Location for East Central Minnesota Pride historical marker approved by Pine City parks and rec committee

The Pine City Parks and Recreation Committee voted to approve the Voyageur Park location of a historical marker commemorating the first rural LGBTQ Pride event in 2005 at last week's meeting.

In an interview on Wednesday, East Central Minnesota Pride chair Aaron Bombard explained that the organization first started talking about the historical marker project in 2023 and early 2024, while laying the groundwork for its 20th anniversary in 2025.

"This is obviously big for our area, in terms of the LGBTQ community, but on a larger scale, this is the first historical marker with any reference toward the LGBTQ community in the state," Bombard said.

In 2024, Bombard said the organization dove into the application process, securing letters of critical review from universities and experts to identify the site as "a true historical marker."

"It was kind of a long process throughout 2024," Bombard added.

At a meeting on April 2, the Pine City Council approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with East Central Minnesota Pride for the placement of a historical marker at Voyageur Park in a 3-2 vote.

According to the MOU, the organization will be responsible for ongoing maintenance and upkeep for the marker.

Bombard said a previous grant application was denied by the Minnesota Historical Society due to a lack of MOU in place with the city.

East Central Minnesota Pride is contributing $500 for the project, and received just over $7,000 in grant funding from the Minnesota Historical Society.

"The city did not put forward any funding for this," Bombard explained.

Bombard said working with the state historical society on grant funding has been "great."

"They've been very helpful in terms of having a really good process outlined for how you're supposed to execute the whole project," he said.

The location approved by the parks and recreation board is in the southeast corner of the Voyageur Park parking lot, near the property line where the VFW and park meet.

"It's sort of under the pine trees, and you're able to see the Voyageur statue and kind of look out over the park," Bombard said. "We wanted to have a place that's located where we originally had our event, but also not obstructing any kind of sledding hills, or the frisbee golf course. I'm glad that we were able to come to that location."

Bombard added that historical markers are typically placed on public land.

The marker is 39-and-half inches tall and 43 inches wide, and will stand on a seven-foot post.

The committee's recommendation is expected to go back to the city council at their next meeting.

Bombard said East Central Minnesota Pride's next step will be to reach out to contractors to bid out the installation work.

"Per our grant, we have until next summer to get it installed," Bombard explained. "We would of course love to have it installed this year, but if not this year, then in the spring before our 21st event."

A ceremony is anticipated for when the marker is in place.

"We expect that other Pride organizations and LGBTQ nonprofits that support the community would want to show up for that," Bombard said.

The historical marker will be placed about eight or nine feet off the corner of the parking lot, and Bombard said the organization hopes to install a sidewalk in the future to make it ADA accessible.

"We'd love to raise funds for that as well, to get that completed," Bombard said. "If the city wanted to work with us, we'd love to partner with other organizations that might want to further beautify that space."

While the project commemorates a milestone for East Central Minnesota Pride, Bombard said the historical marker represents more than just one event.

"I don't necessarily look at it as a celebration," Bombard said. "It's a historical marker that of course represents our event, but it also represents getting to a place where our history in society is finally being recorded. And that's important.”

Aaron Bombard (right), with Pine City Parks and Public Buildings Manager Brock Bloomquist