Waveland Triangle Clay Tennis Courts Project to replace existing asphalt tennis courts in poor condition with a clay court surfacing in partnership with Minneapolis Community Clay Courts

Anticipated Phase 1 Implementation Schedule:

Spring 2021 – Final Design, Permitting, Informing Community of Project
Summer/Fall 2021 – Construction

History

In summer 2019,  MPRB and Minneapolis Community Clay Courts (MCCC) entered into an agreement to fund, design, and construct clay courts at Waveland Triangle Park.

In fall 2020,  MPRB adopts the SW service area master plan which includes clay tennis courts for Waveland Park Triangle.

MPRB received a Hennepin County Youth Sports Grant for $80,000 toward the construction of the clay tennis courts.

Park History

Name

The name comes from the Waveland Park Addition, in which the triangle was located.

Acquisition and Development

The original 1.2 acres of land were dedicated as a park in the plat of Waveland Park Addition on November 12, 1885.

Petitions from the Lake Harriet Commercial Club and individuals in 1917 led to the board officially designating the land as a park and assuming control of the land that year.

No improvements were made to the land at that time however.

The impetus for improvement appears to have been the offer of the Street Railway Company to sell two lots between its tracks and 43½ Street south of the triangle. The 1921 annual report of the board includes Theodore Wirth’s plan for moving 43½ Street slightly south and incorporating the former street and the two new lots into the park. Wirth’s plan provided for two tennis courts in the center of the triangle. Wirth noted that the Street Railway Company was “favorable to the proposed changes,” which led Wirth to speculate that a “satisfactory arrangement for the acquisition of the land and consummation of the plan can be made.”

The acquisition of the lots, which brought the total acreage of the triangle to 1.87 acres, was completed in 1923 at a cost of just over $3,000 and another $21,000-plus was spent on improving the new park, including the construction of tennis courts. The entire amount for acquisition and improvement was assessed against property in the neighborhood.