The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is actively assembling riverfront properties that will, in time, become developed parkland as envisioned by RiverFirst and the Above the Falls Regional Park Master Plan. Often, the properties have continuing commercial uses or are otherwise not ready for park development. The Park Board annually sets aside funds to help manage the properties. However, it’s a struggle to implement a successful toolkit of simple yet impactful management strategies that demonstrate good stewardship, communicate positive messages and provide compelling community value. As a result, they often appear abandoned, don’t communicate positive messages to the public and provide little functional value. The Dept. of Landscape Architecture at the University of Minnesota College of Design's RA-In-Practice program through the Minneapolis Parks Foundation has developed a policy framework and conceptual approaches to managing properties that celebrate them as meaningful public spaces with minimal capital investment. This strategy was prepared over 2015-2016 with these Research Assistants: Leslie Johnson, Han Do and Chris Tallman.

1. Interim Land Management Strategy
FOR MPRB RIVERFRONT PARCELS AWAITING
DEVELOPMENT
Research Assistants in Practice:
Leslie Johnson (2016)
Han Do (2015)
ChrisTallman (2015)

2. Table of Contents
Challenge Statement
Precedents
Context / Issue
Values / Layers of Function
Branding Palette of Elements
Walk through each protypes with palette elements applied
Next Steps

3. Challenge Statement
The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board is actively assembling riverfront properties that will, in time,
become developed parkland as envisioned by RiverFirst and the Above the Falls Regional Park Master
Plan. Often, the properties have continuing commercial uses or are otherwise not ready for park
development.
The Park Board annually sets aside funds to help manage the properties. However, it’s a struggle to
implement a successful toolkit of simple yet impactful management strategies that demonstrate good
stewardship, communicate positive messages and provide compelling community value. As a result,
they often appear abandoned, don’t communicate positive messages to the public and provide little
functional value.
The RA-In-Practice program through the Minneapolis Parks Foundation has developed a policy
framework and conceptual approaches to managing properties that celebrate them as meaningful
public spaces with minimal capital investment.

4. Challenge Statement
The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board is actively assembling riverfront properties that will, in time,
become developed parkland as envisioned by RiverFirst and the Above the Falls Regional Park Master
Plan. Often, the properties have continuing commercial uses or are otherwise not ready for park
development.
The Park Board annually sets aside funds to help manage the properties. However, it’s a struggle to
implement a successful toolkit of simple yet impactful management strategies that demonstrate good
stewardship, communicate positive messages and provide compelling community value. As a result,
they often appear abandoned, don’t communicate positive messages to the public and provide little
functional value.
The RA-In-Practice program through the Minneapolis Parks Foundation has developed a policy
framework and conceptual approaches to managing properties that celebrate them as meaningful
public spaces with minimal capital investment.

5. Challenge Statement
The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board is actively assembling riverfront properties that will, in time,
become developed parkland as envisioned by RiverFirst and the Above the Falls Regional Park Master
Plan. Often, the properties have continuing commercial uses or are otherwise not ready for park
development.
The Park Board annually sets aside funds to help manage the properties. However, it’s a struggle to
implement a successful toolkit of simple yet impactful management strategies that demonstrate good
stewardship, communicate positive messages and provide compelling community value. As a result,
they often appear abandoned, don’t communicate positive messages to the public and provide little
functional value.
The RA-In-Practice program through the Minneapolis Parks Foundation has developed a policy
framework and conceptual approaches to managing properties that celebrate them as meaningful
public spaces with minimal capital investment.

6. PrecedentResearch

7. DETROIT’SVACANT LAND
o Over 30% of all parcels in Detroit are vacant
o This includes approximately 100,000 parcels
o Re-greening has become a common strategy
for managing land in Detroit’s East Side, where
most of the vacant lots are located
o Common re-greening efforts include:
green infrastructure
dendro remediation - use of trees to remediate
transformation into agricultural sites
stormwater management - bioswales
public art
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Source: http://detroitography.com/2014/03/09/map-detroit-block-vacancy-rate-2009/

