SAINT PAUL, Minn. — On Wednesday, the Saint Paul City Council approved a plan to restore a portion of Saint Anthony Avenue as Rondo Avenue.
The historically Black neighborhood was disrupted by the construction of I-94 beginning in the 1950s.
"This street name change is simply a step in a direction for real, true healing and reconciliation to take place," said councilmember Anika Bowie, who helped lead the efforts.
Last year, the council also approved renaming a portion of Concordia Avenue.
Floyd G. Smaller Jr., 87, recalls a time when so many people were hurt by the fracturing of the interstate. To help heal his home neighborhood, he founded an organization with his friend, Marvin R. Anderson. Together, they founded Rondo Avenue Incorporated, focusing on celebrating and bringing back the spirit of the neighborhood they loved.
"That name means so much," said Smaller Jr. "Because when you take a person's name, you take their spirit."
Smaller Jr. remembers the day he moved to the Rondo Neighborhood in 1943 when he was seven years old.
He said he remembers gray skies and the sun peeking through the clouds.
"It was beautiful," he said.
It was the first memory he had in Rondo, and in 1983 he wrote a poem to summarize the decades of memories he collected.
I Remember Rondo
by Floyd G. Smaller Jr.
I remember Rondo for the fun we had,
I remember Rondo through the good and bad.
I remember the people, and I remember the places,
I remember the old folks, the children, and their bright shining faces.
I remember the street car rides on Sunday afternoon,
I remember playing hide and seek under a bright harvest moon.
I remember Oatmeal Hill and Cornmeal Valley,
I remember fist fights, playing the dozens and running through the alleys.
I remember looking for bicycle parts at the old city dump,
And I remember going to parties, dances, and jumps.
I remember the institutions and the pleasure they brought,
I remember when they decided to wipe Rondo out.
I remember when the bulldozers and the cranes
come our way
Bringing misery and destruction everyday.
I remember the holes, the dust, and the noisy sound
As they buried our history deep in the ground.
I remember the cry the people made
As they cut down the trees that gave us shade.
The memories are as fresh as yesterday
because in our hearts and minds, they will
never take Rondo away.
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