Parks
Every Lowry Hill News story tagged Parks.
Neighborhood
Summer Day Camps Fill the Lakeside Parks as School Lets Out
The Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association reviews apartment and land-use proposals in the Wedge through its Community Development Committee, the volunteer-led forum where the neighborhood weighs in before projects reach the City Council.
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.
Neighborhood
Paddling Season Opens on Lake of the Isles and the Chain of Lakes
Paddling season is underway on Lake of the Isles, the sheltered lake that links by channel to Bde Maka Ska and Cedar Lake to form the heart of the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes.
Events
Neighborhood Groups Team With the DNR for Free Park Fishing
Lowry Hill, Kenwood and Cedar-Isles-Dean associations are partnering with the Minnesota DNR on a free Fishing in the Parks event.
Neighborhood
Monthly Shoreline Cleanups Return to Lake of the Isles
The East Isles Neighborhood Association resumes its monthly Lake of the Isles shoreline cleanups this summer, with the first set for Saturday, June 13.
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.
City
Upper Harbor Amphitheater Breaks Ground; Loring Park Hosts a Free Concert
Crews broke ground May 4 on an 8,000-seat riverfront amphitheater in north Minneapolis run by First Avenue and the Minnesota Orchestra, as Loring Park prepares for its free Peace in the World concert.
City
More Than 70 Trees Headed for the Hennepin-Lyndale Medians
The Minnesota Department of Transportation is planting more than 70 trees, along with shrubs and ornamental beds, in the medians of the Hennepin-Lyndale corridor between Dunwoody Boulevard and the Interstate 94 ramps.
Opinion
Letter: Keep the Lakes in the Conversation
A resident urges that the health of the lakes stay a standing item on neighborhood agendas, not an afterthought once school budgets and development are settled.
Neighborhood
The Cedar Lake Regional Trail, From the Suburbs to Downtown
The Cedar Lake Regional Trail is whole again after nearly seven years, with the last closed stretches of the Cedar Lake and Kenilworth trails reopening over the winter of 2026 once Southwest Light Rail construction cleared the corridor.
Neighborhood
The Walking Loop as the Neighborhood's Living Room
The loop around Lake of the Isles is where many Lowry Hill residents actually run into their neighbors, which makes the Park Board's upkeep of it as much social maintenance as environmental.
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.
City
Reduce the Chloride: The Winter Salt Problem Nobody Talks About
Road salt spread on streets and sidewalks in winter washes into the Chain of Lakes and stays there, because chloride does not break down once it dissolves.
Neighborhood
Lowry Hill's Boundaries, Drawn by Freeways and a Lake
Lowry Hill is bounded by Interstate 394 on the north, Interstate 94 and Hennepin Avenue on the east, 22nd Street on the south, and Lake of the Isles Parkway with Logan and Morgan avenues on the west.
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.
Events
This Weekend in the Neighborhood: Winter Fires and a Frozen-Lake Skate
A lakeside winter party and a coordinated food drive headline a cold weekend.
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
New Ward 7 Office Opens Its Doors: How to Reach Your Council Member
Council Member Elizabeth Shaffer, sworn in to the Ward 7 seat on Jan. 5, 2026, now runs the office that handles constituent casework for Lowry Hill, the Wedge, East Isles, Cedar-Isles-Dean, Bryn Mawr, Kenwood and part of downtown.
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.
City
Elizabeth Shaffer Takes Ward 7 Seat, Bringing Lowry Hill a New Voice at City Hall
Elizabeth Shaffer, a former Park Board commissioner, was sworn in as Ward 7 council member on Jan. 5 after unseating one-term incumbent Katie Cashman in the city's most expensive council race.
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 evening on the ice.
City
Two Levies, One Tax Bill: Making Sense of Your 2026 Property Taxes
Two separate levies — the City of Minneapolis budget and the Park Board's 6.11% increase — land on the same 2026 Hennepin County property-tax statement.
City
Three Public Hearings Shaped the Park Board's Budget Before It Passed
The Minneapolis Park Board adopted a $160 million 2026 budget on Dec. 9, 2025, after two public hearings that let residents weigh in on the plan and its tax levy.
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.
City
Park Board Adopts 2026 Budget Focused on Caring for Aging Park Assets
The Park Board adopted its 2026 budget in December, built on a property-tax levy of $95,524,537 and focused on caring for aging park assets.
City
Park Levy vs. City Levy: Why Lowry Hill Homeowners Pay Two Bills
The independently elected Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board levies property taxes separately from the city, so homeowners pay toward two budgets on one statement.
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.
City
How Ranked-Choice Voting Decided the Ward 7 Race
Elizabeth Shaffer won the Ward 7 council seat outright in the first round, taking 52 percent of first-choice votes.
City
What the Park Board Owns: Lakes, Parkways and the Street Trees Outside Your Door
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board owns about 180 park properties and nearly 7,000 acres, and it also maintains roughly 200,000 boulevard trees on the residential streets outside many residents' doors.
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
Berger Fountain Rehabilitation Advances in Loring Park
A $50,000 donation from the Minneapolis Parks Foundation is helping fund the design phase of the rehabilitation of Loring Park's Berger Fountain, the city's "dandelion" fountain.
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
A New Transit Map for the West Side of the City
Two long-running projects reshaped how Lowry Hill gets around in a single year: the METRO E Line opened in December 2025, and the Kenilworth and Cedar Lake trails reopened a month earlier after nearly seven years of light rail construction.
City
Seven Million Visitors, One Fragile Watershed
The Minneapolis Chain of Lakes drew nearly 6.9 million visits in 2024, the most of any regional park in the Twin Cities, and that volume is the central challenge in keeping the water clean.
City
Graco and Upper Harbor Parks Win Extra Funding in the 2026 Levy
The Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation set the Park Board's 2026 maximum levy $1,061,413 above the mayor's recommendation on Sept. 17, 2025, flagging the money for Graco and Upper Harbor parks on the north riverfront.
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.
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