8. THE GREENING OF DETROIT
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DENDRO-REMEDIATION PROJECTS
o The Greening of Detroit is a nonprofit resource agency that supports
sustainable urban communities through the planting of trees, green
spaces, food, education, training and job opportunities.
o Hyperaccumulators planted: willow, poplar, cottonwood
o Tree survival rate is greater than 90%
o Trees are maintained & watered for 3 years
o Volunteers & Detroit high school students are hired
to care for approximately 10,000 - 12,000 trees
o Applications:
- Soil remediation expected to take 8-10 years
- Community stewardship can decrease cost of maintenance,
support community building and improve overall health
- Timber can be harvested for profit if trees are allowed to mature

9. SUSTAINABLE LAND LAB
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SUNFLOWER + PROJECT
o Sustainable Land Lab is a collaboration between the City of
St. Louis, MO and Washington University in St. Louis
o Sunflower + Project demonstrates the remediation of contaminated
soils on vacant sites using sunflowers & winter wheat to extract
lead and other contaminants
o Applications:
- Neighborhood beautification tool
- Transform residents’perception of their community
- Actual remediation may be minimal, but scale of planting
may create a new center or landmark for surrounding area
- Vegetation selection can become the MPRB standard/brand

10. SUSTAINABLE LAND LAB
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SUNFLOWER + PROJECT
o Sunflower + is a two-year project
o The lot goes through four crop rotations and an annual harvest of plant material
o Seasonal interest: colorful flags are strung across the site during winter months
o Paying tribute to history: gabion benches at front of parcel marks old building footprints
o Applications:
- Reduce and potentially eliminate remediation costs
- Provide productive alternative to mowing
- Reduce lead exposure in community
- Reduce city maintenance costs on vacant land

11. SUSTAINABLE LAND LAB
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TYPE (SCAPES) PROJECT
o Similar to Sunflower + Project, Type(Scapes) uses plantings to display words about dreams and visions
o Words are generated from community workshops - encourages written word as a form of expression
in an area where literacy issues and high drop-out rates are common
o Kiosk built on site for display & distribution of information
o Ladders installed for elevated viewpoints to better read the type(scapes)
o Applications:
- Combine multiple functions on one site for greater interest & efficiency
- soil remediation, habitat creation & artistic expression/public art
- Manage land in ways that make visible the processes that are usually invisible
- ecological processes: water cycles, life cycles, remediation, etc.
- political processes: who owns and cares for this land? How?
- Create a gestalt - an organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts
- parcels minimally managed to allow for spontaneous changes that result from
myriad ways community members & animal life use the site

12. DAKOTA COUNTY GREENWAY GUIDE
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
The next three slides cover a sample of precedent images from the Dakota County Greenway
Guide that will be applicable to the structure & contents of the Interim Land Management Guide.
BENEFITS OF GREENWAYS

13. DAKOTA COUNTY GREENWAY GUIDE
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LAND ACQUISITION MODEL TYPOLOGIES

14. DAKOTA COUNTY GREENWAY GUIDE
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PERFORMANCE GOALS/TYPOLOGY SIGNAGE

15. NewYork City Soil &Water Conservation District
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GreeningVacant Lots:
Planning and Implementation Strategies
• Comprehensive case study review of policy and planning efforts in ten American cities and counties
including: Chicago, Tallahassee, Milwaukee, NYC, Seattle, Baltimore.
• The joint NRDC & NYCSWCD review seeks to illuminate how leading cities plan, administer and implement
programs that convert vacant lots to green space, in the context of regulatory requirements and broader
redevelopment goals.
• Though focused on residential or commercial use vacant land the heavy focus on SWM and socio-economic
opportunities provides useful insight into vacant lot management for the MPRB.
• In addition to aggregating adjacent parcels, several cities are planning to aggregate parcels along roadways
to connect neighborhoods through greenways and trails.
• The lack of dedicated maintenance funding presently concerns most programs; volunteerism alone is not
effective. Four existing and emerging maintenance models are identified.
• Solid research based evidence of social, economic, and environmental challenges and opportunies in vacant
land management.

