Groundbreaking ceremony commemorates beginning of park construction for Graco Park
Posted on 29 August, 2023Coalition of partners supporting Northeast Minneapolis, regional parks and trails, and Mississippi River water quality help create riverfront park, upgraded trail connection, and net-zero energy park building
L to R: MWMO Executive Director Kevin Reich, Graco CEO and President Mark Sheahan, Met Council Member Robert Lilligren, MPRB Superintendent Al Bangoura, MPRB President Meg Forney, MPRB Commissioner Billy Menz
Today representatives from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), Graco Inc., Metropolitan Council and Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO) gathered at the future site of Graco Park to celebrate the beginning of park construction!
This new 9-acre riverfront park is in Northeast Minneapolis, across from Hall’s Island and just north of the Plymouth Avenue Bridge. The first phase of work to build the new park – building a flood barrier and grading the site – wrapped up in late July.
“I’m thrilled to see construction of this park get going because it supports so many aspects of our core mission and values,” said MPRB Superintendent Al Bangoura. “It will host enriching programs and environmental education, improve water quality and habitat, increase trail connectivity and riverfront recreation opportunities, and make the Mississippi River more welcoming for people and wildlife.”
An illustration show the future park building at Graco Park
Graco Park Features
Graco Park is expected to open in fall 2024, with the park building and trail underpass connection to Boom Island Park expected to open in fall 2025. Park features include:
- A multiuse net-zero energy building with public restrooms, community space and a Spark’d Studios location.
- Native habitat restoration and stormwater management features, including a geothermal snowmelt system.
- A trail under the Plymouth Avenue Bridge that connects to Boom Island Park.
- The Mississippi East Bank Trail realigned through the park and safety upgrades at the intersection of Plymouth/8th Avenue NE and Sibley Street NE.
- Gathering spaces, walkways and river access.
Graco Inc. Contributions
In 2018, Graco Inc., a leading manufacturer of fluid handling equipment, and the MPRB reached a series of agreements that will result in this new park. The contributions from Graco will allow the new riverfront park to be constructed much earlier than it could have through traditional park funding mechanisms.
“Graco is committed to the communities where we work,” said Graco President and CEO Mark Sheahan. “Graco is pleased to have a part in this project and proud to partner with this coalition to make an impact that will serve the community for generations to come.”
Read the “Graco Park Agreements” section for details on the agreements that led to the creation of Graco Park.
Met Council Grant
The Metropolitan Council awarded a $2.56 million Regional Solicitation grant to fund an underpass trail connection beneath the Plymouth Avenue Bridge that will connect Graco Park and Boom Island Park. This will allow trail users to avoid the busy intersection of 8th Avenue NE and Sibley Street NE while traveling between the two parks.
Also included in the grant are safety upgrades at the 8th and Sibley intersection, a new wider trail bridge over the Boom Island Marina outlet, and a dedicated trail through the Boom Island Marina Plaza.
“The region’s park system gets lots of love for good reason,” said District 6 Met Council Member Robert Lilligren. “Natural and recreational spaces support physical and mental health and just good, plain fun. Last year, regional parks and trails got nearly 70 million visits. As partners with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, we are so pleased to share the love and be a party to advancing this terrific amenity.”
A segment of East Bank Trail has traveled through the Graco site since 2016. When Graco Park is complete, trail traffic at Plymouth Avenue is expected to increase from approximately 200 people per day to approximately 2,000 people per day. The underpass and intersection upgrades funded through this grant will provide much safer, enjoyable and convenient access between the two riverfront regional parks.
An illustration showing natural landscaping at the future Graco Park
MWMO Grant
Earlier this year the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO) awarded a $480,000 grant for native vegetation and habitat restoration, stormwater infiltration basins, a low-maintenance pollinator lawn, and a heated sidewalk and plaza snowmelt system.
The restored habitat will work hand-in-hand with the new green stormwater infrastructure at the park. A series of interconnected stormwater basins, planted with native vegetation and scattered throughout the site, will form a stormwater treatment train to capture and clean runoff. These features are projected to capture 99 percent of the park’s stormwater runoff and remove up to 85 percent of sediment and phosphorus that otherwise would have entered the Mississippi River.
The heated sidewalk and plaza snowmelt system will be installed in high foot-traffic areas around the new multi-use community building, reducing the need for salt and sand to keep paved areas safe for pedestrian traffic in the winter. The system will use a geothermal heat source part of the “Net Zero” building design already planned for the community building scheduled to open in 2025. Net Zero buildings are ultra-low energy projects that consume only as much power as can be generated onsite by clean, renewable resources.
“We’re pleased to partner once again with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to protect and enhance the Mississippi River’s ecosystem while making the riverfront more accessible to all visitors,” said MWMO Executive Director Kevin Reich.
The project will expand on the native habitat restoration work completed at nearby Hall’s Island, which the MWMO supported with a $1.5 million grant in 2017.
Graco Park Agreements
On Oct. 17, 2018, the MPRB and Graco Inc. reached several agreements on the development of a riverfront park adjacent to Hall’s Island in northeast Minneapolis.
Included in the agreements:
- The Graco Foundation donated more than $3 million to the MPRB to fund a new park named “Graco Park.”
- Graco gave an easement for the Mississippi East Bank Trail to the MPRB for free and the parties ended legal proceedings related to the easement.
- The MPRB sold 2.2 acres located next to Graco’s Riverside production facility to Graco at a fair market value of $1.1 million.
- This land is part of a 3.55-acre section of the 11-acre site, dubbed “Parcel D,” which was purchased by the MPRB without state regional park funding.
- When the site was acquired in 2010, the MPRB, City of Minneapolis and Metropolitan Council all agreed that Parcel D would not become parkland and planned to instead use Parcel D for a public-private partnership of some kind.
- Graco funded flood protection constructed on Parcel D and prepaid park dedication fees for Parcel D.
Site History
2010: The MPRB purchased the 11-acre riverfront site from Scherer Bros Lumber Co. The former lumberyard was cleaned up and industrial buildings and asphalt were replaced with grass over the next few years.
2016: The Mississippi East Bank Trail was paved through the site. This riverfront trail extension connects Boom Island Park, Graco Park and Sheridan Memorial Park before terminating at the BNSF railroad bridge, in the 1600 block of Marshall Street NE.
2017-18: A project restored Hall’s Island, which was eliminated by lumber yard expansion in the 1960s, and created a new gravel river beach.
2018: The MPRB and Graco Inc. reached several agreements that will result in this new park.
2021: MPRB staff collected feedback from the community, researched opportunities and constraints at the site and created a series of Graco Park design concepts for public feedback.
April 2022: The final park concept was approved by MPRB Commissioners after a public hearing.
September 2022: Grading and earthwork began to prepare site for park construction.
August 2023: Park construction begins.