For immediate release: September 18, 2023 Media inquires: Tim Hunt 651-242-4959 timh@reconnectrondo.com Saint Paul, Minn — The first-ever convening of communities divided by the federal highway system will happen in St. Paul, MN from October 12-14. The Reconnecting Communities Summit will gather leaders from across the nation and is part

By Amy Felegy, MPR and Tim Nelson, Sahan Journal. Originally published March 1, 2023. This story comes to you from MPR News through a partnership with Sahan Journal. Nonprofit community group ReConnect Rondo is working to reestablish the neighborhood, business and cultural ties on either side of Interstate 94 in St. Paul, which

By Deevon Rahming, KARE11. Originally published March 1, 2023. ST PAUL, Minn. — It’s an investment seen as a way to right the wrong felt by St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood, more than five decades later.  “Policies resulted in a wrong,” said Keith Baker, executive director of Reconnect Rondo.  Images capture

By Kyle Stokes, MinnPost. Originally published March 1, 2023. A proposal to build a land bridge over Interstate 94 in St. Paul — physically reconnecting a once-vibrant, historically-Black neighborhood torn in two by the freeway’s construction — took a step forward this week. The nonprofit organization ReConnect Rondo and U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-4th, announced

By Michael Laris, The Washington Post. Originally published February 28, 2023. The Kensington Expressway, a highway project built in 1958, effectively cut off much of Buffalo’s East Side, an area housing the majority of Buffalo’s Black population, from the rest of the city. (Libby March for The Washington Post) The

By Charmaine Nero, KARE-11. Originally published February 28, 2023. ST PAUL, Minn. — *Editor’s note: The above story first aired Feb. 4, 2021. The Rondo neighborhood is one of hundreds of communities across the country to receive federal funding after they were uprooted by the construction of the federal highway system.

By Richard Reeve, KSTP-TV. Originally published February 28, 2023. Along Concordia Avenue in St. Paul is the Rondo neighborhood — present day. But Nieta Presley shared with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS photographs that show the Rondo she remembers. “Rondo was an area or a community of being connected knowing your neighbor,”

By Olivia Stevens, Pioneer Press. Originally published February 13, 2023. The large-scale land bridge project proposed for St. Paul’s Rondo area will receive $2 million in funding under the federal infrastructure package. Nonprofit ReConnect Rondo applied with the city of St. Paul for the grant through the “Reconnecting Communities” portion

U.S. Congresswoman Betty McCollum press release The monumental task of resuscitating St. Paul’s Rondo community took a major step forward this week when the federal government announced it is committing $2m to fund planning, studies and analysis as part of the project’s eventual master plan. This move is helping to

By Jimmie Briggs, AARP Livable Communities. Originally published February 1, 2023. As a home to Black families and individuals migrating from downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota, and other areas, the city’s Rondo neighborhood thrived during the first half of the 20th century. An exemplar of Black social entrepreneurship, academic excellence and a