Registration for youth summer sports in Minneapolis Parks begins March 24! The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) is proud to offer youth baseball, softball, and track and field teams across the city this summer.
All organized activities hosted by the MPRB will take place with modifications in place to help protect all league participants while offering opportunities to compete, have fun and be healthy in the parks this summer.
Head over to the MPRB Youth Sports page for more info and get ready to register beginning Wednesday, March 24.
The Minnesota Twins Community Fund once again generously donated new gloves (while supplies last) for all 6U and 8U baseball and softball players. The Twins have partnered with the MPRB since 1993 to support youth baseball in Minneapolis!
Support Youth Sports
Volunteer coaches and instructors for youth sports are needed throughout the year for citywide programs. Learn more about this opportunity here: Become a coach!
The MPRB hires umpires for baseball and softball. Earn extra cash and stay involved in the sports you love! Learn more about this opportunity here: Become a sports official!
The Hiawatha driving range opens today at noon, mats only. Range is open from 9-dusk daily. Visit the Hiawatha Driving Range page for rates, directions and more information.
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) is taking the 2021 Minneapolis International Festival virtual, with all activities accessed through the event website. The Virtual event showcases the many different cultures in the City of Minneapolis and surrounding communities with music, dance, art and food demos.
The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Food Movement
Join the Minneapolis Parks Foundation for a special preview of Owamni by The Sioux Chef and the restaurant's powerful role at the center of an Indigenous cultural movement.
WHEN: Thursday, April 29, 7:00pm
WHERE: Everywhere on Zoom
TICKETS: Free, register via Eventbrite
With the imminent completion of the Water Works Pavilion and surrounding park at the Central Riverfront in Minneapolis, Owamni by The Sioux Chef will take center stage. It’s the first restaurant from Sean Sherman and Dana Thompson, co-owners of The Sioux Chef, who are at the forefront of an Indigenous food movement that’s restoring authentically local, healthy, and sustainable food practices which are rooted in Indigenous cultural traditions.
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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:
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) held a public hearing on the Hiawatha Golf Course Property Master Plan on Wednesday, Feb. 17. The Planning committee advanced the master plan to the full board for consideration, a vote is anticipated on April 7th.
The Hiawatha Golf Course Area Master Plan is a written and graphic document intended to guide capital improvements in the area over the next 20-30 years. The master plan document is a direct reflection of the input provided by the appointed Community Advisory Committee (CAC), which met 7 times between March 2018 and July 2019, and extensive additional community engagement. Master Plan document: https://www.minneapolisparks.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/20170217-HiawathaGolf-Course-Area-Master-Plan-1.pdf
During the pandemic, to minimize the risk of exposure to or potential spread of COVID-19, the MPRB added options for submitting comments for public meetings and hearings, authorized under Minn. Stat. Section 13D.02.
The plan pushes toward a balance of golf and other activities set in a landscape guided by water management. It necessarily bends toward ecology in its aspirations, recognizing that restoration of natural processes—which were significantly altered by Wirth’s dredging of Rice Lake—are a goal greater than those supporting human activities on the site. With ecology as the yardstick, choices are made that err on preservation, conservation, and restoration rather than expanded disturbance and new development. While many uses are described, its restoration of sustainable water patterns and recreation balanced in a new ecologically-driven landscape that forms the higher order goals inherent in the plan.
With the vision and guiding principles, the CAC’s prioritized design element recommendation, focus-session input, community survey input, and input from our collaborating partners, the recommended Hiawatha Golf Course Area Master Plan includes:
- Relocating an improved and reduced pumping strategy at the site to protect nearby low basements from groundwater intrusion to the same degree they are protected today.
- Re-utilizing pumped water for a variety of potential uses (e.g. irrigation, snow making, facility heating/cooling).
- Improving water management at the site while providing opportunities to address flooding in the watershed to the north.
- Improving water quality in Lake Hiawatha and Minnehaha Creek.
