Star Tribune
Minneapolis releases slate of potential street, People’s Way concepts for George Floyd Square
City of Minneapolis planners have developed a range of options for redesigning the streets of George Floyd Square and the People’s Way, a former gas station that has been occupied by protesters since 2020.
Unveiled at a community meeting Tuesday night, the three street options range from an open concept that maintains regular vehicular access that restores Metro Transit’s D Line and Route 5 bus service; a transit mall concept that limits car access to local traffic and emergency vehicles in addition to buses; and a pedestrian plaza sprawling from the intersection of 38th and Chicago north past the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center, which would create a cul-de-sac on Chicago Avenue and prevent buses from returning to the street, though Route 23 would continue to serve 38th.
All the concepts would allow the city to update aging street infrastructure that is more than 60 years old and build wider sidewalks with more greenery and space for the preservation of art and memorials in the process.
City staffers also proposed five technical study design ideas for the People’s Way, an active protest site covered in murals where activists continue to meet regularly. A former Speedway, it was taken over during protests of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. After a man was found dead inside after being lit on fire in the spring of 2022, the city purchased the property with the intention of finding a community-centered developer to transform it into a museum, art gallery, commercial space, or residential building, depending on the outcome of this year’s engagement. The five concepts show buildings of various sizes replacing the gas station, ranging from one to six stories tall, all with substantially more green space for outdoor gathering than currently exists.
Dozens of people participated in small-group discussions of the concepts Tuesday, where they learned that while the city had gotten a law passed this year to allow for the conversion of streets to nonvehicular pedestrian malls, it would not be ideal to do it for the full length of Chicago Avenue from 38th and 37th due to the local businesses’ delivery and parking needs. Some attendees expressed concern for community art and gardens that may be uprooted in construction, including the “Mourning Passage” by Mari Mansfield, a still-evolving work with the names of people killed by law enforcement painted on the street.
Tuesday’s community meeting was the latest in a series of monthly workshops that began in March and will culminate in the city’s plan for the intersection by the end of this year. The next one is scheduled for Aug. 27 from 5:30-8 p.m. and the Sabathani Community Center, 3736 Chicago Ave.
There is a parallel community visioning process hosted by activists every third Saturday of the month at the nearby Calvary Lutheran Church, 10 a.m.-noon at 3901 Chicago Ave S.
Two cities that had reservations about approving plans to extend the Blue Line have have given their consent allowing work to move forward.
Robbinsdale and Crystal on Tuesday gave their support for the plan, joining Brooklyn Park, which gave its consent last week.
Minneapolis is set to vote on the proposal Wednesday, as is Hennepin County.
The affirmative votes from the two north metro suburbs are a critical step as planning continues for the light-rail line, which would run from downtown Minneapolis through Robbinsdale and Crystal on its way to Brooklyn Park. The line could cost between $2.9 and $3.2 billion.
Some residents in Robbinsdale hoped the City Council would vote no and cited a long list of concerns, including at-grade crossings along Bottineau Boulevard, a proposed parking garage at 40th and West Broadway, crime and the location of a station near North Memorial Health.
The Metropolitan Council projects the line could provide 12,000 to 13,000 rides a day. The line is projected to start in 2030.
Required by state law, municipal consent calls for cities and counties along a proposed light rail line to grant permission for the project to move forward.
The Westonka Library in Mound will remain open a few weeks longer than anticipated as officials finalize the plans for a new net-zero-energy facility.
Hennepin County officials have been saying for years that they need to replace the library, which opened in 1972. Last year, they presented plans for a new $17.5 million facility that will use geothermal and solar energy and will not need natural gas or refrigerants for heating and cooling.
Officials initially expected the current library building would close in December but now say it will remain open until January, with a specific closing date to be announced later this fall.
“As designs are reviewed and fine-tuned, so are the closure and construction timelines,” Joshua Yetman, a spokesperson for Hennepin County, said in an email.
Yetman said construction is expected to last 18 months, with the new building opening in the summer of 2026.
“While we’re excited to construct Hennepin County’s first net-zero library, we’re also trying to minimize the time between closure and demolition,” Yetman said. “Arrangements for alternate services, including holds pickup in Mound, are being finalized and will be included in the public announcement later this fall.”
Gov. Tim Walz referenced publicly for the first time Tuesday night during the national vice presidential debate that his 17-year-old son Gus had witnessed a shooting while playing volleyball at a rec center.
The shooting outside the Jimmy Lee Recreation Center occurred Jan. 18 and was widely reported, but Gus Walz’s presence that day wasn’t widely known until August when he became a sensation for standing up and tearfully supporting his dad, who was onstage at the Democratic National Convention at Chicago’s United Center.
After Gus Walz’s moment went viral, St. Paul Parks Aquatics Supervisor and coach David Albornoz posted on social media about his friendship with the governor’s son. Albornoz talked about how he came to know Gus Walz through his love of volleyball and post-match tacos.
He also talked about how Gus Walz was in the building when the shooting occurred in the parking lot at the Jimmy Lee, which sits on the corner of Selby Avenue across Lexington from Central High School. Albornoz wrote that Gus “helped keeping everyone safe and calm, looking after the kids in the gym with us as I rushed out.”
Gus was a sophomore then but is now a senior at Central High. A Walz spokesman confirmed that Gus Walz was present.
Last year, Exavir D. Binford Jr., a 27-year-old employee of the recreation center and a St. Paul resident, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in the shooting. He was sentenced earlier this year to ten years in prison.
According to a criminal complaint:
Binford said a teenager, identified as J.T., and his group fought at Central and at Jimmy Lee. Binford said that Central staff had called to warn recreation center employees about trouble at the school and rec center staff locked the doors as a precaution, but a fight among girls began.
