🔁 $56.3M Highway Approved + The Bird That Darkened Our Skies

Good morning, South Metro.

What's inside:

Burnsville's $56.3M highway project: Hwy 13/Nicollet finally getting grade-separated
Rosemount residents push back on second Meta data center
Apple Valley's $43M+ commercial year: pickleball hall, entertainment complex & Redwood Park
Passenger pigeon history: billions to extinct in 50 years

How many stores (approximately) did Burnsville Center have when it opened in 1977

100

200

Spring is officially here now that the clocks sprung forward. Which means longer evenings, warmer weekends, and probably that moment where you walked outside and thought "we really need to do something about this deck."

Destination Decks builds custom composite and PVC decks across the South & East Metro, the kind that don't need staining, sealing, or any of that annual maintenance headache.

If a deck or porch has been on your list, spring is the time to get on their schedule before summer fills up.

Schedule a Free Discovery Call

Rosemount Residents Want to Pump the Brakes on a Second Meta Data Center

Meta already has an $800M, 715,000-square-foot data center going up on the south side of County Road 42. Now residents are asking the city to slow-walk the second one, pointing to Eagan's unanimous moratorium on new large data centers passed last month.

Read About the Data Center

Burnsville Just Approved a $56.3M Highway Project

That nightmare intersection at Hwy 13 and Nicollet Ave is finally getting fixed. The council unanimously approved a full grade-separated interchange — meaning 13 goes over Nicollet, no more signal, no more backups. Nicollet Ave closes spring through fall 2027, but Hwy 13 stays open throughout.

Read About the Project

Apple Valley Had a $43M+ Commercial Construction Year

27 planning applications. 7 new commercial buildings. A 47,000 sq ft entertainment complex, an 18-court pickleball hall, two new high school gyms, and a fully rebuilt Redwood Park opening this June. Apple Valley's planning director walked through the 2025 annual report.

Read the Full Recap

IN THE 1850s, something happened over Minnesota that sounds made up.

The sky went dark. Not from clouds. Not from a storm. From birds.

Passenger pigeons - billions of them - flew in flocks so massive they blocked out the sun for hours. Settlers described the sky being "actually obscured" as flocks passed overhead. An hour. Of birds.

This wasn't rare. This was normal. The passenger pigeon was the most numerous bird species on Earth - an estimated 3 to 5 billion birds.

By 1914: zero. Extinct. Gone forever.

WHAT A FLOCK LOOKED LIKE

The accounts sound like fiction.

Flocks a mile wide and 300 miles long. Taking hours to pass overhead. So many birds landing in trees that branches snapped. The sound of wings like a tornado.

Near Cannon Falls - about 45 minutes from Lakeville - there was a documented roost 1.5 miles wide and 3 to 4 miles long. One to twenty nests per tree. Millions of birds in a single colony.

They bred throughout the forests along the Mississippi and Minnesota River valleys. The Big Woods that bordered the South Metro prairie - those maple-basswood forests stretching through what's now Lakeville, Farmington, and into Dakota County - were full of passenger pigeons every nesting season.

The same forest edge where bison grazed and tallgrass prairie once swayed? Passenger pigeons nested in the trees just beyond it.

THE COLLAPSE

Two forces converged: forests disappeared as settlers cleared land for farms, and professional hunters killed thousands at a time with nets, guns, and dynamite. Railroads shipped barrels of dead pigeons to cities back east.

The flocks were so big that nobody believed they could ever run out.

1850s: Billions darkening skies across Minnesota

1870s: Populations noticeably declining

1895: Last wild nest and egg collected near Minneapolis

1900: Functionally extinct in the wild

September 1, 1914: Martha, the last passenger pigeon on Earth, dies alone at the Cincinnati Zoo

Fifty years. Billions to zero. The fastest extinction of an abundant species in recorded history.

THE LAST ONES WERE HERE

That 1895 nest is a gut-punch detail.

Someone found the last wild passenger pigeon nest in America - the final egg, the final breeding male - right here in Minnesota. In woods along the Mississippi River corridor. The same river valley you can see from Spring Lake Park and Schaar's Bluff in Dakota County.

That egg is still at the Bell Museum. You can see it. The last wild passenger pigeon egg ever laid, collected from Minnesota woods.

WHY IT MATTERS

Someone born in Dakota County in 1850 would have grown up watching flocks that darkened the sky for hours. By the time they were 65, the species was gone. They watched it happen.

Scientists warned the pigeons were declining. Hunters kept hunting. Forests kept falling. Everyone assumed someone else would fix it.

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FEATURE AN EVENT

Ability 2 Believe is hosting a beer & wine tasting where you can sample from 40+ wines, beers, and cocktails at Hastings Public House on March 12th, plus a Coborns charcuterie table, passed appetizers, and a silent auction — grab discounted tickets in advance before heading to the door! Sip for good.

Monday 9th

Campfire Cooking (Farmington)
Learn campfire cooking techniques perfect for your next outdoor adventure at Levi P. Dodge Middle School at 9am. Ages 9-12. Fire it up.

Paint Midnight Munchies at Jersey's Bar & Grill (Inver Grove Heights)
Paint a fun canvas while enjoying food and drinks at Jersey's at 6:30pm — no experience needed. Get creative.

Tuesday 10th

Well Water Nitrate Testing Clinic (Farmington)
Drop off your private well water samples for free nitrate testing at the Farmington Library at 3pm. Test it.

Puzzle Night at OMNI (Rosemount)
Grab a team and tackle a puzzle over great drinks at OMNI Brewing's puzzle night — good vibes guaranteed. Piece it.

Sports Equipment Swap (Hastings)
Bring gently used gear, find something new, this eco-friendly swap at Hastings High School runs 5:30–7pm and is totally free. Trade up.

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Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for our next newsletter going out every Monday & Thursday morning.

— Brady Greenbush
Publisher & Editor

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🔁 $56.3M Highway Approved + The Bird That Darkened Our Skies

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