Every Wednesday morning following a City Council meeting on Tuesday evenings, I have a staff meeting with my senior management team, which consists of the five department directors (Police Chief, Fire Chief, Director of Community Development, Director of Parks & Recreation, and the Director of Public Works), the City Attorney, and my Executive Assistant. We debrief the Council’s actions from the night before and discuss matters of general concern in the organization.
This morning we took our meeting on the road. Usually we meet in the Prairie Room at City Center. This morning we met at the J.R. Cummins Homestead. Here’s what the homestead looks like from behind (I did not get a photo from the front):
The J.R. Cummins Homestead is located at 13600 Pioneer Trail. It was built for John and Mattie Cummins in 1879-80. For most of its life the home was the center of a 300 acre farm. Cummins was a widely respected horticulturalist and experiemented with many different flowers, fruits, nuts, and other agricultural plants.
A subsequent owner of the property, Martin “Pappy” Grill, sold a piece of his land for the construction of the original landing strip to the American Aviation Company in 1943, which they later named Flying Cloud Airport. The Metropolitan Airports Commission purchased the Flying Cloud Airport in 1948. The balance of the farmland and house were purchased by the City in 1976 for parkland.
The interior of the home features some new furniture that was recently donated to the Eden Prairie Historical Society. There is a new dining room table, which is where we held our staff meeting this morning:
and a roll top desk that was originally in the home and has now been refurbished:
We are still examining long term care options for the Cummins Homestead with the City Council, the City’s Heritage Preservation Commission, and the Historical Society. It is a difficult issue to resolve. The costs to rehabilitate the home are substantial, but allowing it to deteriorate unabated is not a sound policy either.
The Cummins Homestead is an important landmark in our City’s young history. It’s open for public view several times during the year. Check our website for more details: edenprairie.org
