Star Tribune
Minneapolis Park Board considers scaling back North Commons project
An ambitious $49 million plan to transform north Minneapolis’ flagship neighborhood park into a regional youth sports destination may be out of reach, Park Board commissioners have learned.
The North Commons Park makeover has been counting on $12 million in state bonding funds, and the Park Board ranked the project as its top legislative priority this session. But so far lawmakers are not supporting additional funding for the Minneapolis park system.
The reconstruction project calls for a new recreation center, a fieldhouse with four gyms and a large water park. Since the Park Board launched the project in 2019, it has rounded up $12 million from state, federal and local sources, along with a potential $10 million in private donations from the Minneapolis Parks Foundation.
Staffers now are seeking guidance from the board on three possible directions: a modest renovation and expansion of the existing 1970s-era recreation center for $22 million, to be completed by early 2025; unearthing more public funding for a larger renovation and expansion of park facilities, for $35 million; or delaying the project indefinitely until $30 million to $35 million in additional public funding can be found for the original $49 million vision.
The first option would result in the largest recreation center in the Minneapolis park system, but provide only two new gyms and a small water park — falling short of community hopes and Park Superintendent Al Bangoura’s 2020 promise to create a rec center that would rival suburban facilities and could host regional tournaments.
The second option would include three new gyms and a medium-sized water park, but could jeopardize $5.1 million in state bonding that the Park Board has already received and $3 million in COVID-19 relief funds that came with spending deadlines.
If the Park Board decides to delay the project to obtain at least $30 million in additional public funding, it would likely have to return the public funding it already has with no guarantees that it would reach the goals of the project or even complete it. But community and private donors might be more likely to rally around the bigger vision.
Park Board members debated which way to go at their meeting Wednesday. Commissioner Becka Thompson, who represents the North Side district that includes North Commons, said state Sen. Bobby Joe Champion advised her Tuesday to “build something with the money you already have.” He could not be reached for comment.
“It is my opinion that the neighborhood deserves to see us finish what we started,” Thompson said, arguing for the first option, the $22 million project. “I know that staff still want something grand and I know that many neighbors do also. But this project increasingly shows itself to be Zeno’s paradox — if each step is halfway there, ultimately we never arrive.”
Other commissioners urged staffers to keep seeking bonding this session and to apply for other sources of public funding in the future.
“Maybe there’s been a little hype around other things since our project started,” said Commissioner Elizabeth Shaffer, referring to the $97 million aquatic and sports center being built by Minneapolis nonprofit V3 not far from North Commons Park at Plymouth and Lyndale avenues. “I don’t think we should give up on it, but at the same time, be really strategic about how we use our funds.”
Board President Meg Forney suggested finding ways to start using some of the public money the board already has for the project to avoid losing it entirely, while pursuing all remaining possibilities to construct a larger building. “Closing the doors at this point in time, I couldn’t support it,” she said.
Design project manager Dan Elias said staffers could try to create preferred concepts based on different project budgets that could be adjusted depending on whatever additional public and private funding might be found.
The Lynx are in the hot seat.
The team lost Game 3 of the WNBA Finals series against the New York Liberty on Wednesday night 77-80, setting the stage for a decisive match at Target Center on Friday night. Fans in the arena reacted with resounding disappointment after Sabrina Ionescu sunk a three-pointer to break away from the tie game and dashed the Lynx’s chance at forcing overtime.
Before we get to the reactions, first things first: The Lynx set an attendance record, filling Target Center with 19,521 spectators for the first time in franchise history. That’s nearly 500 more than when Caitlin Clark was in town with the Indiana Fever earlier this year.
Despite leading by double digits for much of the game, the Lynx began the fourth quarter with a one-point lead over the Liberty and struggled to stay more than two or three points ahead throughout.
The Liberty took the lead with minutes to go in the fourth quarter and folks were practically despondent.
Of course, there were people who were in it solely for the spectacle. Nothing more.
The Lynx took a commanding lead early in the first quarter and ended the first half in winning position, setting a particularly jovial mood among the fanbase to start the game.
Inside Target Center, arena announcers spent a few minutes before the game harassing Lynx fans — and Liberty fans — who had not yet donned the complementary T-shirts draped over every seat.
DULUTH – The Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments will make upgrades to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge in the summer of 2025, in preparation for the structure to become the premiere route between this city and Superior during reconstruction of the Blatnik Bridge.
Built in 1961, the Blatnik Bridge carries 33,000 vehicles per day along Interstate 535 and Hwy. 53. It will be entirely rebuilt, starting in 2027, with the help of $1 billion in federal funding announced earlier this year. MnDOT and WisDOT are splitting the remaining costs of the project, about $4 million each.
According to MnDOT, projects on the Bong Bridge will include spot painting, concrete surface repairs to the bridge abutments, concrete sealer on the deck, replacing rubber strip seal membranes on the main span’s joints and replacing light poles on the bridge and its points of entry. It’s expected to take two months, transportation officials said during a recent meeting at the Superior Public Library.
During this time there will be occasional lane closures, detours at the off-ramps, and for about three weeks the sidewalk path alongside the bridge will be closed.
The Bong Bridge, which crosses the St. Louis River, opened to traffic in 1985 and is the lesser-used of the two bridges. Officials said they want to keep maintenance to a minimum on the span during the Blatnik project, which is expected to take four years.
Red Wing will celebrate the grand opening of its first permanent set of pickleball courts next week with an “inaugural play” on the six courts at Colvill Park on the banks of the Mississippi, between a couple of marinas and next to the aquatic center.
Among the first to get to play on the new courts will be David Anderson, who brought pickleball to the local YMCA in 2008, before the nationwide pickleball craze took hold, and Denny Yecke, at 92 the oldest pickleball player in Red Wing.
The inaugural play begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with a rain date of the next day. Afterward will be food and celebration at the Colvill Park Courtyard building.
Tim Sletten, the city’s former police chief, discovered America’s fastest-growing sport a decade ago after he retired. With fellow members of the Red Wing Pickleball Group, he’d play indoors at the local YMCA or outdoors at a local school, on courts made for other sports. But they didn’t have a permanent place, so they approached the city about building one.
When a city feasibility study came up with a high cost, about $350,000, Sletten’s group got together to raise money.
The courts are even opening ahead of schedule, originally set for 2025.
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