Sunday, Mar 7
Flapjacks flip for Brackett's rocket
Artist Randy Walker plans to tether Brackett Park’s rocket to Earth with 84 cables.
Town Talk Diner, 2707 E. Lake St., was launch pad for fundraising campaign
LONGFELLOW—Boosters of Brackett Park’s rocket hosted a benefit pancake breakfast March 3 at the newly reopened Town Talk Diner, 2707 E. Lake St. With all-you-can eat tickets at $10 (kids 6 and younger were free), the restaurant saw a steady stream of customers all morning long. The event launched a campaign to raise $73,350 to return the landmark rocket to Brackett Park by next fall—newly angled and tethered with 84 cables as designed by artist Randy Walker.
The Town Talk Diner donated food and labor (of which they needed a lot, to keep up with the crowds), so all proceeds went to the rocket campaign.
A group of park neighbors calling themselves the Brackett Rocket Boosters and Forecast Public Artworks say $51,000 is needed for design, fabrication, installation, transportation, insurance, administration, landscaping, materials, labor, and lighting. The remaining $22,350 would go for maintenance and contingency funds, as well as education and events.
First installed in the playground in 1962, the rocket outlasted the Cold War, stood for more than four decades as a playground climbing structure. In 2002, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board removed it during park renovations, citing safety concerns. Neighbors soon rallied to return the rocket from storage to the park, this time as a sculptural garden centerpiece.
Walker’s design would raise the 25-foot rocket on a 10-foot pedestal, tied down by a shimmering metal cables forming a cone within an oval path. At night lights would transform the nostalgic landmark into a beacon visible from the nearby Midtown Greenway bike and pedestrian path. The rocket will no longer be for climbing—only admiring.
For more information about the Brackett Rocket project, call 651-641-1128, email forecast@visi.com, or visit http://www.brackettrocket.org. To read more about Brackett Rocket from the archives of the Bridge, click here.
last revised: April 27, 2006