The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has selected the team that will design the new park pavilion at Bde Maka Ska.

The former concessions pavilion at the lake went up in flames in May 2019 in what investigators say was a negligent fire caused by a man disposing of hookah embers. The building was deemed a total loss and demolished 12 days after the fire.

Construction on the new pavilion, which will include a commercial kitchen, is set to begin in 2022, and concessions are expected to return for the 2023 season.

The design team will be led by Cuningham Group and includes Full Circle Indigenous Planning, which will lead cultural and community engagement for the project. Other team members include Hallberg Engineering, BKBM Engineers, Pierce Pini and Associates, Boelter, New History and Loeffler Construction and Consulting.

The cost of the design services is capped at $216,895, according to the Park Board.

The public can offer input through a variety of virtual and in-person events starting in January. The Bde Maka Ska-Harriet Master Plan, approved in 2017, will also help guide the design.

Since the removal of the previous pavilion, the site was paved over and made into a temporary gathering space at the northeastern corner of the lake.

Mara Klecker