Park Board seeks public input on north Minneapolis park plans

North Minneapolis' 32 neighborhood parks and six recreation centers will undergo major improvements starting as early as 2018 and continuing for decades — and the Park Board wants public help making plans.

The Park Board is seeking at least 19 people to serve on the North Service Area Master Plan Community Advisory Committee. Committee members will work closely with the planning team to make recommendations and guide the vision of the project.

The north Minneapolis effort is the third of the five service area master plans the Park Board will carry out, park program manager Adam Arvidson said.

"The park board has never taken a comprehensive look at its neighborhood parks before," Arvidson said. The project will look at how current parks are being used and make improvements based on community vision. "We think it's high time to ask the community what they want to see in their quadrant of the city."

The Park Board will allocate $400,000 for the planning process.

The plan is part of the Park Board's new focus on social-equity criteria in ranking projects. The criteria explores the demographics of communities near the parks, and examines the quality of facilities and the Park Board's historic investments in the parks. Rankings show parks with the greatest need are clustered mainly on the North Side and in the Phillips community of south Minneapolis, according to the Park Board.

People interested in serving on the North Service Area Master Plan advisory committee can find more information on the Park Board website, www.minneapolisparks.org.