A $500,000 federal grant will jump-start development of a riverside park just north of the Broadway Avenue Bridge in northeast Minneapolis.

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board was among eight proposals nationally to land Department of the Interior money as part of a new program that provides money to "disadvantaged areas."

It was one of only two applicants to snag the maximum grant of $500,000. There were 47 applicants for the money overall.

The money will help to develop the first park in the Sheridan neighborhood, which is north of Broadway and stretches a dozen blocks inland from the Mississippi River. The Park Board already owns most of the 3.5-acre site, which is tucked between the river and the former Grain Belt complex. The site is across the river from Park Board headquarters.

The Park Board will match the federal money, meaning that a total of $1 million will be available to develop the park around a riverside veterans memorial dedicated last year. The federal money is required to be under contract by Sept. 30, 2016, a National Park Service spokeswoman said. The federal money comes from revenue the government collects from offshore oil and gas development.

A plan for the area calls for the memorial, a large grassy open play field, a sand volleyball court, a playground, and a picnic area with a pavilion. A pedestrian path would run near the river, and a bike path would run on the inland side of the park, as part of the East Bank Trail connecting Boom Island Park and NE. Marshall Street.

That trail is separately funded and is scheduled to open next year, if an easement is obtained from Graco Minnesota Inc.

The $1 million will finance about half the expected ultimate development cost for the park, according to park design officials.

"This is just one of the many in a string of parks we intend to have as you drive up the riverfront," Park Board President Liz Wielinski, who represents the area, said Tuesday after the grant was announced. A federal spokeswoman said that projects were judged as serving disadvantaged areas by how they improve recreational access for youth, minorities and low- to moderate-income people.

Neighborhood organization President Joy Smallfield said the area is disadvantaged in tax base compared to the rest of the city.

The Sheridan park is one of a number envisioned in the 1999 Above The Falls master plan for redeveloping the city's upper riverfront.

Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438

Twitter: @brandtstrib