- Creating a destination golf facility focused on learning the sport and increasing opportunities for new players, including a 9-hole golf course, driving range, and practice facilities.
- Celebrating the history of Black golfers at the course and supporting and providing an introduction to golf for people of color.
- Expanding access to the site with bicycle and pedestrian trails, a re-envisioned clubhouse area that welcomes the larger community, and other new community gathering spaces.
- Restoring ecological function through the creation of wetlands, riparian and shoreline restorations, upland prairie restoration, and protecting existing wildlife habitat.
- Creating a south Minneapolis winter recreation destination complementary to north Minneapolis's Theodore Wirth Regional Park.
- Developing nine experiences that tell the cultural and natural history through permanent elements and infrastructure, as well as through art, performance, community events, and ephemeral experiences. Experiences include:
- Stormwater Terrace
- Pumping as a Resource
- All are Welcome
- A Place to Learn
- Island Respite
- Telling our Story
- A Connection to Water
- Urban Nature
- Celebrating Minnehaha Creek
The Draft Design of Hiawatha Golf Course Property Master Plan presentation can be found here:
Video Presentation: https://youtu.be/VncJ5OMCpLA
Presentation Graphics and Narrative [PDF]
The project is now focused on one preferred plan after more than two years of community engagement, however, the draft design shared today is not final. There are several more steps and opportunities to weigh in throughout 2020 before the plan is complete.
Please read the updates posted under "Additional Information" in the attached link for detailed information on the Hiawatha Golf Course Property Master Plan: Update
Please visit the project page for more information and to sign up for notification of upcoming meetings.
With the master plan adopted for the creek corridor, the MPRB will spend approximately $1 million in the corridor. Specific projects have not yet been determined, to ensure you are notified of engagement activities and feedback opportunities please subscribe to the project page to receive updates. Project selection and design will involve the community.
Parks for All: Comprehensive Planning
The Latest: Draft comprehensive plan is available for review and comment.
A series of Community Virtual Open Houses is planned for anyone to get up to speed on the project, provide feedback on the draft plan, and ask staff questions. Use the links below to participate:
A draft of Parks for All will be open for public comment until July 18, 2020.
View Parks for All Project Page:
http://www.minneapolisparks.org/parksforall
About this project:
The current comprehensive plan covered the period of 2007-2020, this plan will provide priorities and policy direction for the park system for the next decade. This press release provides an overview of the value this planning effort provides. There are a number of ways to engage with this project:
The MPRB is pleased to announce a project to 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.
Sibley Park Capital Improvements
The MPRB is scheduled to begin community engagement for a Capital Improvement Project at Sibley later this year. As part of the planning and design outreach for that project park staff will examine the community support for changing the name of Sibley Park. To ensure you’re notified of engagement activities and feedback opportunities on this project I recommend subscribing to govdelivery notices for planning projects in the 5th District: https://www.minneapolisparks.org/subscribe_to_govdelivery/ The planning division will notify the public when engagement activities begin.
Keewaydin Park Capital Improvements
The MPRB is scheduled to begin community engagement for a capital improvement project at Keewaydin later this year. To ensure you’re notified of engagement activities and feedback opportunities on this project I recommend subscribing to govdelivery notices for planning projects in the 5th District: https://www.minneapolisparks.org/subscribe_to_govdelivery/ The planning division will notify the public when engagement activities begin.
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Construction
Minnehaha Park Area Regional Sewer Improvements Project
Construction began in September 2019 and is anticipated to be completed in late July of 2021. A robust temporary conveyance system will be in place during construction to direct wastewater around the work site. Some impacts to park users and residents may include: lights, noise, nuisance odor release, tree removals, construction vehicle traffic and equipment parking, lane shifts and temporary Hiawatha Avenue intersection closures, parking restrictions on Minnehaha Parkway, and a bike trail closure.
