Webber Park is a beautiful and active neighborhood park that includes an historical pond and a variety of fun recreational opportunities. Bring a book or lunch and enjoy the quiet tranquility of the park’s splendid surroundings, stop in Webber Library to check out the latest bestseller, play on the playground, or bike, run or walk on the paths throughout the park.
The park also features a small raised garden bed for hands-on educational gardening activities for youth.
The tennis courts and full basketball court are perfect for your next event. The soccer and softball fields are also available for rent. A permit is required for all non-MPRB leagues and tournaments, and use of a specific facility at a specific time. The permit holder must have a copy of the signed permit on site while the event is taking place. For pricing and permit please call Webber Community Center at 612-370-4916.
Webber Park Renovation Update
A major renovation is currently underway. In 2011, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) led a master planning process that brought together the community and a professional design team to create a vision for the future of Webber Park. From this vision, a new master plan was developed and approved by the Board in February 2012.
Following the approval, the MPRB has been busy putting together plans for implementation. The cornerstone of these improvements is a new, natural-filtration pond* that will be the first public pool of its kind in the country. The new pool facility will have a natural pool edge with spaces for lap swimming, wading and open swimming. The pond will also be used in the winter for ice skating. Read the Pool & Spa News article about this exciting new facility. The pool has also been featured in USA Today.
This innovative, chemical-free technology was chosen by the community and MPRB for both its long term environmental and health benefits. Natural filtration eliminates the need for chlorine, using instead a type of wetland to provide the filter function. Read more about this new technology and see plans for the new Webber pool. Visit the developer’s website to see photos of similar projects in Europe.
MPRB is making good progress developing the construction documents for this exciting new facility. The project is out for bid in February/March. If all goes according to plan, groundbreaking will begin Spring 2013 with the Grand Opening scheduled for Summer 2014.
The Webber Park ice rinks – whose pond liners were damaged as a result of the May 2011 tornado—will remain closed for the 2012-13 winter season and will be part of the future park improvements. Webber Park ice rink users are encouraged to head to Bohanon Park, which has added a skating rink for the 2012-13 season in addition to its popular hockey rink.
*The Webber wading and swimming pools will be CLOSED for the summer of 2013. Swimmers can look to this webpage for nearby parks with water facilities as we get closer to the 2013 swim season. Look here for exciting updates about the new natural swimming pond—the first natural filtration public swimming pool in the country—coming summer 2014!
Historical Profile: More information about this and other parks is included in Parks, Lakes, Trails and So Much More, a richly detailed account of the histories of Minneapolis’ renowned park system.
