You're Invited | Free Screening of "University Avenue: One Street, a Thousand Dreams"

As someone who has worked and volunteered for organizations based along University Avenue for over a decade, the upcoming screening of University Avenue: One street, a thousand dreams is profoundly exciting. While I have plenty of memories from up and down the avenue, the stories, people, and activities that this stretch of road has seen many decades before my own is breathtaking. Learn more about the Central Corridor Project through this one-hour program and stay for an engaging conversation following the film!

Did you attend the monthly meet-up about the University Ave. Corridor? Would you like learn more about the Central Corridor project? Then this event is for you! See a FREE screening of University Avenue: One street, a thousand dreams Tue., Nov. 27 at 7 pm John B. Davis Lecture Hall Macalester College The program runs one hour. Admission is free but space is limited. Join us a half-hour before each showing for refreshments, and stay for conversation afterwards. University Avenue is a story about people and ideas, hopes and dreams. Since the beginning, the street has been shaped by people determined to turn their dreams into reality. In the 1880s, James J. Hill had the idea to consolidate nine separate railroad lines serving the area, creating a massive transfer yard to facilitate the exchange of freight. The Minnesota Transfer helped make Saint Paul a major hub in the national railway system and led to the establishment of the Midway industrial corridor. A few years later, Thomas Lowry created a private streetcar system that grew to include 500 miles of track. University Avenue was the spine of the system, and 700 streetcars were made at Lowry's shops at Snelling and University. In the 1940s, radio broadcaster Stanley E. Hubbard had the vision to invest in a new invention called television at a time when most people thought it had little chance of succeeding. In 1948, KSTP-TV went on the air, becoming the first television station in the Upper Midwest. KSTP's tower and studios were built on University Avenue, right on the city line between Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Today, hundreds of immigrants from Southeast Asia, East Africa and other countries are living out their dreams by owning their own small businesses along the avenue. Most of them started with little more than their own determination, overcoming every obstacle that was put in their way. Today, the promise of the Central Corridor light rail project is inspiring new investment in the avenue. Supporters hope it will lead to widespread renewal along the avenue, making University a destination once again... just as it had been during the streetcar era. More information can be found at: http://www.universityavenue.net/ ### The League of Women Voters of St. Paul is a non-partisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.  More information about LWVSP is available on our website:  www.lwvsp.org. # # #