Top priorities laid out for skyway revitalization

Top priorities laid out for skyway revitalization
By Jake Spitzack | Staff Writer | December 2025

For people like Tommy Sar, St. Paul’s 47-city block, temperature-controlled skyway system was one of the amenities that attracted him to move downtown. However, between safety concerns and landlords abruptly locking doors to sections with little or no warning, the system hasn’t lived up to his expectations. Prompted to advocate for improvements, he has volunteered for five years on the Skyway Governance Advisory Committee, which operates under the CapitolRiver Council, the city’s planning council for downtown. In this role, he has heard the same frustrations from hundreds of other downtowners.

Now, following a referendum that passed in the Nov. 4 election, he and committee chair Jess Grams are hopeful the city will finally be able to more readily crack down on building owners who skirt skyway rules. The referendum allows the city to issue administrative citations against landlords who don’t play by the rules, such as keeping their skyways up to safety standards and open from 6 a.m. to midnight unless other hours are approved. Details still need to be ironed out, such as how much to charge property owners for skyway infractions, but Grams and Sar are hopeful there will be fewer locked doors along the elevated thoroughfares in 2026, and any closed segments will be clearly communicated with the public.

“If we [skyway committee] really want to push something we need a big mass of people behind us,” said Grams. “There are a lot of things that are very achievable through us if they’re people driven.”

Grams noted that the skyway committee’s recommendations aren’t always adopted by the city council and that’s why having significant public backing is crucial to light a fire under city leaders. Moreover, she said the best way to spark quicker change regarding skyway safety and access is for residents to take action, for example by making frequent complaints to the city’s Department of Safety and Inspections or by submitting petitions. Notably, one tenant union that previously formed to advocate for building upkeep was Lowertown Call to Action, spearheaded in fall 2024 by Sarah Davis. Upon relocating to Minnesota, Davis found the Rayette Lofts were riddled with safety concerns and despite forming the union and filing complaints to the city, no resolution came.

“Public record shows Rayette lofts is being taken back by the bank for default of payment,” she said. “I brought numerous complaints about this building to [City] leadership, including asking for a meeting to come up with a tenant response plan in the event of foreclosure. All they did was kick the ball around and play oblivious. I ended up filing a suit and another tenant action against the owners – both successful. I moved out of St. Paul in August. Of all the places I’ve lived in, that building was my worst experience. Hopefully for my old neighbors’ sakes, this transition won’t be as bad as the Lowry.” The 132-unit Lowry apartment building was condemned in 2024, leaving dozens of people scrambling to find new homes.

Landlords are required to provide security personnel or security cameras for their sections of skyways, yet crime remains a top concern the skyway committee hears about. Grams said unsheltered individuals have been known to illegally sleep overnight in certain areas of the 5-mile system, and criminals sometimes break into vacant buildings that have access to unmonitored skyway sections. Notably, the Alliance Bank Center, which abruptly closed this spring, had several skyway connections and those aren’t expected to open anytime soon because the fate of the building is still in flux. Work is being done to update city-generated skyway maps to reflect the closures.

While there’s still work to be done, Grams and Sar did credit the Downtown Alliance’s street ambassadors with improving overall cleanliness and safety of the skyways since they began patrolling them more often following the Downtown Improvement District’s doubling in size in January. Additionally, the committee will meet soon with city council president Rebecca Noecker, who represents Ward 2, to iron out a winter strategy to help improve safety. The city’s Department of Safety and Inspections is considering installing intercom systems in high-traffic skyways, which would provide instant contact to police at the push of a button.

Improving wayfinding in the skyways to highlight where the connected businesses are located is a high priority for the committee but no plans have been made. Likewise, the CRC is still hopeful they will get the skyway routes added to Google Maps or an app in the future. Currently, an interactive map of the skyway system can be found
at stpaul.gov/departments/safety-inspections/report-concern/skyway-system and downtownstpaul.com/skyway-map.

Street level revitalization
Grams and Sar both said they’d like to see more skyway businesses open on the weekends and fewer vacant spaces but acknowledge that bolstering street-level storefronts should be a priority because they’re more visible to the public. Building on that, they have voiced a desire for the city to support their current residents rather than creating more housing to attract new residents, which has been a top goal of the Downtown Investment Strategy, released by the St. Paul Downtown Alliance in 2023.

Sar said he would like to see 5th Street made into a pedestrian mall, connecting Grand Casino Arena, Rice and Mears Parks, and CHS Field, for at least a few months out of the year. Grams mentioned some creative ways that the city could help small businesses, for example, by allocating funds that would allow them to offer discounts to downtowners without affecting their bottom line. The pair said small business owners often say that they feel like the city supports its
largest corporate businesses but not its small businesses, which often have less time and resources to navigate challenges. Furthermore, they think more people will move downtown if it has public amenities like a pedestrian mall and more opportunities for public gatherings, and if small businesses stay open later.

The volunteer skyway committee has 12 members, including Grams and Sars. Meetings are held over Zoom the last Friday of each month, and attending those is the best way to get involved. To report a complaint or concern about the skyways, visit stpaul.gov/departments/safety-inspections/report-concern/skyway-system.

see more from this editorial series: Revitalization of Downtown St. Paul