Kelley Farm in Bloomington focuses historical, developmental, environmental interests

Did you know there is a surviving, and still operatring, farm in Bloomington?

Just south and east of the Mall of America, on East Shakopee Road, sits the 60-acre remainder of the James E. Kelley estate, aka Spruce Shadows Farm Historic District. Determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places by the State Historic Preservation Office, the farm sits — an historical and ecological anomoly — just south of the north-south runway of the Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport, which opened in late October 2005.

James E. Kelley, 1917, age 21
Photo: MN Historical Society

So who was James E. Kelley?

James E. Kelley, a prominent St. Paul attorney, bought the 1,000-acre-plus farm in 1932, and over the next 50-some years, until his death at age 93 in 1989, operated the farm as a country estate, raising cattle, hogs, chickens, sheep and vegetable crops. In the 1930s, living on such a spread was the badge of a country gentleman, one who was wealthy and distinguished enough to live in the country and commute to work in the city via automobile. While Kelley did not himself run the farm, he hired managers who lived on the estate in a second house he had built to echo the main house and outbuildings.

According to an article published in Hennepin History in spring 1999 (“Country Life in the Suburbs: Spruce Shadows Farm,” pp. 20–29),

The farm occupies a picturesque site on the north bluff of the Minnesota River. Post-and-rail fencing rings the farm fields and pastures, and a thick grove of trees shrouds the main house from view. The Colonial Revival house, clad in locally quarried limestone, overlooks the Minnesota River to the south. Impressive stone chimneys with brick trim rise from the north and west sides of the house, and similar brick detailing highlights the many windows that punctuate the south facade. A matching garage is linked to the house by a breezeway.

How the MAC got involved

This article and a predecessor report submitted to the Metropolitan Airports Commission in 1998 were authored by historical consultants Hess, Roise and Company as part of a federal and state environmental review process (known as Section 106) required in connection with the new runway. Nigel Finney, MAC's Deputy Executive Director, Planning and Environment, explains, "We are required to look at potential historic structures and to evaluate any impacts on those structures, including Kelley Farm, given its age."

As the article and report suggest, the big house is shrouded from view. And though you can still see sheep grazing in the pasture, the history of the house, and its future disposition, are far from clear.

Over the years, the Kelley family has sold off most of its land, but has not always shown an inclination to sell. In the 1960s, for example, James E. Kelley sold acreage for the new Control Data Corporation campus. In 1980, the pressure of commercial development had driven the value of the 1,000-some acres remaining to over $3 million, but in 1986, when the Kelleys refused to sell land to Mall of America developers at their offering price, the city condemned a 30-acre parcel and acquired it for almost twice what the developers had offered — $10.4 million.

What the Kelley estate now intends in light of increasing development pressures and the new airport runway is a mystery. About 10 years ago, according to Finney, the heirs "showed no interest in MAC's offer of noise mitigation as a consequence of operating the new runway, the typical things we’ve done on other homes like windows and doors, insulation, baffles and vents."

Planning for the new runway began in 1989, and work began in 1999, after an alternative location near Hastings was rejected by the legislature and federal and state Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) were completed for the current location.

The Kelley Farm and other properties just south of the new runway —an area called "airport south" — are affected by two new noise restrictions. One is the "noise contours associated with the new runway," Finney says. The other is the state's "Airport Safety Zones required at the ends of the runway." Height restrictions also apply to any new buildings going up in the southern part of the two safety zones, where the Kelley Farm lies.

What about future development?

Any future development here, a parcel zoned commercial/office by the City of Bloomington, would be limited to about 100 feet or so, Finney estimates — perhaps an eight-story office building.

Are the Kelley heirs interested in selling to a developer? And at what price? Would they be getting less for their property now than they would if an Airport Safety Zone were not in place? Or are they, pace the ghost of James E. Kelley, simply holding on, as long as they are able, to the dream of a country estate — however imperiled by development and technology all about their land?

The MAC hasn't heard, and doesn't know. The City of Bloomington cannot say. The parties wait, and hold their breath, and eye their next move — for property's and the future's sake.

In the meanwhile, the District too is holding its breath. What happens if this last remaining farmland, on the edge of the bluffs and just above Long Meadow Lake and the river, is taken out of the natural ground water recycling system?

Usually, a developer would install stormwater ponds, says District Administrator Terry Schwalbe. But such ponds, in an airport flight path, would attract wild birds, and wild birds and airplanes don't mix well. The alternative, says Schwalbe, is to pump the stormwater away to holding ponds at some distance ... or to install high-tech devices like "swirl concentrators," multi-chambered machines that remove sediment and floatables from stormwater.

Either case would represent extra expense, increasing costs to the developer and perhaps discouraging some prospects.

Like other parties, we may wish that the sheep and the Kelleys hold out indefinitely, even while we know that money and technology will likely win the day.

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Thanks to Bloomington City Planner Bob Sharlin, who directed us to the Roise, Hesse & Co. reports on the Kelley Farm, aka Spruce Shadows Farm, commissioned by the MAC. Thanks also to Roise, Hesse and the MAC, who lent their valuable suggestions to this article.

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