This summer, plants, tables and chairs will sprout up in parking spaces around Minneapolis.
The city is following in the footsteps of cities including New York, San Francisco and Seattle and building parklets — small public spaces often built as temporary expansions of city sidewalks.
A $75,000 city pilot program will fund the parklets in the Third, Fifth and 10th wards. Sites were pinpointed in commercial areas that already have a lot of pedestrian traffic.
"We're looking for bustling areas where people would like to congregate but don't necessarily have the space and structures available," said City Council Member Jacob Frey.
The parklet in Ward 10 will cover two parking spaces outside Gigi's Cafe on 36th Street. Exact locations in the other two wards have yet to be determined. They'll be installed in July or August and dismantled by the end of October, weather permitting.
Though the parklets will be dismantled for the winter, they won't be discarded. Minneapolis pedestrian coordinator Mackenzie Turner said in the future, they'll move around the city so other neighborhoods can have a chance to test drive them.
Turner said the full Minneapolis parklet program is planned to roll out in late fall. Lacy Shelby, the principal urban designer working on the pilot, said businesses, neighborhood groups and other community members will be able to apply for parklets. The spaces will vary in design; some may include public art, for example.
The prefabricated pilot parklets will be built adjacent to sidewalks and cover less than 200 square feet. Each will include native plants, movable tables and chairs and a modular hardwood deck, a design proven successful in other cities.
