Out and About: Raspberry Island

By LuAnne Silvia
This week I am sharing well designed places I have experienced when I have been out and about this summer.
I am training for the in line skating marathon this year and one of the places I am skating is along Shepard Road in St Paul. What a beautiful scenic path that follows the river! I think about how fortunate we are in Minnesota to have an abundance of lakes and rivers nearby. Our route takes us by Raspberry Island and one day I was noticing the structure at the end of the island and wondered what it was. The shape caught my eye. So I looked it up.
I learned that Raspberry Island was renovated in 2008 and the design won an award in the public landscape design category. The criss crossing paths and benches that are a part of the new landscaping design are woven around the interesting shaped structure that caught my eye, the Schubert Club Band Shell. The island's focal point is made up of glass panels that catch and play with light making it glow. It sits on a tiny sliver of land that provides an escape from the busy traffic that surrounds it, a destination and a beautiful scenic backdrop as we skate by.
Raspberry Island
 Schubert Band Shell
Photos I took on our inline skating route:
Raspberry Island in the distance, the band shell lower right


Another view of Raspberry Island, different lighting

Along Shepard Road





Crossing the river