Projects

Current Projects

Universal Access Playground for Minnehaha Regional Park

Universal-access playgrounds enable all children to enjoy healthy social interaction, fun with peers, and opportunities to explore their own abilities. In addition to providing increased self-esteem and confidence, the playground will help children with and without disabilities learn cooperation and mutual respect for each other through regular play, and its soft surfaces will provide both kids and elderly caretakers with an added measure of safety. Learn more here.

The anticipated project cost is $1 million -MPRB has committed $300,000 Hennepin County Youth Sports Fund has committed $200,000 and People for Parks’ Falls 4 All committee has now raised over $100,000. People for Parks also granted an additional $25,000 to the project. See all the contributors here.

Although the standards established by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) eliminated some of the hurdles facing park users with disabilities, universal-access playgrounds go beyond ADA standards to create a space in which children or parents with physical, sensory, or developmental disabilities can use at least 70% of the outdoor equipment.
Make a designated donation! Click here for details.

Allan Spear Colonnade at Mueller Park

Photo Credit: Raya Zimmerman, Southwest Journal.

Allan Spear served in the Minnesota Senate for 28 years, was President of the Senate, and was a professor of history at the University of Minnesota. In 2008, Mr. Spear was named by the Minnesota Historical Society as one of most influential 150 people in state history. The late senator was a long time resident of the Wedge neighborhood and often visited Mueller Park, as he lived with his partner just north of the park colonnade.

Mr. Spear was instrumental in the passage of the 1993 Human Rights Act which protects LGBT Minnesotans from discrimination, and positioned Minnesota as the first state in the nation to extend legal protection to Transgendered persons. His genuineness as an openly Gay man, and
his respected role in the Minnesota Senate played a vital role in persuading bipartisan support for LGBT inclusion in the Human Rights Act. These actions and his courage to live his life with openness and authenticity speak to his credibility as a role model to LGBT Minnesotans.

"Join the Impact-Twin Cities" (JTI) is a local Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) activist group. They have launched a campaign to install a commemorative plaque in memory of Allan Spear on the colonnade in Mueller Park, as well as enhanced landscaping and ongoing stewardship. Read more here.
To donate click here.

Online fundraising for Allan Spear Colonnade ~ Mueller Park

Recent Projects

NW Flight 307 Memorial

PFP board member Mark Kaplan spearheaded a campaign to raise funds for a historical marker commemorating those who lost their lives in the NW307 plane crash on Minnehaha Parkway. The funding goal was reached and a marker was installed on August 27, 2011. See photos and video of the event here.

276 Trees planted in Pearl Park

2011 marked our second annual sponsorship of Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board Arbor Day activities, with 276 trees planted at Pearl Park on Diamond Lake Road. Children from Hale School performed songs and poems during a special program, then helped plant trees with volunteers from People for Parks, Target, Best Buy and the community. This was the second of a three year tree-planting commitment made possible by a bequest by People for Parks member Carl Remick Jr. for reforestation.

Annual 5K Run/Walk/Stroll

PFP focuses on family fun in the parks with categories such as “parent and child” “grandparent and child”, “family duo” and “family trio”. The biggest family group (minimum of 20) will win a bandshell spectator bench with the inscription of their choice. We’d love you to show your support by joining us to run or walk this event to be held on September 8th 2013. Proceeds from each years race benefit the Lake Harriet Bandshell and surrounds. Print out an entry form and learn more here.

Photo Contest
2012's photo contest generated great photos of the parks. Some of you may have seen the posters of the photos displayed in local recreation centers. PFP, the MPRB and National Camera Exchange invite you to submit photos and win great prizes in the 2013 contest. Youth (17 and under) and adult (18 and up) photos will be evaluated for impact, image quality, composition and storytelling in three categories: Events in the Parks, Beauty in the Parks and Fun in the Parks. See 2010, 2011 and 2012’s winners on our facebook page! And upload photos at www.natcam.com. Learn more here.

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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.

Make a designated donation! Click here to donate online; or make checks out to People for Parks, memo line "MLK Park".

