MINNEAPOLIS — A celebratory Monday morning outside the Dickman Park Apartments in Minneapolis, as the 35-unit building becomes the final Minneapolis Public Housing (MPH) high-rise to receive a fire suppression system.
U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) spoke alongside other locally elected leaders, to celebrate the project completed more than a year early. Unfortunately, however, it took a tragedy for action to occur. The November 2019 fire at 630 Cedar Avenue South took the lives of five people. A report by the Department of Public Safety showed those lives could have been saved if the building had fire sprinklers.
'We couldn't fathom how it was that people had to live in high-rise apartment buildings where there were no sprinkler systems," Senator Smith said. "It was a tragedy, and it was so unjust."
Smith, alongside U.S. Representative Ilham Omar, secured $2 million in federal funds to support sprinkler installation in all MPHA high-rise public housing buildings. In 2019, only 16 of the 42 high rises had one. The City of Minneapolis also invested $3.35 million into the project, along with nearly $14 million from the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.
"A safe, comfortable place to live should not be a privilege," Senator Smith said. "It is a human right."
"We often hear about the dysfunctionality of local government, but this project really demonstrates otherwise," said Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley.
MPH resident Kirsten Blackwell moved into the Dickman Park Apartments a year ago when there was not a fire suppression system installed. She says she feels much safer now and is grateful the project is complete.
"I'm so impressed with the cooperation and communication of all the different levels of government and city agencies that got together and were able to make this happen," Blackwell said. "Lives will be saved because of it. It took a tragedy to bring this to light."
Minneapolis Public Housing also installed carbon monoxide detectors, smoke detectors, and stovetop firestop cans in all high-rise units.