Minneapolis breaks ground on $45 million North Commons Park overhaul

Minneapolis broke ground Tuesday on a $45 million overhaul of North Commons Park, the largest investment in a neighborhood park in city history.

The project will rebuild the water park, renovate and expand the park’s community center, construct a 22,000-square-foot indoor fieldhouse and expand public amenities across the 55-year-old North Side facility at 1801 James Av. N.

City, state and federal officials joined community members at the groundbreaking, calling it a milestone for racial equity and neighborhood reinvestment.

“This is not just any old park that we’re presently renovating,” said Mayor Jacob Frey. “This here is North Commons.”

While much of the park will be transformed, Frey said the community center’s historic architecture will be preserved as much as possible, in response to neighbors who urged the city to maintain the structure’s character. For decades, the building has served as a hub for sports leagues, summer programs, public events and everyday connection.

“This building is 55 years old,” said Al Bangoura, superintendent of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. “And a lot of our folks come here to cool off, to get in community, to have a great time — and, more importantly, to learn how to swim.”

The park’s pool, built in 1973 and last updated in 1997, has exceeded its intended life span.

The new water park will offer recreation and critical swimming instruction, especially important in a city where not every child learns to swim and youth drownings remain a concern.

The fieldhouse will dramatically expand the park’s indoor athletic offerings. Plans include multiple courts, fitness rooms, an indoor track and flexible event space for concerts, sports tournaments, science fairs and community gatherings. Bangoura said the facility will offer five times more indoor athletic space than the building currently provides.

The new fieldhouse and associated amenities are scheduled to open in 2026, with the renovated community center and water park expected to follow in 2027.

Construction is being phased to keep amenities accessible for as long as possible. The community center will remain open through this year and into 2026, then close for renovations around the time the new fieldhouse opens.

“Imagine the young people that will be in this space,” Bangoura said. “And the adults doing whatever they can do — and not having to go somewhere else in the suburbs to experience that. They’re going to be right here in our community.”

“For far too long, north Minneapolis has been forgotten by the state of Minnesota,” said DFL state Rep. Fue Lee, who represents the district. “But not no more.”

Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion, who grew up in north Minneapolis and helped secure over $5 million in state bonding for the project in 2020, said the park was central to his own childhood.

“It was important to me in my upbringing,” said Champion, DFL-Minneapolis. “So now I want to make sure that it becomes important for other young people and families. What’s good for north Minneapolis is good for the rest of the state.”

In 2024, more than half of North Commons’ program participants were youths under 17. That year, the park ran 173 structured programs for more than 7,700 participants, along with hundreds more drop-in visitors.

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, who helped secure $2 million in federal community project funding, said the renovation will allow the park to serve even more people.

To commemorate the groundbreaking, Omar submitted a recognition to the Congressional Record.

 “It will live on in the Library of Congress for generations to come,” she said.

Frey said his passion for Minneapolis parks began long before public office, when he ran the Twin Cities Marathon and decided to make the city his home. Now, he said, he looks forward to bringing his daughter to the park’s new facilities.

“I was a little bit hyperactive, I had a hard time focusing,” Frey said. “And then I found the outlet of running. To be able to introduce my daughter to what is, I believe, the only publicly accessible indoor track in the entire city is something special.”

Jasmine Russell, board chair of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, said the nonprofit has raised $16 million toward its $20 million goal to support the project. Since its founding, the foundation has raised more than $47 million for parks across the city.

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Commissioner Becka Thompson said her colleagues made personal sacrifices to move the project forward.

“There were money gaps,” she said. “Commissioners delayed projects in their own districts. I want the residents of Minneapolis to know how much we all invested in this space.”

Russell closed the ceremony with a promise to keep working toward that broader vision.