Lead image courtesy of City of Roseville

Former Roseville Parks and Recreation Director Bob Bierscheid shares rare stories about our nationally recognized parks

By Nancy Sonmore

Here in Roseville, we have a veritable treasure trove of parks.

Our nationally accredited park system includes over 680 acres of green space and 67 miles of trails and walkways spread through every section of the city. And our parks were put together in a very unique fashion.

Most Minnesota suburban parks were built in piecemeal fashion over a long period of time. 

The entire city of Roseville, however, was plotted out in the late 1960s, and 80% of our parks were built right away. This ensured that a great deal of land was designated for parks, not bought up by developers. We have our Park and Recreation directors to thank for this.

One was Frank Rog, who is considered to be the architect and visionary behind our parks. He was instrumental in guiding our city through a 1961 bonding referendum, which allowed Roseville to buy hundreds of acres of park land, including Central Park. He then coordinated community groups and residents to fundraise and develop these parks.

“Parks and recreation is not a nice thing to have. It is essential for the physical, mental and social well-being of the residents.” — Bob Bierscheid, Roseville Parks & Recreation Director, 1987-2002

Another is Bob Bierscheid. After serving as assistant to Frank Rog since 1980, Bierscheid became Roseville’s Park and Recreation Director in 1987. During his 15 years in this role, Bierscheid led the creation of a multitude of Roseville facilities, parks, trails and events, including:

• John Rose Oval
• Harriet Alexander Nature Center
• Muriel Sahlin Arboretum
• Central Park Amphitheatre
• Roseville Gymnastics Center
• Central Park American Legion Baseball Field
• Reservoir Woods Trail
• Rosefest and Rose Parade
• Our Adopt-a-Park program
• Accessible Playgrounds and Outdoor Basketball Courts

Throughout his incredible term of Parks and Rec service, Bierscheid exemplified his self-coined theme: “Parks and recreation is not a nice thing to have. It is essential for the physical, mental and social well-being of the residents.”

I had the privilege of meeting with Bob Bierscheid recently. Along with his substantial achievements, he was kind enough to share some of the “less well known” stories behind his remarkable term of service.

John Rose MN Oval

In 1995, Roseville hosted the International Bandy Championships (bandy being essentially field hockey with ice skates), the first such contest hosted outside of Eurasia. Players came from the United States, Sweden, Finland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Canada and Hungary. There were many games played from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day. Bierscheid made his rounds to check on the players. He stopped at a small room where team members put on their skates. There was the entire Russian team, with many bottles of vodka lined up on all the benches! He told them, “You can’t do that. There’s an ordinance— no alcohol.” They argued back and forth, but finally agreed to not do their drinking there. By the way, the Russian team ended up taking silver against champion Sweden.

In 2023, John Rose MN OVAL was voted Best Ice Skating Rink in the USA Today 10 Best Reader’s Choice travel award contest.

Harriet Alexander Nature Center, Central Park

Plans were made in the 90’s to add a nature center to Central Park. However, there were no funds to build it. One day, Bierscheid was sitting at his City of Roseville desk when the mail was delivered. In it was a check for $450,000! It was a gift from Roseville resident Harriet Alexander, who loved walking her dogs through the marsh and forest habitats. Six months before her passing, Alexander decided to bestow the capital needed to build the new nature center. Central Park’s new 52-acre preserve was named in Alexander’s honor, a cherished oasis for nature enthusiasts and a center for environmental education.

HANC boardwalk

Frank Rog came up with the idea of constructing a boardwalk at the Nature Center. Eager to get started, he wrangled a special deal with a contractor to begin the excavation. An operator arrived a few weeks later with a big Caterpillar. He began to grade, but the Caterpillar soon became stuck. As it turned out, the grader couldn’t move because it was sitting on a gigantic gas pipe. Rog had, unfortunately, misinterpreted the site map. If the machine had gone any further, the landscape of Roseville would have changed in a hurry! In the end, the Caterpillar had to be taken partially apart to be removed safely. The good news is that the City of Roseville remained intact and the boardwalk was successfully built.

Central Park’s secret

Rog had a friend who bought an old railroad car at a Minnesota Public Radio fundraiser. After a few days of reality setting in, the friend asked Rog, “Now what am I going to do with this caboose?” Rog suggested that Central Park would be a great home for it. The caboose was placed on the northwest side of the park, where the ball fields are. People loved it! Over time, however, the quaint train car turned into a graffiti-covered liability popular with loitering teens. Then a solution arose: Rog assembled a group to bury the caboose in place! Now Central Park has the only ball field sitting a subterranean train car. And, since things have a way of finding their way to the surface, there may just be a ghostly caboose arising from the Central Park ball field in our children’s future.

Central Park Frank Rog Amphitheatre

The site of the Amphitheatre was originally a parking lot. This was where Rog organized his big Fourth of July celebrations. He’d have portable stages brought in for the entertainment and cars would drive right on through! The crowds would just sit on the hill and enjoy the festivities. 

Bierscheid was in his second year as Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation. Rog was celebrating his 50th birthday and the Park and Rec staff somehow procured a small horse for him to ride dramatically down the hill to commemorate both the Fourth and his birthday. To everyone’s surprise, the horse suddenly took off galloping! After much shouting and general chaos, two bystanders finally grabbed the panicked horse. Frank slid off in a daze, and the crowd went wild. Talk about making a grand entrance!

‘The best decision I made‘

Bierscheid often stated the best decision he made was the hiring of Lonnie Brokke as Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation. Bierscheid completed his Roseville tenure in 2002, and Brooke was promoted to Director. Bierscheid credits Brokke with tremendous updates to the Park and Rec system and for providing in-depth plans for the future.

Bob Bierscheid went on to serve as the City of St. Paul’s Director of Parks and Recreation for seven years, and is now retired. He and his wife Joan have six grandkids to enjoy, and lots of time for fun and travel. They have lived in Roseville for 46 years.

The Roseville Parks and Recreation Department is now in the hands of Director Matt Johnson, whom Bierschied says is very capable.