St. Paul skyline. Photo by cliff1066 via Flickr via Creative Commons license

More than 1,000 Minnesotans responded to the Forever Saint Paul Challenge last February, submitting their ideas for what would make the city an even better place to live, in an open contest co-presented by the Saint Paul Foundation and Minnesota Idea Open. A small army of community volunteers read through that large pool of proposals and winnowed the lot down to 30 semifinalists earlier this summer.

Just last week, the contest’s three finalists were announced, selected by a panel of nine local experts in a variety of fields:

Tracy Sides has pitched the idea to build an “urban oasis” by transforming an abandoned warehouse into a local food hub and nature-themed event center at Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary.

Jack Ray’s notion is to establish the Saint Paul Center for Creative Arts, a group of affiliated youth studios on the river that might facilitate learning to work in a variety of media – from boatbuilding to glasswork, ceramics and textiles; from robotics to writing. The studios would give local young people opportunities both for hands-on experience and a chance to make tangible contributions to their community with those newfound skills.

Craig Blakely (with support from St. Anthony Park’s Creative Enterprise Zone), proposes creation of The Saint Paul Art Train, which would repurpose old passenger train cars, permanently affixed to some of the many abandoned rail spurs around the city, into distinctive “incubator” spaces. These could be leased to small businesses, artists and restaurants – all together, creating an attractive destination for visitors, and one that might affordably house a variety of creative enterprises (and, by extension, much-needed job opportunities).

The victorious idea in this year’s Forever Saint Paul Challenge will earn its creator $1,000 in prize money and, most important, a $1 million-dollar grant to the organization of their choice (verified and approved by the Saint Paul Foundation) to bring their city-improvement proposal to fruition. (The person who submits the winning idea may be as involved in the development and execution of their plan as they’d like to be after the contest closes.)

Minnesota Idea Open presents such competitions every year, but never before for a pot this large. According to a report by Minnesota Public Radio, the annual grant amount is usually closer to $15,000. This year’s million-dollar stakes are funded through money left after fundraising by the host committee for the Republican National Convention, held in St. Paul in 2008.

And now, the public is invited to select the winning idea from among these three finalists – voting will be open from August 13 to September 2. Contest organizers offer several ways to cast a ballot: you may vote online at the website, via text message, or at select neighborhood locations and events in St. Paul, including a Forever Saint Paul voting booth set up at the Minnesota State Fair.

Find additional details about the finalists, the competition, and specific instructions on the various ways you may vote, visit http://www.mnideaopen.org/foreversaintpaul/finalists.