Minneapolis Parks Foundation Releases Water Works Park Community Input Survey

Via a December 10 e-newsletter from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board:

Community members invited to participate, Dec. 10, 2013 – Jan. 10, 2014

Minneapolis, Minn. – “What would make a new park on the Minneapolis Central Riverfront a top destination for you?” That’s the big question at the heart of a new community input survey released today by the Minneapolis Parks Foundation (MPF) and its Water Works park project partner, the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board (MPRB). Community members can access the survey through January 10, 2014, via MPF and MPRB websites, or at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/waterworksinput.

Water Works is a future year-round destination park on the Mississippi Riverfront in the heart of Minneapolis, the largest city in Minnesota. It’s a Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board-owned site overlooking the great river’s only true waterfall – St. Anthony Falls. Before any European settlement of the area, the river, especially the falls, were spiritual destinations for Native Americans. This powerful natural force is also where Minneapolis was established and, for over a century, the milling industry flourished. Today, it is situated on the edge of downtown Minneapolis within both a growing mixed-use neighborhood and the St. Anthony Falls Heritage District.

Part of the future Water Works park will be incorporated into Central Mississippi Riverfront Regional Park, which is already rich in natural features rare in such an urban setting. The Regional Park draws 1.8 million visitors a year to experience the waterfall and explore built features such as the elegant Stone Arch Bridge, Mill Ruins Park, the Mill City Museum and Lock and Dam.

The Water Works community input survey is part of a broader comprehensive community engagement strategy developed by MPRB to involve the public in Central Riverfront Regional Park Master Plan revision process. Water Works is one of the key sites within the Central Riverfront Regional Park. Community members have the opportunity to share current interests and activities, as well as what kinds of experiences they’d like to have in the future park.

“By participating in this survey, the public helps Water Works partners and designers better understand the interests, needs and values that the community wants to see reflected in the design of the new park,” says Mary deLaittre, Executive Director of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation.

MPF and MPRB will share survey responses with the Water Works Design Team, as well as the Community and Technical Advisory Committees assembled by MPRB to inform in the Central Riverfront Regional Park Master Planning process. Responses will also be posted on the MPF blog, at http://MplsParksFoundation.org/blog, and made available by MPRB.

The Minneapolis Parks Foundation is co-leading Water Works park design with MPRB. This project phase, called schematic design, is being wholly funded by donations and foundation grants to the Water Works Fund at the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, an independent nonprofit.

About the Minneapolis Parks Foundation
The Minneapolis Parks Foundation helps ensure the health of the Twin Cities by creating the Next Generation of Parks™ to enjoy today and for generations to come. We are the private-sector leader of the RiverFirst Initiative and Water Works, two design-based adaptive reuse parks projects on "America's fourth coast,” the Mississippi River. Our Next Generation of Parks™ Lecture Series introduces the most innovative parks designers globally to the Twin Cities for free interactive presentations and engage in dialogue with stakeholders and communities. We also seek to empower the next generation of parks designers and citizen-planners through our SiteSeeing urban design curriculum.

About the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board
With 182 park properties totaling nearly 6,732 acres of land and water, the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board provides places and recreation opportunities for all people to gather, celebrate, contemplate, and engage in activities that promote health, well-being, community, and the environment. Each year, approximately 18 million visits are made to the nationally acclaimed Minneapolis park system. Its urban forests, natural areas and waters endure and captivate. Its Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway, neighborhood parks, recreation centers and diversified programming have made the Minneapolis park system an important component of what makes Minneapolis a great place to live, play and work. To learn more about the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, visit http://www.minneapolisparks.org.

# # #

Water Works is Supported By:
St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board | Jay & Rose Phillips Family Foundation
Pentair Foundation | Many Generous Donors

Additional Funding Provided By:
McKnight Foundation | George Family Foundation| Curtis L. Carlson Foundation

Contact:
Janette Aldrich Law 
Director – External Relations
Minneapolis Parks Foundation 
Email: janette@mplsparksfoundation.org
Phone 612-822-3407

Dawn Sommers
Communications & Marketing
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
Email: dsommers@minneapolisparks.org
Office: 612-230-6407
Cell:612-221-9155