Design Unveiled for Downtown East Commons Park; $22 million Must be Raised

The following article by Kristen Leigh Painter was published in the May 28, 2015 edition of the Star Tribune.

Design Unveiled for Downtown East Commons Park; $22 million Must be Raised

Focus now turns to finalizing details of the design and launching a fundraising campaign to finance the project in the shadow of the new Vikings stadium.

The city of Minneapolis has the design for its $18 million Downtown East Commons park in hand. Now it needs to find the money to build it, an effort that — because of contractual restrictions — won’t have the luxury of tapping into a lucrative naming-rights deal.

Landscape architect Hargreaves Associates, based in San Francisco, presented the first images of the direction the park will take at a public meeting Wednesday night at the Minneapolis Central Library. Featuring a large grassy oval that can accommodate thousands of people, a cafe, a playful water feature and tree-lined walks, the park is a central component of the redevelopment of the area around the new Vikings stadium.

To continue reading, click on the link to the Star Tribune article

http://www.startribune.com/design-unveiled-for-downtown-east-commons-park/305257791/