A section of Hiawatha Bicycle Trail between the Minnehaha Creek Trail and Minnehaha Parkway will be closed throughout construction to accommodate temporary wastewater conveyance piping. Bicycle traffic will be detoured to Minnehaha Creek Trail, 34th Avenue and Minnehaha Parkway. Protected bike lanes with temporary bollards will be created on sections of 34th Avenue crossing Minnehaha Creek and along east- and westbound Minnehaha Parkway.
Project Page: https://metrocouncil.org/sewerconstruction/minnehaha
The Latest: The implementation of shoreline improvements at Lake Nokomis is complete. The project is now in a maintenance phase.
Project goals included:
Repairing damaged and eroded shoreline areas.
Removing overstory growth.
Replacing large areas of mowed turf with a wide array of native seed to control erosion and promote water quality.
This work is part of a long-term effort to increase the amount of natural landscape within the park.
Work originally began in the fall of 2019 and was largely complete by the end of 2019, with development of new native seed species during the 2020 growing season.
Due to the pre-existing turf and invasive weed bed that previously existed, additional over-seeding with the native seed mix was required in 2020. Proper establishment of native seed generally takes several years before a strong presence of the native plants can establish and thrive, with little to no competition from invasive plants.
In 2021, additional maintenance and establishment efforts will be done to help promote the establishment of these new native areas. The temporary fencing will stay up through at least the 2021 growing season to help protect these areas.
Please stay out of the native seed areas and only use intended lake access locations to access the lake.
More information about this project is available here: https://www.minneapolisparks.org/park_care__improvements/park_projects/current_projects/lake_nokomis_shoreline_enhancements/
Want to help stabilize one of the lake access locations experiencing serious erosion? Click here for info on the Friends of Lake Nokomis fundraising effort: https://www.givemn.org/story/Loljff
About this Project:
A Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage grant is funding restoration of almost 4,800 linear feet of shoreline along north and northeastern shore of Lake Nokomis. This area of shoreline was selected due to increased erosion that has occurred along much of this area.
This project was identified as part of the 2015 Nokomis-Hiawatha Master Plan, which calls for increasing naturalized areas to improve water quality, stabilize shorelines and increase habitat. New native vegetation will extend from the shoreline to within four feet of the walking path.
Shoreline enhancements will improve habitat for both aquatic and upland animal species. It will stabilize erosion, seek to remove invasive plants, and create a functional continuum of shoreline zones. Plantings will accommodate fluctuations in water level, allowing for resilience to changing water level conditions in the lake. Improvements will be constructed primarily along the north shoreline of the lake.
This project has received regulatory approval. The United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) and the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) have completed review of the Lake Nokomis Shoreline Enhancements project. SHPO concluded the proposed improvements have no adverse effects to the Grand Rounds Historic District and USACE permitted the project for proposed bank stabilization measures.
Project Design
The proposed design uses three different planting zones along the shoreline.
The Emergent Wetland Zone starts at the ordinary high-water level (OHWL) and extends into the lake. Once established, new aquatic plants will reduce wave energy to help reduce erosion. A temporary fence will be installed to help plants establish.
The Shoreline Buffer Zone lies between the OHWL and wetland boundary. It will be planted with a seed mix that's compatible with shoreline environmental elements.
The Upland Buffer Zone starts at the wetland boundary and extends away from the lake until four feet from the paved trail. It will be planted with a seed mix that's compatible with upland environmental elements. The four-foot strip will be mowed grass. Another temporary fence will also protect new planting areas and connect to the emergent wetland fence.
A variety of access points will still remain so park users can still access the lake.
Questions about this project can be sent to the project manager, Jon Duesman.
Subscribe to the project page to receive updates.
Phase 1 improvements are complete.
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
Design for both the athletic field and splash pad is complete, with construction planned to begin in Spring 2021. Athletic field improvements include funding from the Hennepin Youth Sports Program.
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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