Please join me in protecting and preserving our historic Minneapolis cityscape as I raise money for the Friends of Tower Hill Park.  Your donation will help preserve this unique patch of greenspace and this incredibly unique structure, with its magnificent 360° views of the entire metro area. Encroaching development threatens to block views both to and from the tower. The new Minneapolis 2040 plan will allow 33-story development along University Avenue immediately adjacent to Tower Hill, despite this being both out of scale and out of character with the neighborhood. The goal of the Friends of Tower Hill is to prevent structures of this scale from detracting from the beautiful and historic nature of this landmark — through legal action, if necessary — as well as to improve the park itself, to help open the tower to the public as often as possible, and to preserve this important space for future generations. Every dollar is deeply appreciated, and no donation is too small!


<img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/37175542_1550605960178671_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" alt="37175542_1550605960178671_r.jpeg" />


 


Tower Hill is a beautiful greenspace just off University Avenue in Minneapolis near the St. Paul border. It’s the highest natural point in the city, at the exact geographic center of the metro area, and one of the touchstones of the surrounding Prospect Park neighborhood (along with Pratt School and the Methodist church). YOU may know Tower Hill as home to the famous “Witch’s Hat Water Tower”, the conical green-hatted tower that juts up over the city as you round the bend in Interstate 94. This historic landmark also greets you as you arrive in Minneapolis while traveling south along Highway 280, and is visible from almost anywhere in Minneapolis and St. Paul. (It’s also rumored to be the inspiration for Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower”, said the joker to the thief.) When he designed the structure in 1913 at the behest of Theodore Wirth, Norwegian-born architect Frederick William Cappelen topped the functional water tower with an open-air bandstand and a whimsical brimmed “hat” of green ceramic tile, giving the tower its unofficial nickname. The tower’s unusual observation deck provides an unrivaled view of the metro skyline, from nearby downtown Minneapolis all the way to the State Capitol in St. Paul. The tower was decommissioned in 1952, and in 1955 it was struck by lightning. When threatened with demolition, the Prospect Park neighborhood rallied on its behalf and the tower was saved. A complete restoration of the tower’s signature tile roof was undertaken in 1986 (using tiles made by the original manufacturer!), and in 1997 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, which noted its significant contribution to the historic character of the surrounding neighborhood. In addition to the tower itself, Tower Hill Park is home to some of the earliest tennis courts in Minneapolis (one installed in 1907, the other in 1912), an historic restored pumphouse, walking paths, sledding hills, and a prairie garden which is tended by the Prospect Park Garden Club. References: <a href="http://www.startribune.com/high-rise-would-block-view-from-witch-s-hat-tower-in-minneapolis-prospect-park-lawsuit-claims/503086772/" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">http://www.startribune.com/high-rise-would-block-view-from-witch-s-hat-tower-in-minneapolis-prospect-park-lawsuit-claims/503086772/</a> <a href="http://www.historictwincities.com/2018/07/31/witchs-hat-water-tower/" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">http://www.historictwincities.com/2018/07/31/witchs-hat-water-tower/</a> <a href="https://prospectparkmpls.org/tower/tower-pictures.html" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://prospectparkmpls.org/tower/tower-pictures.html</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prospect_Park_Water_Tower" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prospect_Park_Water_Tower</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_William_Cappelen" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_William_Cappelen</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Hill_Park" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Hill_Park</a>  <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Prospect_Park_Water_Tower" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Prospect_Park_Water_Tower</a> <a href="https://www.prospectparkmpls.org/tower/tower-100.html" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.prospectparkmpls.org/tower/tower-100.html</a> <a href="https://www.minneapolisparks.org/parks__destinations/parks__lakes/tower_hill_park/" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.minneapolisparks.org/parks__destinations/parks__lakes/tower_hill_park/</a> <a href="http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/</a>@cped/documents/webcontent/convert_280602.pdf


 


<img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/37175542_155060603767846_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" alt="37175542_155060603767846_r.jpeg" /> The bronze plaque at the base of the tower reads: "PROSPECT PARK WATER TOWER THE WITCH’S HAT WATER TOWER WAS DESIGNED BY NORWEGIAN ARCHITECT FREDERICK WILLIAM CAPPELEN AND CONSTRUCTED BY THE CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS IN 1913. OCCUPYING THE HIGHEST NATURAL LAND AREA IN MINNEAPOLIS, THE WATER TOWER WAS BUILT TO IMPROVE WATER PRESSURE IN THE HOMES OF PROSPECT PARK RESIDENTS. THE TOWER WAS DECOMMISSIONED IN 1952, BUT HAS BEEN PRESERVED AS A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THIS CITY’S HISTORY. THE WITCH’S HAT WATER TOWER AND TOWER HILL PARK ARE LISTED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES.”

Marguerethe Jaede

Lois Willand

Jane Sevald

Gail Sorensen

Anonymous

Riv-Ellen Prell

Joe Krummel

Heather Wallace

MB Warner

Alan E. Shapiro

Karen Lu

David Arkin

Rachel Provence

Alena Johnson

Jane Hession

Malini Srivastava

Melanie & Mark Baumhover

Julia Robinson

Help Preserve, Protect, & Maintain The Witch's Hat

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Help Preserve, Protect, & Maintain The Witch's Hat

Still $12,310 to go. Help us build momentum.