Wabun Picnic Area Renovation Phase II
Located in Minnehaha Park, the Wabun area is undergoing extensive renovation.
Wabun Phase I was completed in 2008 and improvements include fours new picnic shelters, a new restroom building, a wading pool, reconstructed parking lots, a disc golf course, a volleyball court, and a new bike/pedestrian trail.
The reservable picnic shelters are equipped with grills, lights, and electricity; the two large shelters each seat 164 adults and 88 children and the two smaller ones each seat 62 adults and 40 children.
The new restroom building includes changing rooms and family rest rooms, and also houses the wading pool mechanicals.
The new wading pool features a waterfall and spray structure that looks like the rock of the river bluffs; benches surround the tree-shaded pool.
To minimize stormwater runoff, sections of the parking lots in Wabun are made of porous bricks or concrete. Wabun’s parking lot is the first in the Minneapolis park system to employ this state-of-the-art strategy.
The new trail along the river bluff, affording views of the river and beautiful outcroppings of rock, leads down the hill and underneath the Ford Bridge to meet the bike and pedestrian trail on West River Parkway.
Deer Pen
The Upper Glen, also known as the “Deer Pen,” is adjacent to the Wabun Picnic Area and considered part of the Wabun project area. Thousands of years ago, a western channel of the Mississippi River flowed over the bluff at the north end of the Upper Glen, creating falls and carving out the glen below. The area became known as the “Deer Pen” when, prior to converting the area into picnic grounds in 1923, deer and elk were kept there. Early in the 20th Century, the middle section of the north bluff was filled in and covered over when the city installed sewer lines. Excess soil from the excavation in Wabun was used to soften the steep grade and rough contours of this middle section, offering a panoramic view of the Deer Pen and the opportunity for sledding. This spring, the long, gentle slope is greening up after many kids of all ages enjoyed sledding it this past winter.
Wabun Phase II
The west section of the Wabun picnic area, formerly known as Omeeme, is scattered with burr oaks and groupings of picnic tables.
Upcoming changes to this area, part of the Wabun improvement plans presented to area residents and park users in October 2006, include a new picnic shelter, realignment of the road leading to the Veterans Home, conversion of the current road (Old Soldier Home Road) into a bike and pedestrian trail, demolition and relocation of the maintenance building, and replacement of the picnic tables and benches.
If funding permits, an additional new picnic shelter will be built where the maintenance building currently stands, a spot that offers a spectacular view of Minnehaha Falls. The realigned road will follow the route used between 1932 and 1955, when what is now the Wabun picnic area was the Minnehaha Auto Tourist Camp.
Total funding for the two phases of improvements at Wabun is $3.725 million provided by the state legislature through the Metropolitan Council. Minnehaha Park’s designation as a regional park makes it eligible for this funding.
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’ renown recreational system. (See Minnehaha Park section.)
