The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board released its favorite concept for Graco Park, a riverside stretch next to a fluid handling equipment manufacturer in northeastern Minneapolis.
The design includes two tree-lined parks, a river walk, a multi-use lawn, a building with restrooms, flexible community gathering spaces, and a creative lab for introducing teens to multimedia technology, which is part of the parks’ efforts to advance educational programming for young people.
The South Promenade will extend to a boardwalk and boat rentals at the water’s edge. The park’s northern edge ends at a promontory overlooking the Minneapolis skyline.
The park, which parallels the Hale Island Wildlife Refuge in the Mississippi River, will bring home to turtles, birds, snakes, and small mammals, including mink, musk, beaver, and otters. Plans include man-made and natural sculptures, and a water feature to create habitats.
The new building will feature bird-friendly glass and energy-efficient technology, including a geothermal heat pump, photovoltaic panels, and a rainwater garden. Its pitched roof is a callback to the former Scherer Brothers timber yard, which occupied the site from 1930 to 2010.
The Park Board has long wanted a walking and cycling path along the western and northern sides of the Graco Inc. plant. In exchange for help from the city to redevelop its campus, Graco agreed to grant an easement on its property to the track in 2000.
However, after a decade had passed and the Park Board of Directors had not begun construction on the track, Graco representatives claimed that the city had relieved the company of its obligation to provide the easement. Parkboard disagreed. A costly legal battle ensued, culminating in a 2018 settlement in which Graco and a charity agreed to donate more than $5 million to fund a public park bearing the company’s name. In return, Parkboard agreed to sell Graco’s 2.2-acre parcel for $1.1 million.
Minneapolis rarely calls a park after a corporate entity, but another example is Xcel Field Park.
The concept was developed after two rounds of community engagement with hundreds of participants. A virtual home is set to open on January 11 on Zoom. There will be a public hearing on the final concept before the Park Board commissioners consider the plan for approval.
If the plan is approved, bids for the contract will be launched in the spring with construction expected in the summer.
A quick demo of the favorite concept is available on YouTube.