Bottineau Field Park Play Area and Park Improvements Project A project to improve the play area and implement master plan recommendations for the park.

Milestones

February 2023 – Project Design Kickoff

March through April 2023 – Concept Design

Fall 2023 – Concept Approval

Spring 2024 – Publicly Bid Park Improvements

Spring/Summer 2024  – Begin Construction

Fall 2024 – Complete Construction

Funding Sources

Play Area & Site Improvements: NPP20 – $306,000, Park Dedication – $95,000
Master Plan Implementation: NPP20 – $1,726,000, Neighborhood Capital Levy – $100,000

Park History

Bottineau Park is located in the Bottineau neighborhood of Minneapolis, one of the most diverse and most affordable neighborhoods to live in the NE and SE Service Area. There is a density of public housing near the park and a key neighborhood institution and social service hub, the East Side Neighborhood Services, only blocks away. There is a high population of teens from the surrounding neighborhood and from nearby Edison High School that rely on Bottineau for out of school time activities and green space.

Bottineau Park was named for Pierre Bottineau, one of the first settlers of St. Anthony, who owned a large portion of what is now northeast Minneapolis. The original 6.22 acres of Bottineau Park were purchased in 1915. The first plans for Bottineau in the 1915 superintendent’s report show that the park was to be devoted exclusively to recreation. In 1916, the park that had once been a vegetable field was improved to include one baseball field and one football field, to double as a skating rink in winter, six tennis courts, one outdoor gymnasium each for girls and boys, and two drinking fountains.

With the onset of the Great Depression, followed by World War II, few improvements were made to any parks. In 1938, Park Superintendent Christian Bossen presented a plan for a wading pool and a permanent shelter building at the park. Those plans were not executed until 1950, when the wading pool was built, and an architect was hired to create new plans for a recreation building. A bandstand was also constructed in the park in 1950. Construction of a new recreation shelter in the park finally began in 1956, but it wasn’t completed in time to serve as a warming house that winter, so a temporary shelter was put up for skaters.

Near the end of the Park Board’s building boom of the 1970s, Bottineau Park received a new recreation center in 1977. That shelter burned down in 1999 and was replaced in 2001 by a domed fieldhouse unique among Minneapolis recreation centers.

Previous Improvements

Skate Park Improvements – 2005

Ball Field Improvements – 2011