The city of Cottage Grove will get its first Mississippi River park of more than an acre this summer when it closes on a 20-acre parcel that was once part of the Mississippi Dunes Golf Course.

The site sits near the former location of the golf course clubhouse, which burned down in a suspected arson fire in 2021, and just west of the 237-acre Grey Cloud Dunes Scientific and Natural Area, a state-managed area that's home to rare species.

"It's a fantastic opportunity to bring us closer to the river," said Cottage Grove Mayor Myron Bailey.

The new park is the first of several land deals expected in the area as portions of the nearly 200-acre golf course property are divvied up to become a city park, an expansion of the state's SNA area or the site of a new housing development.

The golf course closed in 2017, and much of it was sold to a private owner, David Gustafson, two years later. The city approved a purchase agreement Feb. 15 to pay Gustafson $1 million for the 20-acre parcel, with half of the money coming from a state Department of Natural Resources grant and half coming from Washington County's Land and Water Legacy Program.

The new park will overlook Mooers Lake, a channel that runs north of Lower Grey Cloud Island. It doesn't have a name yet, and beyond a few trails that will continue to be managed, not much will change, said Bailey. "We want to keep it wild," he said.

A Cottage Grove master plan calls for buying from Gustafson another 10 acres to the northwest, or just upriver, to add a picnic area, playground, boat launch and parking lot. It would sit near the site of the burned-down clubhouse at 10351 Grey Cloud Trail S.

The only other park property along the river in Cottage Grove is the 1-acre Hazen P. Mooers Park, which is little more than a parking lot and overlook with a spot to launch kayaks or canoes.

The DNR is also in negotiations with Gustafson to buy two parcels. The first is a 12.4-acre piece to the east, or downriver, of the city's new park that would become an expansion of the SNA. The second is a 38-acre parcel that was once the golf course driving range. It sits south of 103rd Street, west of the existing SNA, according to Bill Bleckwenn, statewide acquisition coordinator for the SNA program at the DNR. Those purchases are expected to close sometime this year.

A separate deal for a private developer, Pulte, to build homes on the golf course land fell apart late last year when it pulled out citing market conditions. The developer originally planned to build 312 single-family homes, eight twin-home units, and a 52-unit senior-living cooperative on a site between the Mississippi and S. 103rd Street in Cottage Grove.

The project had drawn opposition including a lawsuit filed by a group called Friends of Grey Cloud that sought to force the city to do a more thorough environmental review at the site because of its proximity to the river and the Grey Cloud Dunes SNA.

The suit was dismissed last year on a technicality due to when it was filed; city officials said this week that they expect the project will eventually go ahead with another developer.