Updates on Minnehaha Regional Park from MPRB

Written By Jonah Broberg

Presentations by our Guest Speakers on December 16, 2025 

Adam Arvidson and Carol HjelStone


This a quick summary of topics and updates shared by Carol HjelStone, Project Manager of the MPRB Minnehaha Regional Park Infrastructure Improvement Plan and Adam Arvidson, MPRB Director of Strategic Planning and the new “Plan Champion” for Minnehaha Regional Park. 

The public meeting was December 16, 2025 at Matthews Park. Subscribe to our newsletter to be informed of future meetings and events. 


Carol HejlStone

  • Boardwalk.  Blackstone Construction has been hired and is ready to do the work when the ground is frozen and dry. It will take 2-3 weeks to complete.

  • South Plateau. MPRB will partner with NPS to carve out approximately 4 acres of land in the South Plateau in 2026 to restore it to oak savanna. The South Plateau is the area of the park along Minnehaha Ave near the dog park with remnant mature oak trees in a grassy plain. (Watch for announcements on how to volunteer to assist with planting.) 

  • South Plateau designers are working with James Schaffer, MPRB Natural Resources Supervisor, and Heather Holm, pollinator conservationist, as they develop plans and select the plant list. Recruitment of volunteers for the installation will be a partnership of National Park Services (Coldwater Spring), which has a robust volunteer base (as well as Friends of Minnehaha Park.)

  • Southern Access to Falls. Previous plans were vacated in light of upcoming long-term planning for Minnehaha Regional Park. New planning will be informed by a citizen advisory group, that will include community engagement and indigenous perspectives. However, the Park Board will work to remove unsafe structures and stabilize the slope with geotextile bags and native plants. 

  • Fencing of dog park. The NPS designated parts of the dog park as “traditional cultural space” with sacred spaces in the subsurface. Construction of the fence has been delayed or suspended as elements of plans in this place need to involve MN Historical Society and indigenous archaeologists.


Adam Arvidson 

  • Regional Park funding. In 1974, regional parks were established as different from neighborhood parks. Regional parks receive some state and metro council funds; neighborhood parks do not. They receive Park dedication funds (fees developers pay when new development increases the need for parks.) These funds can only be spent on NEW items, not maintenance. 

  • South Plateau development is being paid for by a LCCMR (Legislative Citizens Commission on Natural Resources) grant from Park Dedication Funds. The. State assesses fees to developers based on the geographic neighborhood it is in. The Nokomis East Neighborhood Association had input into the plan since the funds were generated there, and must be spent within the neighborhood.   

  • Minnehaha Regional Park long-range plan: Nothing happens in terms of major changes or updates in parks unless it is part of a long-range plan, which generally lasts 30 years or so. Minnehaha Regional Park is currently operating under the 1992 M’haha Park long-range plan, which has been working well but does not include things now important such as equitable use, indigenous input, and the dog park.

  • Minnehaha Regional Park NEW long-range plan: The process for developing a NEW long-range plan for Minnehaha Regional Park will begin in the first quarter of 2026 (led by Colleen O-Dell, MPRB Senior Planner) and will involve a 17-member advisory committee.  It is estimated to take 2 years to develop.

  • Plan Champion: Adam communicates directly with Friends of Minnehaha Park in his role as Agreement Rep for our Memorandum of Understanding. He is in charge of the new Plan Champion program for Minneapolis Parks. They are starting this initiative as a pilot project with a few parks who have upcoming strategic plans. He is the lead, but also acting as the champion for Minnehaha Regional Park. Designated senior planners will lead the plan and guide the implementation. Part of their role will be finding creative ways to find funding outside the plan budget. 

Jonah Broberg