For more information and plans, click here.

Read more in the Spokesman Recorder, here.

Online fundraising for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park

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.

Past Projects

Lake Harriet Bandshell Bench and Paver Program (ongoing)

In 2009, People for Parks raised funds to pave the audience area in front of the bandshell and refurbish the worn benches. Dusty crushed limestone was replaced by environmentally friendly permeable pavers which serve as a water filtration system, improving water quality in Lake Harriet. See above for before and after photos! (Click on photos to enlarge). Click here to see how you can continue to support this project with a personalized bench or paver.

Chess Tables
People for Parks and Logan Neighborhood Association partnered to purchase and install two chess tables at Logan Park (Cnr Broadway St NE and Monroe St NE) in 2010. PFP also funded the installation of chess tables at Linden Hills Park (4300 Xerxes Ave S) in 2011.

TREES - Arbor Day
People for Parks has a long history of supporting our urban forest. The organization was first founded in response to the Dutch Elm Disease crisis in 1977 when Minneapolis lost 30,000 trees. Since then we've contributed thousands of dollars for replacement trees and Dutch Elm Disease inoculation, including 200 trees for Pearl Park, 140 trees for Jordan Park, 14 for Thomas Lowry Park, 100 for Folwell Park and Dutch Elm inoculation across the City. Many of the tree plantings were a partnership with MPRB's forestry department and local schools to celebrate Arbor Day.

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.

Airspade
PFP donated an airspade to the MPRB forestry department to help protect tree roots throughout the city from damage. (2009)

Tennis Courts Upgrade
People for Parks donated $7500 in May 2008 to Support the Courts, a Minneapolis nonprofit which rebuilt tennis courts at Powderhorn Park, Webber Park, and Pershing Park.

Sound system upgrade for Lake Harriet Bandshell
In April 2008 People for Parks donated the funds required to upgrade the sound system at the Lake Harriet Band Shell.

Lake Harriet Picnic Shelter
People for Parks was the major sponsor of the Lake Harriet picnic shelter, built in 2007 to provide shade and shelter for picnickers on the north shore of Lake Harriet. The picnic shelter was repainted in 2011 using proceeds from the Bandshell 5K.

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.

Elm Trees on Victory Memorial Drive
In summer 2006, People for Parks donated $9,675 to MPRB for the planting and maintenance of 43 new trees on Victory Memorial Drive. The trees replaced trees that had been lost to Dutch Elm Disease.

Showmobile
People for Parks purchased and donated the Showmobile to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation board. The Showmobile is still in use today at many community events including concerts, speakers, and festivals.

Theodore Wirth Park improvements
A $2,700 donation from the Minneapolis Ski Club for cross country trail lighting at Theodore Wirth Park developed into a long term project for People for Parks. People for Parks raised money in subsequent years to complete a network of ski trails at Wirth, providing signage and additional lighting.

Lake Harriet Rock Garden
One of the most popular People for Parks projects was the Lake Harriet Rock Garden. A bridge was constructed as a symbol for peace, with a Japanese planting at one end and an American planting at the other

Daffodil Gardens
A People for Parks member provided the original funding for a daffodil garden on Minnehaha Parkway near Nicollet Avenue. During subsequent years, over thirty beautiful daffodil gardens were planted in Minneapolis parks.

Recreation Center Signs
People for Parks offered a matching fund program for communities who wanted to install outdoor, lighted informational signs for their recreation centers. Lions Clubs, Kiwanis and others stepped forward to meet the need. Signs were eventually placed at all Rec centers.

Minneapolis Pops Orchestra
Renowned for great sound and family oriented concerts, the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra has performed for decades at outdoor Minneapolis venues. People for Parks was an initial contributing sponsor of this summer tradition.

Theodore Wirth Green Book
People for Parks supported the Minneapolis Parks Legacy Society with a $2,500 donation towards the reprinting of a limited edition of a book written by Theodore Wirth, “The History of the Minneapolis Park System, 1883-1944”, which chronicles his efforts to develop the Minneapolis Park System.