Gas Station on 26th and Penn Gets a New Coat of Paint

The currently vacant gas station on 26th Ave and Penn Ave North received a new paint job on July 20th thanks to the work of of some neighborhood youth and the Pohlad Foundation.

Terry Egge of the Pohlad Foundation has been working overtime trying to find opportunities for the Foundation to fund work opportunities for area youth.

“We call it guerrilla philanthropy,” said Egge, who found one job site simply driving around north Minneapolis. It was an abandoned gas station at 2527 Penn Av. N. It’s owned by the Church of St. Anne and St. Joseph Hien on Queen Avenue N., but with the church’s blessing, Egge promised to paint the building and perhaps even find a tenant for it. The painters, she reasoned, would be some of the young kids looking for work.

So that’s how this week, nine teenage boys and young men found themselves under the tutelage of Tyrone Block, owner of Show Me Painting, as they painted vibrant colors onto the old gas station. They earn $8 an hour — money from the Pohlad Foundation — and expect to finish the job within two weeks. After that they hope to find more buildings to paint.

The painting is just one of many projects Pohlad is funding on the northside.

Working, or waiting [Star Tribune]

Related posts:

1. Youth Enjoying In-Line Skating in Bohanon Park
2. V3 Youth Triathlon Team on WCCO