Heritage Park
Minneapolis, MN

As the lead park and open space design firm on an interdisciplinary team, CLOSE Landscape Architecture+ developed plans for three parks embedded in a new neighborhood on the near northside of Minneapolis. Following participation in a series of focused design charrettes to develop the overall neighborhood plan, CLOSE worked with the City of Minneapolis, including the Park and Recreation Board, the surrounding community, and the private development team to develop a "family" of parks that are closely linked and provide complementary facilities for the community.

Sumner Park will be the first to be constructed. As a contemporary "village green," this park is designed for informal gathering and performance, public celebrations and casual recreation. Bassett Creek, previously contained in a pipe, will be daylighted and pass through the park as an amenity. Storm water will be cleansed in a series of landscaped treatment gardens before being returned to Mississippi. A pavilion will serve as a bandshell for neighborhood events and as a stream-side outdoor classroom for nearby Bethune School students.

Together, the new parks will demonstrate that environmental design innovation, educational opportunities and community recreational uses are compatible and appropriate in a twenty-first century urban park.