A REMEMBRANCE FROM CAM GORDON
I was saddened to learn that Chester, a West Bank icon, has died. Chester was a gentle man, and was well-known and well-loved by the West Bank community, especially some of his nearest neighbors in the Riverview Tower apartment building.
One of the most interesting experiences I’ve had as Council Member was helping Chester stay in his home after the 2008 I-35W bridge collapse. He lived adjacent to the I-35W bridge. When the state and federal governments became aware that Chester and his partner, Marcia, lived there, the easiest answer was to tell him that they had to leave, permanently. He reached out to me asking for help. I agreed to do whatever I could to help.
I did not expect to have much success. I could easily guess what I would hear from our own city staff, as well as from the Minnesota State Department of Transportation and the federal government about changing any plans or procedures to help a homeless couple stay in their (no doubt illegally occupied) place under a bridge near downtown.
But I had a pleasant, heartening surprise. Multiple Riverview residents and neighborhood leaders reached out on Chester and Marcia’s behalf.
Business operators in the area called me. Letters were written. People cared about Chester. People acknowledged that he was a contributing member of the community who helped make the area safer, cleaner, brighter and better. Not one community member came forward to complain or speak in support of using this opportunity to have Chester removed from the area,
even though the government probably had all the legal authority it needed to do so.
In large part because of the community support, and the support from the most local elected officials, I think, the professional city, state and federal transportation staff were opened to the idea. This, together with pressure to get the job done as quickly and smoothly as possible, made it easy to be flexible and to find a middle ground. Ultimately we crafted a solution so that Chester and Marcia had to move during the bridge reconstruction project, but they were allowed to return once construction was completed and their things would not be harmed or disturbed.
More recently, when a new bike and pedestrian trail (the Dinkytown Trail extension) was built just to the south of their home, we were careful not
to displace them.
I am proud of our community, and our city, that we were able to make room for, accept and appreciate Chester in a way that let him live out his life in peace, in his own way, however unorthodox, outside the norms or technically impermissible.
My heart goes out to Marcia, and to all of the people who loved Chester. He will be missed.
This article first appeared in The Cedar Riverside Neighbors Forum
