Old Main, Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota, around 1889

The Mac-Groveland neighborhood overlaps with the St. Thomas University and Macalester College communities. Over the years, tensions arose between Mac-Groveland residents and the schools as the demand for student housing increased and more properties became occupied by students. Many residents were concerned about losing the integrity of the neighborhood as the schools looked to expand.

The High Winds Fund was created by DeWitt Wallace in 1956 to maintain the "beauty, security, and serenity" of the neighborhoods surrounding Macalester. In the late 60s, funding from High Winds made it possible to purchase many neighboring properties to rent to faculty and students. When plans for a major expansion were revealed in 1966 and 1967, it raised protests from residents. Wallace withdrew his support due to rifts with administration in 1971, expansion plans were also halted, and High Winds was entrusted with repairing and selling the properties with an owner-occupancy clause (Macalester Park Survey Report, 17-18).

In response to St. Thomas expansion plans in 2004, the West Summit Neighborhood Advisory Council was created by the St. Paul City Council as a way to foster and strengthen a partnership between St. Thomas and the surrounding neighborhoods. As part of the terms for their expansion, St. Thomas was responsible for buying and rehabilitating 30 properties in the Mac-Groveland and Merriam Park neighborhoods to gradually sell over the next twelve years with restrictive covenants requiring that only non-students could buy or occupy these properties (Conditional Use Permit, item 10). Although well past the twelve years, there are current discussions of removing these restrictive covenants as an acknowledgement that the environment has changed and to further welcome students as neighbors.