Fuller Recreation Center and Park Improvements Recreation center restroom renovations and other interior updates, plus a new gathering space and other park improvements

Milestones (anticipated project schedule by month/season)

Summer – Fall 2025:  Community Engagement and design concept development

Fall 2025 – Winter 2025/2026: Design and construction documents

Spring 2026 – Late Summer 2026:  Construction (building work)

Fall 2026/Spring 2027: Phase 2 Planned Construction (park upgrades)

Background

Project startup and initial internal staff discussion of scope of work elements occurred in spring 2025.  This project includes both site and rec center improvements.

Funding

TOTAL FUNDING (for Design, Construction, MPRB staff time, Administration, community engagement, survey and geotechnical review, and other related costs)

• NPP20: $789,000.00
• Neighborhood Capital Levy: $100,000.00

Park Location and History

Fuller Park is located at West 48th Street and South Grand Avenue in the Tangletown neighborhood. Margret Fuller School, built in 1896, occupied the site until 1974. When the Park Board  acquired the land in 1976 the name Fuller Park was officially adopted. Margaret Fuller was a writer and women’s rights activist in the mid-1800s. She was the first female book reviewer, foreign correspondent and editor of the New York Tribune. Her book, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, published in 1845, is often considered the first major feminist book in the United States. Neighborhood residents tried unsuccessfully to petition the Park Board to acquire land for a playground in the area starting in 1915. In 1917 the Park Board agreed, and Superintendent Theodore Wirth drew up ambitious plans including tennis courts, a recreation shelter, a playground, and an assembly stage. However, his plan required the use of some land that the School Board still owned. The Park Board referred the plan to a joint committee for further consideration, and the plan was never mentioned again. The only reference in historical records is a note in 1920 from James Shearer, the park board’s attorney: “Margaret Fuller School playground proceedings to acquire, abandoned”. When the school was demolished in the 1970s, the Park Board was eager to acquire the site in order to fill a gap in playground coverage of the city. The land was paid for with funds collected from the Department of Transportation after it took over other  parkland to build freeways. Park improvements began in 1975 and included walkways, landscaping, a wading pool, playground, and a new recreation center. Because of the small size and varied topography of the park, Fuller Recreation Center is two stories tall – a rarity in Minneapolis parks. The park was renovated and new equipment installed in 1992. A basketball court was added
in 2005, the wading pool was upgraded for safety in 2008, the interior of the recreation center was improved in 2010, and the playground was updated again in 2015. Recently, additional upgrades have been made to the interior of the recreation center.

Excerpted from history written by David C. Smith and AmericanLiterature.com