Past ProjectsLake Harriet Elf Tree
Every two years People for Parks enlists Rainbow Treecare to inoculate the famous Lake Harriet home of Mr. Little Guy. Safe for elves and amphibians, the magical elixir creates a deadly force field to keep Emerald Ash Borers at bay.
Click for STRIB Coverage. Rec Center Micro Grants
In 2013 People for Parks introduced micro grants for recreation centers. Rec center directors submitted creative ideas on how their programs could be improved with funds of $250-$500. Awards funded rain barrels and perennials for a educational pollinator garden at Sibley Park, music and movement equipment for a toddler program at Kenny Park, transportation for field trips for children from Windom South Park, a historical festival at Fuller Park, and supplies for teen service projects around Matthews Park. Grants have also been given for events like the Powderhorn Park 4th of July celebration and the Folwell Park Haunted House.
Amber Waves
People for Parks' first grant for 2012 was for a living art installation at Bohemian Flats Park, along the Mississippi (2200 West River Parkway). Click here for more photos and details.
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Elevated Walkways for Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
The 15-acre garden is the oldest public wildflower garden in the nation. Its legacy dates back to 1907 when Minneapolis botanist Eloise Butler and botany teachers successfully petitioned the Minneapolis Park Board to create a natural botanic garden to preserve native flora as the city grew. Three acres of bog, meadow and hillside were properly fenced and the Wild Botanic Garden opened April 27, 1907. The Garden is home to over 500 plant species and 130 bird species. It provides 60,000 visitors annually with spectacular seasonal displays of native wildflowers in woodland, wetland and prairie areas. Each area creates a different habitat that fosters different types of plants, animals and birds. To protect the wetlands and make them more accessible, MPRB is proposing an elevated wooden walkway through part of the garden. (See video below.) Estimated cost $105,000.People for Parks provided a $12,500 matching grant to the Friends of Eloise Butler WIldflower garden. For more information, to help the Friends meet their match, or to gift additional funds, please click here. Logan Park Kiln
The current Ceramics class at Logan Park was started in 1971 at NE Park. Through the years this class has been very popular. When NE Park closed, the class & kiln was moved to Logan Park. Logan Park is considered part of the Arts District of Minneapolis. Many artists live & work in the Logan Park Neighborhood. Their existing kiln stopped firing properly and there weren't funds to replace it, leading to fears that the classes would be cancelled. People for Parks donated $3000 to purchase the new kiln allowing the continuation of the existing adult classes, plus youth & teen classes to be added at Logan. Martin Luther King Park Improvements
In response to the community’s concerns that the vision of Dr. King was lacking at the park in his name and that the Freedom Form #2 sculpture dedicated in his honor was moved from its original location, the Park Board appointed former Park Superintendent and Commissioner Mary Merrill Anderson to facilitate an Advisory Task Force to make recommendations to the Park Board. Mary says, "We renamed the park in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr but we never really let the park be the place where all of his philosophy and his approach to life, all of the things that we honor in him are expressed in the environment in the park, the architecture in the park and the way that the program is delivered here.”
In May, the Park Board unanimously approved Phase 1 of the Task Force recommendations which allotted funds for the restoration and relocation of the Freedom Form #2 sculpture to its original site and the creation of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Council to raise $1.6 million for Phase 2 recommendations. The Phase 2 plans recommended by the Task Force include an outdoor amphitheater, improved signage, peace gardens and historical interpretive markers. PFP have partnered as their fiscal agent. In 2013, People for Parks donated $5,000 for a mural by renowned artist Ta-Coumba Aiken that depicts MLK and the civil rights movement famous March. In 2014, People for Parks donated $10,000 towards the planned African American themed playground at the park. Wirth park Trail improvements
People for Parks and the Pohlad Foundation provided funding to install erosion controls on the Loppet Ski Trails. The project also offered an opportunity for teens in the neighborhood to work in the park system. The boys – Pierre Bishop, Venjoseph Brown, Tyece Howze and Ligarius Munn working with supervisor Jon Miller – spread grass seed and erosion control mats on over 700 meters of ski trails. For Ligarius, a skier on the Nellie Stone Johnson Ski and Bike Team, and Pierre and Venjoseph, participants in the Loppet Foundations’ FastKids mountain bike series, the trail work was very personal because it was a way to improve the trails they use throughout the year. After taking a break for the start of school, the boys returned in October to help lead the Trails Day volunteer event..
Other previous Projects
Chess Tables
People for Parks and Logan Neighborhood Association partnered to purchase and install two chess tables at Logan Park in 2010. PFP also funded the installation of chess tables at Linden Hills Park in 2011. Landscaping A butterfly/pollinator garden was created at Audubon Park (1320 29th Ave. NE) in 2011. Buckthorn Removal Tools In 2011, PFP donated a set of buckthorn removal tools for the use of local volunteers to remove buckthorn from park property. Dutch Elm Inoculation Foresters from all five districts of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board identified boulevard and parkland Elms of “importance” to the city –elms that would be sadly missed if they were to succumb to Dutch Elm Disease. People for Parks donated $10,000 for inoculating the trees against Dutch Elm Disease. |
