, volunteer for a local nonprofit, visit a doctor, or open a bank account.

University Avenue has undergone many transformations, from the installation of the popular streetcar line to its dismantling in the 1950s.  It changed again when the construction of I-94 dispersed residents of the thriving Rondo neighborhood. Today, signs of renewal can be seen in the new stadiums on the U of M campus, vibrant immigrant-owned businesses, and the Rondo Community Library.  The construction of the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit will open yet another chapter in the ongoing saga. (You can see how construction is affecting small businesses in this new 12-minute video, "Open During Construction," created by students at IFP Minnesota: Center for Media Arts.)

University Avenue is full of colorful stories about people and places, hopes and dreams. This television documentary will reveal some of those stories and capture the essence of the avenue and its people before the next transformation begins.  

This project is a production of Myers Communications Group in partnership with Ramsey County Historical Society and Twin Cities Public Television. Major funding is provided by the State Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the Citizens of Minnesota. Additional funding is provided by the Huss Foundation, Sewell Family Foundation, Art & Martha Kaemmer Fund of HRK Foundation, Myers Foundation, Bill & Susan Sands, Park Midway Bank, Western Bank, and Richard & Nancy Nicholson.

Photos courtesy Minnesota Historical Society and Ramsey County Historical Society.