City Briefs - Apr 2025

Demolition of mills
After a hearing held and recommendation made at a council committee, on March 14 the city council voted 12-0 to deny the appeal by Joel Alders, of the newly formed Save Minneapolis from the Wrecking Ball Coalition, to stop the demolition of the boarded and vacant Nokomis Mill and Elevators at 3501 Hiawatha Ave. This will likely make it easier for ADM to sell the 2.4-acre parcel to be torn down and redeveloped. It is one of the six remaining mills of what was, in the early to mid-1900s, a thriving milling district with nine different milling complexes operating along the rail line there.

Cheatham Apartments funding
The city has approved accepting grants from the Metropolitan Council’s Tax Base Revitalization Account and Hennepin County’s Environmental Response Fund to support the soil clean up and construction for the Cheatham Apartments at 3716 Cheatham. The grants are for $1,326,500 from the Met Council and $777,265 from the county.

Hiawatha-Lake Underpass Art
The city council has approved a contract with the Minnesota Department of Transportation and GoodSpace Murals LLC for the Hiawatha Ave. and Lake Street Bridge Pier Public Art. Greta McLain, Daniela Bianchini, Natchez Beaulieu, and Pablo Kalaka will help design the two-dimensional artwork for the underpass.

Renaming Edmund Boulevard
On March 22, Ward 12 Council Member Aurin Chowdhury hosted a meeting with people from the Reclaiming Edmund coalition at the Longfellow Recreation Center, to share plans to rename Edmund Blvd. The coalition has been working to change the name of the street and educate people about the boulevard’s namesake, Edmund G. Walton (1865-1919) ,who is considered the first developer in Minneapolis to apply racially restrictive covenants to the properties he sold, which was used for decades as a legal way to racially segregate the city. To take a survey and help select a new name go to https://forms.gle/HQ3b9paCxqAVT8vdA. 

Parklets
The city is looking for three community partners to host city-owned parklets and will provide plantings, chairs, tables, patio umbrellas, and public parklet signage. Hosts are responsible for day-to-day maintenance. The deadline to apply to host a city-owned parklet is March 31.

Arts funding
The city is seeking artists to apply for their Cultural Districts Arts Fund programs that are intended to support temporary arts activations, and “bolster cultural festivals, events and spaces.” The Cultural Districts Arts Fund is available in the seven designated Cultural Districts across Minneapolis: 38th St., Cedar Ave. S, Central Ave., East Lake St., Franklin Ave. E, Lowry Ave. N and West Broadway. The application deadline is April 15.

Traffic safety cameras
The city plans to start a pilot traffic safety camera program this summer with five cameras that will help enforce speed limit laws. The city is conducting a survey in March and April as one way to gather feedback on potential locations. The program will run for up to four years and may expand to a maximum of 42 locations and be used to enforce traffic light laws in the future.