Address

3435 Fillmore St. NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418

Plan Your Route

Bus, bike, drive, or walk

Contact

Phone: 612-230-6400
Emailinfo@minneapolisparks.org

Park Hours

6 am–midnight
Ordinance PB-2-33

Cavell Park

Nearby Recreation Center: Waite Recreation Center

View Photo Gallery
  • Baseball Field
  • Basketball Court
  • Drinking Fountain
  • Picnic Area
  • Playground/Tot Lot
  • Restroom Facility
  • Softball Field
  • Tennis Court

Not finding what you’re looking for?
Search Parks & Destinations

Park Projects

See what’s currently in the works for this park. Some projects may be under the name of the regional park or service area it lives within. View Current Projects

Your NPP20 money at work:

Maintenance is increasing at all neighborhood parks, thanks to additional annual funding from the 20-Year Neighborhood Park Plan (NPP20). This initiative also funds ongoing rehabilitation and major project to restore neighborhood parks and help address racial and economic equity.

Find Out More

Size: 3.63 acres Neighborhood: Waite Park Service Area: Northeast Commissioner District: 1

Outdoor Use and Event Space: Learn how to reserve park space for corporate events, community celebrations, and more.

Name: The park was named for Edith Cavell School that had previously occupied the site. Edith Cavell was an English nurse working in Belgium at the outbreak of World War I. When the German army occupied Belgium, she helped Allied soldiers escape to the Netherlands. She was executed by Germany in 1915 for her efforts and became a propaganda symbol to generate support for the war against Germany in England, the United States and other Allied countries.

Acquisition and Development

The Cavell School site was targeted for joint development by the school board and park board as early as 1948 following a joint resolution of cooperation between the two boards to provide park facilities in under-served sections of the city. However instead of developing the Cavell site, the two boards opted to work together to build a new school and park, Waite Park, four blocks east.

With the Waite Park development, the Cavell site dropped off the park board’s radar until the Northeast Lions Club requested the park board’s cooperation in developing a “cub” baseball field on the site. The park board approved an expenditure of $2,500 for the improvement and operation of that field and authorized the superintendent to work with the school board to obtain their approval.

The park board finally acquired the site from the school board in 1968, using funds from the federal government’s Open Space Act and the Minnesota Conservation Department. The site was redeveloped as a park, with ball fields, playground equipment and a recreation shelter in 1977.

New courts and paths were installed at Cavell Park in 1999. At that time additional landscaping was also done in the park.

Park history compiled and written by David C. Smith.