Como Park- A landscape park, about two and one-half miles from city, on Como;-Harriet car line. One of the largest parks in the Great Northwest, containing about 425 acres. There are many points of interest in this park, including a Newly-Constructed Pavilion, a concrete structure costing $40,000.00, situated on the west shore of Lake Como, about six blocks north from entrance….
The pride of St. Paul, a landscape park, em bracing two lakes, where boats may be rented in the summer and a free, open-air skating rink may be en joyed in the winter. From May to September Como Park, with its flowers of all kinds, wild and cultivated, is glorious. It is the holiday ground of home people, often drawing more than 20,000 on Sundays. In 1913 It was visited by more than 2,000,000 per sons.
The Minnesota legislature in 1872 authorized the St. Paul City Council to issue $100,000 bonds to buy 260 acres of land bordering on Lake Como for park purposes. Today there are 425 acres, 323 of land and 102 of water. The cost of present land and improvements Is $616,- 210.69.
“Gates Ajar,” a striking floral de sign; a parterre, in which are collected all the varieties of flowers in the park; two lily ponds, one with native lilies and the other with tropical; a Japanese garden, containing dwarfed trees over 300 years old, with rare shrubs and plants— these are some of the park’s attractions. The park also contains a statue of Schiller, the German poet; a bust of Ibsen, the Norwegian author; memorial fountains and pergolas; a playground for children; and the handsome $40,000 concrete pavilion, in which you may dine or eat your basket lunch.
With beautiful landscape, winding lanes, wooded fields, delightful waterways under bridges and through channels, plenty of seats and comfort stations, Como Park is equaled by few public parks in the world. Around the lake and through the park are 15 miles of boulevard drives, which may be toured in motor cars operated by the St. Paul Park Commission. Round trip, 45 minutes, 25 cents. Every evening in the summer a military band, seated on a stand over the water, is in attendance. Boating and canoeing are among the chief recreations. There are over 100 canoes on the lake. The picnic grounds, comprising 40 acres, have a capacity for nearly 6,000 persons.
A well equipped summer kitchen is attached. Como is the joy and pride of the people of St. Paul and evokes the delight and admiration of visitors.
–The City of St. Paul and vicinity
A Compendium of Information
Published by Geo. F. C. Paul
1915
The old pavilion on Como Lake was completed in 1907 and closed in 1990. The building had been shifting on unstable soil and sat empty for a couple years before St. Paul Parks and Recreation Department concluded that they repairing the structure would bust their budget. The old pavilion was demolished in February of 1992. In 1988 the Metropolitan Parks Commission spent about 1.5 million on renovations. The construction costs for a replica, built the on the same site using the original 1905 blueprints turned out to be about the same. The new pavilion is identical in most respects to the old one,
