Planning Projects
The Latest:
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) will hold a public hearing on the Hiawatha Golf Course Property Master Plan on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 6:30 pm. Board meetings are being held virtually during the pandemic, see below for options to participate in the public hearing.
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.
MPRB Commissioners will call in and the meeting will be viewable live via webcast and TV options. Meeting video is also posted to the 2021 MPRB Meetings Playlist on YouTube after the meeting. There are two options to submit public hearing comments:
Call in (recommended)
You may sign up to provide comment for the public hearing by phone by completing the Virtual Speaker Signup Form before 12 pm on Feb. 17.
- Speakers will be sent a call-in number and conference ID one hour before the meeting
- Speakers call into the meeting using the call-in number and conference ID at its the scheduled time
- Speakers will enter the meeting and the committee chair will provide guidance for commenting
- Speakers can watch the meeting through the normal meeting broadcast
- Be aware there is a 20-30 second lag between the call and the broadcast
- Please turn off the broadcast sound when you are called on to speak.
Write
Send your comment to OpenTime@minneapolisparks.org by noon on the day of the board meeting.
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.
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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