For Mpls. Funding of Park, a Caveat: Council Ties Downtown Park Approval to Long-term Maintenance Funding

The following article by Eric Roper was published in the September 12, 2015 edition of the StarTribune.

For Mpls. Funding of Park, a Caveat: Council Ties Downtown Park Approval to Long-term Maintenance Funding

City Council voted to support downtown park design–if long-term maintenance is secured.

Minneapolis’ support for the ornate downtown “Commons” park design crafted by prominent national consultants will ultimately be contingent on securing the funding to maintain it, the City Council decided Friday.

The last-minute condition convinced a wide majority of the council to support the concept for a new park that will sit in the shadow of the Vikings stadium and Wells Fargo’s new downtown campus. There’s still plenty of challenges ahead, most prominently the need to raise $22 million for the park’s construction.

But the council voted to kick in $2 million toward that total on Friday for the initial design, reversing earlier expectations that the city would be reimbursed for those design costs. That’s in order to satisfy donors who wanted the city to commit funding to the design plan, the mayor’s office said this week.

To continue reading, click on the link to the StarTribune
http://www.startribune.com/council-ties-downtown-park-approval-to-long-term-maintenance-funding/326744251/