Adult Sports Registration
Sign up for a sports league or lesson at Minneapolis Parks! We offer hundreds of leagues across seven sports:
Softball - Co-ed and Men's, single game or doubleheaders, plus a 40 and older wood bat league.
Sand or Grass Volleyball - Co-Ed, Open and Women's, 4-person and 6-person leagues available in A, B, and C skill levels.
Kickball - Co-ed
Indoor Broomball - Co-ed 8-player, Men's 6-player
Outdoor Soccer - Men's, Co-ed or Women's, 6-player or 11-player
Tennis Lessons - Beginner, Intermediate, Drill and Play
Pickleball - Beginner, Intermediate
Don't have a team? Try signing up as a Free Agent and we'll try to place you on one for Volleyball, Kickball, Soccer or Softball. Visit the park's website to see more details and sign up.
Recreation Centers Open!
Effective Feb. 14, 2022, all Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) recreation centers and the Mary Merrill MPRB Headquarters building resumed public hours.
Recreation Center Hours
Monday-Friday: 3-9 pm
Saturday: 12-6 pm
Sunday: 12-6 pm at five recreation centers:
East Phillips Park Cultural and Community Center
Farview Recreation Center
Northeast Recreation Center
Pearl Recreation Center
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center
MPRB Headquarters Hours
Monday-Friday: 8 am-4:30 pm
Masks Required
Building visitors and employees must wear a mask in all common spaces within MPRB buildings. People should socially distance at least six feet within buildings.
Scheduled and Registered Programs
Many recreation centers offer scheduled, registered and ActivePass programs outside of public hours. Search all available activities at minneapolisparks.org/register.
Join your Hale, Page, and Diamond Lake neighbors for an evening of winter fun at Pearl Park! This annual family friendly event features food trucks, sledding, bonfires, voyager curling, smores, a luminary walk, a medallion hunt, and more.
Intersection Improvements Coming
During the 2022 construction season, the City of Minneapolis will be making improvements to the intersection of Cedar Ave and Minnehaha Parkway. When a project page is available I will add that information to the construction section of my newsletter. Improvements called for in this location include: striped pedestrian and bicycle crossings, relocation of the traffic control lights out of the pedestrian right of way, and closing off the frontage road connection with Cedar Avenue just north of the intersection. The frontage road will remain in place until funding for its removal and associated storm water management is available.
Work in the Parks!
Work for the parks! We have a lot of fun, interesting and meaningful job opportunities open right now.
Full-time, part-time and temporary jobs are available across a huge range of interests:
 Environmental education
 Canoe and bike instruction
 Recreation programs and inclusion
 Events
 Trades
 And much more!
Go to minneapolisparks.org/jobs to view all openings and apply.
Support Climate Resiliency Work
Park partner, Green Minneapolis, is hiring a project coordinator to work on public-private green infrastructure and climate resiliency projects including the carbon credit program that is being developed to expand tree planting capacity in the park system without raising the tax burden on residents. Learn more about this opportunity here.
Musicians Sought for 2022 Music in the Parks
Apply today by visiting www.mplsmusicandmovies.com. Applications will be open until February 28!
Not a musician, but appreciate being able to see music and movies in the parks? Give Minneapolis Music and Movies in the Parks a follow!
People for Parks Grants
Are you a community member or group with a great idea for improving parks in your neighborhood? Then you’re invited to apply for a 2022 People for Parks Fund grant!
This year, the People for Parks Fund Advisory Committee authorized a minimum of $35,000 in funding for community-grown projects and programs throughout Minneapolis. Most grants will be between $1,000 and $10,000 and will be awarded to 501c3 and 501c4 organizations, government agencies, and community groups and others with a fiscal agent.
Applications are due by March 15 and applicants will be notified in May. For grant guidelines, criteria, and a link to the online application form, please visit the People for Parks Fund page. Applications and FAQs are available in English, Spanish, and Somali.
Winter in the Parks
Bike trails in high use areas have been signed for shared use by cyclists and pedestrians. Please yield to pedestrians when using these trails.
Ice is never 100% safe. Before venturing onto frozen city lakes, please familiarize yourself with these ice safety tips from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Vehicles are not allowed on Minneapolis lakes without a permit.
This season there are 47 skating, hockey, pond hockey, and broomball rinks in 23 parks. Warming rooms will be open with free loaner skates; masks are required inside all MPRB buildings. The ice rink season winds down on Monday, February 21. That is the last day most rinks will be maintained.
After February 21, five rinks spread across Minneapolis will be maintained through the end of the February, weather permitting. Those rinks are:
North - North Commons Park
NE/SE - Logan Park
Lower South - Sibley Park
Upper South - Longfellow Park
Southwest - Bryant Square Park
You can find ice rink status here.
See below for hours and locations. Rink Light Hours
All locations: 4:30-9 pm*
*Lights are left on until 10:15 pm for broomball rinks at Bryn Mawr, Logan, McRae, Van Cleve and Windom NE.
XC Skiing
Information about XC Ski Trails can be found on our partner The Loppet's website here. If you're walking on the course, please stay off greens and when there is snow, and avoid walking on the groomed XC ski trails.
