Park Board
Every Lowry Hill News story tagged Park Board.
Neighborhood
The end is in sight for Loring Park dandelion fountain's drought
State lawmakers approved $1.8 million for Berger Fountain repairs, and Park Board crews have begun demolition at the dry Loring Park landmark.
Events
Minneapolis International Festival
Minneapolis International Festival: Sat, Jul 25 at Lake Harriet Park.
Events
The Sculpture Garden Is Open, Free, and Made for a Summer Stroll
The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden's 11 acres and more than 40 works, including Spoonbridge and Cherry, are open year-round at no charge.
Events
Free Lake Harriet Orchestra Concerts Set to Return Later in June
The Minneapolis Pops Orchestra's free summer run at the Lake Harriet Bandshell is scheduled to begin late in June and continue into July.
Events
Music in the Parks Returns, With 95 Nights Booked at Lake Harriet
The Park Board's free summer concert season opened May 25, and the Lake Harriet Bandshell is scheduled to host 95 performances before fall.
City
Along the Isles, the Planted Shoreline Does Its Summer Work
The native plants lining much of Lake of the Isles are at full height this month, the result of a Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board approach that treats native vegetation, rather than mown lawn, as the default along the Chain of Lakes shoreline.
Neighborhood
How the Garden Became a Top Stop for Visitors to the State
The free Minneapolis Sculpture Garden at the foot of Lowry Hill draws visitors from across the region to a park many neighbors treat as routine.
City
Kenwood Concrete Project Reopens Burnham Road Bridge, Shifts Traffic on Sheridan
With the school year ending, families in Lowry Hill, Kenwood and East Isles can register children for summer day programs through the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, the area's largest provider of warm-weather youth programming.
Neighborhood
Birdsong Returns as the Banks Go Native
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's plan for Lake of the Isles calls for replacing eroding turf banks with native sedges and grasses, work meant to hold soil, filter runoff and return wildlife to the shoreline.
Neighborhood
The Walking Loop as the Neighborhood's Living Room
The loop around Lake of the Isles is where many Lowry Hill residents run into their neighbors, and the Park Board is advancing a multiyear plan to rebuild its shoreline and paths.
Neighborhood
Sailing Out of Bde Maka Ska, the Chain's Wind-Catching Heart
A study has steered the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board away from moving the Bde Maka Ska boat launch and sailing center across the lake, and the board is now studying a renovation of the existing northeast-shore facility instead.
Neighborhood
Winter on the Isles: When the Loop Belongs to the Walkers
A grassroots petition with nearly 3,000 signatures saved the Lake of the Isles skating rink from closure in late 2025, and the fight showed how much the neighborhood prizes its winter season.
Neighborhood
The Canoe Rack Lottery: Storing a Boat on the Isles
A seasonal canoe or kayak rack on Lake of the Isles costs Minneapolis residents $325, and demand routinely outruns the roughly 600 spots the Park Board awards each year by lottery.
City
From Park Board to City Council: Shaffer's Cross-Government Path
Elizabeth Shaffer reached the Ward 7 City Council seat after serving as a Minneapolis park commissioner, a move between two separately elected governments that share the same neighborhoods.
Neighborhood
A Walk Through the History Written on the Shoreline
The shoreline of Lake of the Isles records more than a century of decisions, from the late-1800s dredging that turned a marsh into open water to recent shoreline restoration.
Events
New Year's Eve Skate Planned for Lake of the Isles
Three neighborhood associations team up for a free, family-friendly evening on the ice — weather permitting.
City
Address the Runoff From All Hard Surfaces
The Park Board treats stormwater running off streets and rooftops as the main threat to Lake of the Isles and the Chain of Lakes.
Neighborhood
Stabilizing the Bank With Native Vegetation, Almost Everywhere
The Cedar-Isles plan adopted in 2023 makes native shoreline vegetation the default along Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles, except at formal access points.
Neighborhood
A century of shoreline: how Lake of the Isles got its shape
Lake of the Isles owes its shape to decades of Park Board dredging, a 1919 ban on landing canoes on its islands and Depression-era stonework still visible from the parkway.
