Jeremy Wieland writes in his blog What’s Next…:
There has been some discussion the past few days about allowing De La Salle High School to erect a football field on Nicollet Island. I don’t like the idea. First, we’re discussing a transaction that turns public land over to a private entity. The actors, the Minneapolis Park Board and De La Salle, are acting to limit access to property that currently belongs to every resident of Minneapolis. On my way home tonight, I can swing through that property with the expectation that a security guard will not bust my chops. I can show up at a meeting to argue over whether we’re going to plant trees or wild flowers. There are no guarantees that this will remain true if we plunk a stadium there. Some folks will argue whether high school bleachers that seat 600 is a stadium. Not me. It’s a stadium.
The other thing that bothers me is that this private entity is clearly in violation of the wishes of the community. The neighborhood association there is not happy with this situation. I don’t blame them. Parking will be an issue. Every morning during the school year the school’s parking lot fills up with cars. Add a visiting team to the mix, and people are going to have to park on the streets. I also saw the plans in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The plan calls for the closing of a street, and I believe that includes a bridge. Someone on the DFL Senate District 59 list serve (I don’t want to link with out permission, but credit is given) pointed out that when a train crosses, say the North Star Commuter line nine times per day, traffic on the Island will be shut down.
Minneapolis Park Watch 
The latest DeLaSalle plan presented to the park board June 1 has bleachers seating 750, up from 600. The plan would close a street now used by walkers, joggers, bikers and DeLaSalle school buses. The bridge over the tracks would remain but when trains are present (approx. 30/day, before Northstar) there would be only one roundabout route to the neighborhood for emergency vehicles. The field would be Astroturf, fenced, gated, and open only to supervised activities. Question: Under the DeLaSalle/park board plan, the public would have access to its land when DeLaSalle isn’t using it — would that include public gatherings like a pagan ceremony, an abortion rights rally or a Pride event?