A land-swap deal with St. Paul Regional Water Services approved last week by the St. Paul City Council will give Pig’s Eye Regional Park a parking lot and an entrance with a sign.
In exchange, the water utility will use a portion of the park to store soils removed from around broken water mains.
The swap is for a 20-year lease with Water Services and it can be terminated if the City finds a better use. The footprint for the soil storage is 5.5 acres within the parkland. In exchange for the Pigs’ Eye site, the former Water Services reservoir in Highland Park will also be developed into soccer fields.
After much negotiation and resident input, the land swap creates a win-win for the East Side Park and for the soccer needs in the Highland area.