Pets Required to be Leashed
Although park use typically declines in winter months, park ordinance PB 2-18, requiring pets to be leashed while visiting the parks still applies. Please respect all park visitors by keeping your pet on a leash. If you'd like to play with your dog off-leash, please visit one of the system's seven dog parks.
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Help direct grant funding through the People for Parks Fund at the Minneapolis Parks Foundation! Learn more about applying to join the People for Parks Fund Advisory Committee here.
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Planning Projects
 The Latest: These amendments were adopted at the board's February 16th meeting. This summer, up to six pickleball courts will be built adjacent to the Nokomis Community Center; the courts at Bloomington will be crack sealed, color coated and line striped for tennis and pickleball and the courts north of Lake Hiawatha will be crack sealed, color coated and line striped for tennis (these courts can not be dual striped as they are used by the MPS Roosevelt High School tennis team.
I've received quite a few questions about if this change will displace the bike skills course to the north of the parkway. It does not. The pilot skills course will remain in place until a purpose built skills course is implemented. The Nokomis-Hiawatha master plan calls for those courts to be rebuilt as tennis courts. The Minnehaha Creek Master plan calls for the bike skills course to have a purpose built home where dilapidated tennis courts are present at 34th street along the creek.
The first dedicated pickleball courts in the Minneapolis park system are scheduled to open at Dickman Park in northeast Minneapolis this spring. This project considered amending three park master plans to add more opportunities for pickleball.
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) launched a project that will explore building new pickleball courts at Loring Park and next to Lake Nokomis Community Center in response to significant community desire for more opportunities to play pickleball in Minneapolis parks.
Sign up for Email Updates
Visit the Pickleball Plan Amendments project page to learn more about this project.
The Latest: Nothing new to report at this time.
The master plan was not adopted on July 21st. There is no approved master plan for this site, and park staff is working with the Minnesota DNR to understand the permitting process to continue dewatering to enable current use of the site.
Please visit the project page for more information and to sign up for notification of project updates.
Latest: A park renaming survey is open and seeking feedback on name suggestions as well as other names the public thinks should be considered, you can find that survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Park-renaming. Please share this survey with your neighbors, it will be open until April 4th. Once the survey closes, another open house will be held to discuss the survey responses.
Two concept plans to improve and expand the play area and wading pool are being developed. Two Open House events to share the plans and receive community input have been scheduled for March 3 from 4 to 6 pm, and Sat, March 5, from 2 to 5 pm. an online survey with the two concept options will also be posted to the project page the first week of March.
This project will replace the wading pool and playground equipment in the park and based on community feedback a renaming of the park. Park improvements and the renaming process are not tied to the same timeline, and improvements will not be delayed to align with the naming process.
Learn more about this project and subscribe to updates here: https://www.minneapolisparks.org/park_care__improvements/park_projects/current_projects/sibley-park-improvements/
Project Contact: Siciid Ali, 612-230-6576, sali@minneapolisparks.org or Bianca Paz, 612.230.6486, bpaz@minneapolisparks.org
The Latest: Nothing new to report at this time.
During our meeting on December 15, commissioners approved the Phase 1 concept plan for new play areas at Keewaydin Park.
Based on feedback from community members, commissioners also approved retaining the park's wading pool until its structure or supporting infrastructure fails. The pool and its infrastructure will be assessed on an annual basis in consultation with MPS facilities management staff.
The Phase 1 concept plan (pictured above and available on the Keeywaydin Park project website) includes several new play areas and other improvements, including:
- Climbable stacked boulder hills and walls
- Free-standing bouldering monoliths
- Zip line
- Separate age 2-5 and 5-12 play zones with adventure towers
- Creative nature play area with art and performance spaces
- Sand play area, slides, basket swing, and spinner
- Native plantings and naturalized stormwater area
- Picnic areas and seating
Next steps
Winter/spring 2022: Final design, construction bids
Project staff will develop a final design for the project, solicit construction bids and award a construction contract.
Summer/fall 2022: Construction
With a successful contract, project construction is planned to begin in summer 2022, with completion in fall 2022.
Learn more about this project and subscribe to project updates on the project page. Starting with my next newsletter this project will move to the construction section.
Project contact is Colleen O'Dell, 612-230-6469, codell@minneapolisparks.org
The Latest: Draft designs will be available for review and feedback next week. Please subscribe to project updates to receive notice of when the plans are posted to the project page.
The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board (MPRB) is pleased to announce a project to update the playground at McRae Park (in south Minneapolis) to meet current safety and accessibility standards.
Subscribe to gov delivery notices for this project on the project page.
Project Manager : Francisca Pass at 612.499.9074 or via email at fpass@minneapolisparks.org.
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Construction
Soil stability and erosion potential analysis along the creek where the trail has collapsed west of Cedar Avenue is complete and work to stabilize the embankment and move the trail to protect it from further erosion impacts is scheduled for this Spring as soon as the weather allows. Thank you for your patience while a long term solution to the trail failure in this location was identified that does not impact the mature and healthy trees in the area.
