Powderhorn Park facelift scheduled for summer

According to Park Commissioner Scott Vreeland: “$500,000 was allocated in the 2011 MPRB budget to Powderhorn Park for trail and related improvements. To prepare for the improvements, the MPRB Planning Division will engage the community in a park planning process beginning in the early months of 2012. What will result is a new park master plan that highlights park design and all park investment needs over the next decade or so. Trail construction is anticipated to begin in summer of 2012.

“In addition to the 2011 funding, the proposed MPRB capital improvement program going before the board for final approval on Dec. 14 included $1 million for playground, wading pool and site improvements at Powderhorn.”

There has already been some discussion in the neighborhood about the kind of concrete that will be used on the path surrounding the park. Some residents wanted a porous concrete that would allow rainwater to seep into the ground. Commissioner Vreeland says he and staff “have looked at concrete for durability for trucks that drive on the path and for better ADA (Americans for Disability Access) access. I have tried to find a place for a pine resin based asphalt that would be the color of local aggregate, probably limestone color. This would be more expensive, and it is not proven in Minnesota yet.” He believes a path with adequate drainage/infiltration on both sides is perhaps even more important than the porosity of the concrete.

Many neighbors expressed concern that Latino kids didn’t have adequate soccer fields at Powderhorn, so, “We took out a baseball field in the bowl to accommodate more soccer.”

There will also be improvements to the lighting on the north end of the park where faulty wiring has caused outages.

The project still has to be approved by the Minneapolis Capital Long Range Improvement Committee (CLIC), but Commissioner Vreeland is confident it should pass easily. And final decisions will be made in spring at the conclusion of the public planning process.