St. Paul restores "Rondo Avenue" name in historic Black neighborhood
ST. PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul has officially restored the original name of a nearly 2-mile stretch of Concordia Avenue to "Rondo Avenue."
Much of the historic Rondo neighborhood, once the epicenter of the Twin Cities' Black community, was systematically destroyed between 1956 and 1968 to make way for Interstate 94.
Seven hundred homes were demolished, displacing more than 60% of Rondo's residents. About 300 Black-owned businesses also perished.
On Tuesday, Mayor Melvin Carter — St. Paul's first Black mayor — unveiled the new Rondo Avenue street sign at its intersection with North Fisk Street.
Dozens of community leaders were on hand for the ceremony, including former St. Paul City Councilmember Russel Balenger.
"We knew what community was and we knew how to rebuild community, and we took that with us everywhere else we went," Balenger said.
Poet Marie Flowers also spoke at the ceremony, highlighting the resilience of her community.
"We know that there's a fight in us that will remain in us, and trust we will pass down to our children so our children's children can know that they cannot stop us from doing what our ancestors set out for us to do," Flowers said.
The city has undertaken several initiatives in the past few years to help restore Rondo, including the establishment of the St. Paul Inheritance Fund, which provides up to $110,000 in grants for direct descendants of neighborhood residents to make a down payment on a home.
There is also a movement, led by the organization ReConnect Rondo, to create a land bridge over I-94 in the neighborhood that would feature green space, cultural retail and food businesses, and health resources. State lawmakers budgeted $5 million for the project in 2021, and ReConnect Rondo received $2 million in federal funding in 2023.
Another project seeks to replace a 7.5-mile stretch of I-94 between Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis to Marion Street in St. Paul with a boulevard. The Rethinking I-94 project, led by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, aims to address the devastation caused to Rondo and other communities of color by the department's past actions.