Neighborhood
Lowry Hill neighbors weigh in on park plan and Hennepin traffic calming
Lowry Hill residents pressed the case for slowing traffic near Hennepin Avenue and for staying on top of Park Board work along the Chain of Lakes.
City
Park Board Earns National Gold Medal for Excellence in Recreation Management
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board won the 2024 National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management, its first such honor since 1989.
Neighborhood
A Museum and a Park Board, Sharing One Famous Garden
The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden runs on a partnership, dating to its 1988 opening, between the Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.
City
A Million-Dollar Rehab for the Kenilworth Channel
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board rebuilt the failing Kenilworth Channel between Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles in a roughly $1 million project.
City
State grant aims to restore eroding shoreline on the Chain of Lakes
A new $819,000 state grant will fund the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's restoration of about 2.6 miles of eroding, turf-dominated shoreline across the city's lakes, including Lake of the Isles.
City
Board of Estimate Sets Park Board's 2026 Levy Increase at 6.11%
The Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation set the Park Board's 2026 maximum property-tax levy at a 6.11% increase on Sept. 17, 2025, adding $1,061,413 above the mayor's recommendation for two north-side riverfront parks.
Neighborhood
Lake of the Isles Anchors Lowry Hill's Western Flank
Lake of the Isles Parkway, with Logan and Morgan avenues, forms Lowry Hill's western boundary and gives the neighborhood direct access to the Chain of Lakes.
Neighborhood
Canoe and kayak rack permits open for the Lake of the Isles season
Minneapolis Park Board canoe and kayak rack permits for Lake of the Isles cost $325 for city residents in 2026, with registration running Jan. 2 through Feb. 28.
Neighborhood
Service Saturdays Put Lowry Hill Neighbors to Work
Researchers at the University of Minnesota's Water Resources Center tie the region's rainier summers to more frequent E. coli spikes and beach closures on Minneapolis lakes.
City
Bde Maka Ska's Reputation for Clear Water, and the Asterisk on It
Bde Maka Ska rates strong for water clarity in the Minneapolis chain, but high water and shoreline erosion have periodically dragged down its public-health score.
Neighborhood
Kenilworth and Cedar Lake trails reopen after seven years
The Minneapolis Park Board reopened the Kenilworth and Cedar Lake trails on Nov. 28, 2025, restoring a heavily used bike and pedestrian corridor closed since 2019 for Southwest light rail construction.
City
After Seven Years, the Kenilworth Trail Reopens
After roughly six years closed for the Green Line Extension, the Kenilworth and Cedar Lake trails reopened in November 2025.
City
The 20-30 year plan that will reshape Lake of the Isles
The Cedar-Isles plan, approved by the Park Board on July 5, 2023, sets a 20-to-30-year vision for Lake of the Isles, Cedar Lake and the land around them.
Neighborhood
More Than a Landmark: The Sculpture Garden Keeps Changing
Decades after opening, the park beside the Walker continues to reinvent itself.
City
The Cedar-Isles Master Plan and the Next Fifty Years
For one of the few park sites in Minneapolis without a modern plan, the Park Board is sketching a long-range vision.
Events
Free Orchestra Night Packs the Bandshell Lawn
Thousands spread blankets for a warm evening of music by the lake.
Neighborhood
Bryn Mawr Meadows reopens after a 56-acre park overhaul
The redesigned park adds a native greenway, a mountain-bike skills course and new water-quality features.
City
What NPP20 park funding means for Kenwood Community Center
The 20-Year Neighborhood Park Plan is steering steady maintenance and rehab dollars to parks like Kenwood's.
Events
A Free Concert Series Turns the Lakeshore Into a Summer Stage
Weekend programs run through the back half of June and into July.
City
Kenwood Park lands a 2025 Hennepin County youth-activities grant
A Park Board resolution put Kenwood Park among the sites in line for county youth-program money in 2025.
City
An Alum Treatment, Explained for the Person Standing on the Dock
One of the lake's most important water-quality tools is invisible, sinks to the bottom, and works by chemistry.
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