A yearslong effort to improve recreation facilities and bring new affordable housing to Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood took a leap forward this spring with help from the state Legislature, but project supporters aren’t ready to put shovels in the ground just yet.
During the 2024 legislative session, the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board received $5 million for design, development and construction of a new park and recreation center on a site spanning two adjacent properties at 1500 Fourth St. S. in Cedar-Riverside, according to the city.
“Five million dollars is one big piece of the puzzle to help get the ball moving on what is hopefully a new recreation center in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood,” said Daniel Elias, project manager for the Park & Recreation Board.
The funding builds off a previous $3.5 million commitment from the state for preliminary design. Though the new pot of money brings the project closer to reality, project supporters are still looking for additional funding for the $20 million to $30 million project.
Elias said the next step for the park board is to “continue to identify alternative funding sources” to “reduce the gap between the overall project budget and the available funding.”
The city owns one of the lots on the identified development site, and the other is county-owned, Dorthea Martti, communications manager for the city’s Community Planning and Economic Development department, said in an email. Through an RFP process, the city and county awarded development rights to Sherman Associates.
New affordable housing will be part of the mix, but details are still being worked out.
“Sherman Associates is currently evaluating various development scenarios for the site that would include an affordable multifamily housing development adjacent to a MPRB park & rec center,” Martti said, adding that the housing unit count is to be determined. “In the coming year, Sherman will be refining development plans, coordinating with the MPRB, and pursuing financing for the housing component of the project.”
The development site is near the Brian Coyle Community Center. A project to replace or upgrade the community center within Currie Park has been in the works for years.
Elias said the state allocated $350,000 in 2013 for a predesign study to explore options that included renovation and expansion of the Brian Coyle Community Center or development of a new facility. The predesign study was completed in 2021.
The June 2021 predesign report reveals that the new facility would include a “gymnasium, multipurpose space, information hub, quiet/meditation, space, food shelf, catering kitchen, computer center, child sitting, teen activity center, fitness space, group exercise, and a health & wellness suite.”
Serving a diverse Cedar-Riverside community, the Brian Coyle Community Center is owned by the park board and operated through a 99-year lease by Pillsbury United Communities. Elias said the 30-year-old facility would need a significant upgrade to stay open and there’s “no funding to do a major renovation.”
If funding for a new building comes through, Elias said, the Coyle Center would be demolished and the site would become “expanded green space.”
The park board envisions a roughly 40,000-square-foot building, but the size of a new recreation center isn’t set in stone.
“It’s not a fixed square footage at the moment, mostly because the dollars that are allocated to the project are going to determine how ambitious and large of a facility we’d be able to create,” Elias said.
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