'George Floyd Park' has Minneapolis Park Board puzzled

June 15, 2020 at 10:47AM
A maintenance worker documented the altered sign at George Todd Park in Minneapolis on Sunday, June 14.
A maintenance worker documented the altered sign at George Todd Park in Minneapolis on Sunday, June 14. (Trisha Collopy — Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

A sign at a Minneapolis park has been altered to include George Floyd's name, but a city park leader said Sunday that it was changed without permission.

The sign had read George Todd Park until someone added Floyd's surname Saturday night.

The park along the 5600 block of S. Chicago Avenue is about 2¼ miles south of where a police officer pinned Floyd to the pavement before he died May 25.

A Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board maintenance worker happened to see the "George Floyd Park" sign Sunday at the wedge-shaped park just east of Diamond Lake.

He took a few photographs for his supervisors to see and noted that the added decal was nearly the identical font as what was on the original sign.

"We are not sure who placed the decal on the park sign, changing George Todd Park to George Floyd Park," Park Board spokeswoman Dawn Sommers said. "The MPRB has not received any requests nor taken any action for renaming the park at 5600 Chicago Avenue South."

Sommers said the Park Board does not have any immediate plans to remove the decal.

George Todd was a park commissioner from 1957 to 1963. The Park Board named the park in honor of Todd while he was still alive, which was an exception to how parks were traditionally named. The World War I veteran had cancer at the time. He died in 1964 at age 71.

The sign had read George Todd Park until recently. The covered-over name remains faintly visible.
The sign had read George Todd Park until recently. The covered-over name remains faintly visible. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
about the writer

about the writer

Paul Walsh

Reporter

Paul Walsh is a general assignment reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune. He wants your news tips, especially in and near Minnesota.

See More

More from Minneapolis

card image

From small businesses to giants like Target, retailers are benefitting from the $10 billion industry for South Korean pop music, including its revival of physical album sales.