Project Manager: Chris DesRoches, (612) 313-7717, cdesroches@minneapolisparks.org
The concrete walkway on the north side of the Minnehaha Refectory building will be removed and replaced in the spring of 2022. Catch basins will be installed during the concrete replacement project to help with drainage in the area.
Project Manager: Allison Dahlin, 612-230-6480, Adahlin@minneapolisparks.org
Staff and elected officials at the park board, City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County have heard and continue to listen to the community’s concerns regarding Cedar Avenue and the Cedar/Edgewater/Nokomis intersection area. Using input from past community engagement and conversations, as well as data and analysis by engineering staff, we are continuing safety improvements along this corridor.
In the last year, the county and city installed enhanced speed signs on Cedar Avenue and temporary delineators to create a center median and bumpouts at Edgewater Boulevard. Moving forward, the county is working with MnDOT and the city to replace the temporary delineators with a permanent raised center median, permanent bumpouts, and upgraded pedestrian curb ramps at Edgewater Boulevard. These improvements will be constructed this year with a MnDOT pavement preservation project (more information here: http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/hwy77bloomington-mpls/)
 The latest: Staff continue to move forward with design of improvements to the parkway intersection and regional trail that will improve the safety, experience and comfort of all trail and parkway users while preserving high quality mature trees in the area. Planning staff have also collaborated internally with the maintenance team to include lifecycle maintenance improvements to the bike trail between Portland Ave and Chicago Ave as a part of this project. This addition will be an efficient use of public funds, improve safety and usability, and provide a safe and direct connection to an existing northbound protected bike lane along Park Avenue. The project is anticipated to be constructed over an approximate 8 week time period in 2022, with more specific dates established once bids are received. Staff will be communicating updates with residents immediately adjacent to the project corridor in the coming weeks and will continue to add these updates to the project webpage.
Proposed Improvements are as follows
• Upgrading crosswalk markings, expanding curb ramps and installing a raised crossing on the south side of the intersection where the trails cross.
• Widening the bike and pedestrian trail south of E Minnehaha Parkway between E 50th Street and Portland Avenue, and along Minnehaha Creek south of the intersection.
◦ To provide more space for boulevard tree roots and improve trail quality, the trail segment between E 50th Street and Portland Avenue will be reconstructed farther south, but will remain entirely within MPRB property.
• Reworking E Minnehaha Parkway just south of E 50th Street to create an aligned 3-way stop, which will create a safer and user friendly experience for all modes.
◦ The parking bay immediately south of the intersection will need to be removed to preserve as many healthy and mature trees as possible.
• Converting E Minnehaha Parkway frontage roads to one-way streets to calm traffic and improve safety at intersections.
• Other possible improvements include installing medians on E 50th Street and Portland Avenue to help direct traffic flow on the frontage roads. Per the Master Plan, vehicle flow will remain continuous on the main Parkway road.
View Schematic Design
The MPRB plans to bid the project over Winter 2021-22 and have the work performed throughout Spring-Summer 2022.
If any remaining funding is available after implementation of changes in this location, prioritization of additional potential projects will be discussed with the community.
To receive notifications about this project as it progresses, please subscribe to updates on the project page. Please feel free to contact the project manager with any questions you may have about this project.
Project Manager: Carol HejlStone 612-230-6454, phejlstone@minneapolisparks.org
The latest: Nothing new to report at this time.
The park board has approved the design for this playground and construction is anticipated to begin in Spring of 2022. This project will update the playground at Pearl Park to meet current safety and accessibility standards.
For more information and to subscribe to updates for this project, please visit the project page or reach out to the project contact: Francisca Pass at 612.499.9074 or via email at fpass@minneapolisparks.org.
The Latest: Construction has paused for the season and will resume when weather permits in the Spring.
Phase 2 Improvements
- Redesign and renovation of the athletic field in the south area of the park to improve drainage, turf quality and overall play quality
- Design and construction of a new splash pad to replace the wading pool
Construction is underway on a new splash pad at Phelps Park! The design includes a large open area with a variety of spray jets to run through and around, and a large mist sprayer at the center.
The new splash pad will be built at the location of the old wading pool, marking the latest round of improvements at Phelps Park after new play equipment debuted last year.
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) staff are currently working through the final permitting phase and expect splash pad construction to begin mid-September 2021 and continue throughout fall 2021. Any remaining work will be completed in early 2022 and the splash pad will open in summer 2022.
The park board has entered into a fundraising agreement to upgrade the field to artificial turf with the Phelps Activities Council which has delayed the implementation of field improvements while funding is sought to expand them.
Final Schematic Design Concept [PDF]
Questions about this project should be directed to the project manager : Jon Duesman, jduesman@minneapolisparks.org.
Subscribe to the project page to receive updates.
In 2016, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) and the City of Minneapolis approved ordinances to reverse years of underfunding in neighborhood parks. The 20-Year Neighborhood Park Plan (NPP20) is a long-term initiative that will transform the neighborhood park system with the following measures:
- Protect current levels of MPRB funding.
- Dedicate an additional $11 million annually, through 2036, in NPP20 funds for increased maintenance, rehabilitation and capital investments in neighborhood parks.
- Allocate NPP20 funds using a data-driven, criteria-based system to help address racial and economic equity.
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