MR|DI Debuts Draft Upper Riverfront Parks Development Report, September 20-21

From the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative:

Community briefing planned, followed by presentation to Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Commissioners and request for public comment period.

09.08.2011– With the change of seasons comes the prospect of a change in the Upper Riverfront scene, as finance consultants HR&A and design team TLS/KVA return to Minneapolis, September 19-21, to present the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative’s (MR|DI) draft report to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, MR|DI committees and the public.

HR&A, TLS/KVA, and the MR|DI project team will jointly author the draft report, which is scheduled for release on September 20. In it, the authors will summarize the RiverFIRST vision for Upper Riverfront parks development, along with research, engagement and other steps taken to gather relevant information; detail recommendations for priority sites and projects, timing, and funding; and suggest steps and structure for maintaining project momentum.

On Tuesday, September 20, the Minneapolis Park Board invites the community to join Advisory and Technical committee members at a 6-8:00 p.m. briefing on the draft report at Park Board headquarters, 2117 West River Road in Minneapolis. HR&A, along with TLS/KVA and Project Manager Mary deLaittre, will present to the MR|DI Steering Committee on Wednesday, September 21, beginning at 7:30 a.m., also at Park Board headquarters.

Minneapolis Park Board Commissioners will hear the MR|DI team’s formal presentation during the regularly scheduled board meeting on September 21 at 5:30 p.m. in the board room at Park Board headquarters. At that meeting, Park Board planning staff anticipate asking Commissioners to authorize a 45-day comment period on the MR|DI draft report. For timely information regarding news and developments, community members are encouraged to sign up for the e-newsletter or subscribe to the blog.

“These two intensive days of briefings and presentations represent the apex of a six-month collaborative effort to transform a brilliant-but-conceptual design for city-building into a visionary blueprint that will guide the near- and long-term future of Upper Riverfront parks development,” says Mary deLaittre, Project Manager for the MR|DI, who notes that an exhaustive list of participating individuals and organizations will be recognized and thanked in the draft report. “But our preparation and presentation of the draft report is by no means the culmination of this project, which began long before the MR|DI and includes the work of so many. Following public comments on the draft report, Park Board planning department staff will set the pace when they present recommendations to Park Board Commissioners later this fall.”

About the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative:

In April 2011, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board established the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative as a special project to carry through the promise of connecting people from near and far with new multifunctional Upper Riverfront parks along “America’s fourth coast.” The MR|DI was charged with transforming the winning parks design of the renowned Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition, called RiverFIRST, from a visionary concept to a workable plan for short- and long-term development. Beginning in April, TLS/KVA went through a three-month in-depth editing process led by the MR|DI project team and involving the public and Steering, Advisory and Technical committees. From June through August, the MR|DI implemented a multidimensional community engagement process that included a community input survey taken by more than 600 people, participation in more than 30 community events, three public meetings, more than 40 solo presentations and meetings by the MR|DI project manager, and the debut of “River Is,” a gathering of people’s thoughts about the Mississippi today and for the future. This fall, Park Board Commissioners will decide the scope and timing of the first RiverFIRST projects, to be enjoyed by the community within five years. Learn more and participate at MinneapolisRiverfrontDevelopmentInitiative.com.