The following article by Peter Callaghan was published in the May 6, 2016 issue of MinnPost.
Downtown Minneapolis Group to Temporarily Manage East Commons Park After Summer Opening
When the patch of Minneapolis known as the East Commons park opens sometime this summer, it likely will be managed by an entity personified by the greenish-yellow clad “ambassadors” who populate downtown.
The city plans to contract with the Downtown Improvement District to manage the park when it opens sometime this summer, which officials hope happens in time for the first events at the new Vikings Stadium.
The DID, which provides cleaning, maintenance and security in downtown (paid for via assessments on the area’s businesses), will provide similar tasks for the park through the end of 2016. After that, the city hopes to have reached a permanent deal for the park’s maintenance with the nonprofit Green Minneapolis, which is handling fundraising for the project.
Designed by San Francisco-based Hargreaves Associates, the park that will open this summer will include most of the features planned for the final version of the project, including what will be called the Great Lawn on the eastern block of the park. Missing will be a restaurant pavilion, a water plaza and some terracing. Yet it will be much more than what was once planned to be ready for the stadium opening.
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