Multiple projects underway to shape award-winning park system for next 20 years – and beyond!

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) is undergoing what may be the most comprehensive planning effort in its 130 year history. Minneapolis residents are encouraged to get involved and help the MPRB with three distinct, yet deeply intertwined projects: Closing the Gap-Investing in our Neighborhood Parks, RecQuest, and Service Area Master Plans. Residents can get involved by attending a public meeting or subscribing to receive timely emails about the projects.

Public Meetings

From June through September, multiple public meetings will be held in each quadrant of the city to share information about the projects. Meetings will be scheduled 15-30 days in advance. A full schedule is at www.minneapolisparks.org/closingthegap.

• June:  North Minneapolis
• June/July:  Southwest Minneapolis
• July/August:  South Minneapolis
• August/September:  Northeast and Southeast Minneapolis
  • Wednesday, August 12, 6:30-8:30 pm, Bottineau Recreation Center, 2000 Second St. NE
  • Thursday, August 13, 6:30-8:30 pm, Van Cleve Recreation Center, 901 15th Ave. SE
  • Tuesday, August 25, 6:30-8:30 pm, Luxton Recreation Center, 112 Williams Ave. SE
  • Thursday, August 27, 6:30-8:30 pm, Windom Recreation Center, 2251 NE Hayes St. (Also discussed: Waite Park and Audubon Park)
  • Thursday, September 17, 6:30-8:30 pm, Logan  Recreation Center, 690 13th Ave. NE (Also discussed: Northeast Park)
• September:  Citywide

Anyone requiring meeting modification in order to participate should contact Emily Wolfe at [email protected] or 612-230-6415 in advance of the meeting.

Subscribe to Receive Email Updates

Details about each project are available at www.minneapolisparks.org. To subscribe to receive timely emails about one or more of the initiatives, visitwww.minneapolisparks.org/subscribe, enter your email, then select the project(s) you are interested in under the “Planning” section.

Closing the Gap – a look at the impacts deferred maintenance has had on neighborhood parks

Closing the Gap: Investing in Our Neighborhood Parks looks at the impacts that deferred maintenance – or delaying regular upkeep past the point of repair – has had on the 157 neighborhood parks in Minneapolis.

Neighborhood parks have greatest number of physical assets that require greater resources to operate, maintain and replace. These assets range from outdoor amenities such as wading pools and playgrounds to structural and property infrastructure including roofs, windows, parking lots and much more.  To sustain the current level of physical assets in the park system the MPRB would need $14 million plus inflation each year. The MPRB is currently has $5 million per year to invest in these assets, which means that from 2000 to 2015, the funding gap for neighborhood parks has grown to $111 million.

Unless the replacement and preventative maintenance costs associated with the park system’s infrastructure are addressed, the backlog and costs will continue to increase, and funding gap will grow additional $46 million from 2016-2020 (based on current funding levels).

RecQuest – an in-depth look at recreation centers

RecQuest is the MPRB’s in-depth assessment of its 47 community recreation centers. RecQuest not only considers the physical spaces within the recreation centers themselves, but also the programs, services and activities provided at the centers. The project’s goal to see if the centers are meeting our community’s current needs as well as projected needs 20-30 years into the future. It will also help identify any areas of Minneapolis where programming is not currently offered but needed.

Recognizing that both the demographics and recreation preferences of Minneapolis residents are changing, RecQuest seeks to capture not only the community’s current needs, but also their recreation needs of the future.

Master Plans – a look at the outdoor facilities within the parks

While RecQuest focuses on recreation centers, the MPRB also needs to look at the outdoor parts of a park: playgrounds, athletic fields, wading pools, sports courts and much more. The Park Board most often uses a master planning process for these large projects that span multiple neighborhoods.  Master plans are documents that use community input to create both a long-term vision and key elements of an area. The master plan typically addresses how the area will be managed and operated, and sets priorities and budget estimates for realistically setting the plan in motion.

In the next five years, Service Area Master Plans will be prepared for all five service areas (South, Downtown, Southwest, North, and Northeast). The first master plans to be initiated are the Downtown Service Area Master Plan and the South Service Area Master Plan, which is bounded by the southern and eastern city limits, I-35W, and the I-35W/I-94 downtown loop.