16. P
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• Research indicates that vacant lots may function as impervious area, even if the surfaces are vegetated,
because soils are compacted from heavy equipment during demolition. For example, one study in Cleveland
concluded that vacant lots retain as much storm water as a paved parking lot.
• Brownfields are a special sub-set of vacant land that require an understanding of the site’s past use,
contamination levels, economic conditions, safe green space options, and remediation opportunities.
• Storm water runoff can carry contaminants from brownfields to adjacent properties and urban waterways.
Vacant Land Challenges
Vacant Lot Scenario
http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/michigan/files/styles/x_large/public/201506/potpurri_062515_027.jpg
http://www.metropolismag.com/October-2013/The-Select-Ten/PIX_17.jpg
Conventional Response
Alternative SWM Scheme
http://aestheticecosystems.com/stormwater-urban/
NewYork City Soil &Water Conservation District

17. P
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• Three principles emerge from the NRDC summary study which present scenarios relevent the MPRB parcels
on the ATF stretch of the Mississippi River: City scale green space planning focused on greening vacant
lots; a connected network of parks as Green Infrastructure for SWM; Economic development through GI
development on a single site.
• Chicago’s CitySpace plan and related programs model citywide planning and implementation strategies.
• Tallahassee’s Capital Cascade Trail illustrates how a greenway and a network of parks can manage regional
storm water.
• Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley Industrial Center demonstrates how cities can facilitate storm water
management among businesses using green infrastructure at a single site, design: Wenk Associates.
Vacant Land Opportunities
http://www.cwp.org/images/stories/Images/wsb/wsb%20spring%202013/
desousa/Figure-1.-credit-Wenk-Associates-Inc.jpg
Millwaukee Tallahassee http://www.famu.edu/FacilitiesPlanning/UserFiles/Image/famuway_capitalcascadestrail.png
NewYork City Soil &Water Conservation District

18. City of Milwaukee
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• Focused on residential lot scale acquisition and development the handbook is formed around programatic
classes:
Vacant Lot Handbook
http://www.metropolismag.com/October-2013/The-Select-Ten/PIX_17.jpg
• Neighborhood Amenities and Green Space
• Urban Agriculture and Community Gardens
• Multi-Use Spaces
• Environmental Strategies
• The city strategy is to vest responsibility for design, development and management to the community.
• Applicable strategies are extracted from the Handbook based on the merits of environmental, economic,
and social value such Community management strategies can bring to vacant parcels.
Conventional Response
Alternative SWM Scheme
http://aestheticecosystems.com/stormwater-urban/
Vacant Lot Scenario

19. City of Milwaukee
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Interim Strategies for social enhancement:
Vacant Lot Handbook
• Neighborhood Pathways and Gateways
• Food Forests and Edible Parks
• Outdoor Classrooms/Nature Explore™
• Grow and Play Lots
• Public Art
Interim Strategies for economic enhancement:
• Community Gardens
• Orchards and Vineyards
• Composting
Interim Strategies for environmental enhancement:
• Tree Canopy
• Rainwater Capture
• Rain Gardens

20. City of Baltimore
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Green Pattern Book
The Green Pattern Book is designed as both
a handbook for administrators and also as a
development tool for resident.
Dense with technical know-how the format
is graphically simple and elegant in its
organization.
Though the focus of the GPB is developing
resident administration of vacant parcels
within the city, several initiatives are
transferable to the situation of MPRB parcels.
• Green parking as a strategy to
develop stormwater infiltration
through program grading
requirements.
• Leasing land for interim farming
operations? Possibilities and
hurdles?
• Use of design graphics for
education effects to create a
shared language.
• interchangeable and‘mashable’
types that can be intermixed to
have multi-function|multi-srevice
management strategies

21. City of Baltimore
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Green Pattern Book
Opportunities for
communities adjacent
to MPRB properties to
manage while providing
an identity to idle land.

22. Location of MPRB Riverfront Lots

23. S
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MPRB PARCEL LOCATIONS The Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board owns over 50 par-
cels of land that are not currently developed park space.
These parcels will be examined as part of the Interim Land
Management Strategy Guide.
Three parcels will be explored in creating parcel“prototypes”
1) Small-Lot, Vacant - 2128 MARSHALL ST NE
2) Commercial - 1828 MARSHALL ST NE
3) Large-Lot, Vacant - 1720+ MARSHALL ST NE
0’ 500’ 1000’ 2000’ 3000’
Site Boundary
Parks
MPRB Parcels
LEGEND
1
2
3
Broadway St.
13th Ave.
BNSF R.R.
26th Ave.
22nd Ave.
Plymouth Ave.
Lowry Ave.
35th Ave.
Dowling Ave.
St. Anthony Pkwy

24. USINGTYPOLOGIESTO EXPLORE POSSIBILITIES
1
2
3
Small Lot, Vacant
2128 MARSHALL ST NE
Commercial Lot
1828 MARSHALL ST NE
Large Lot, Vacant
1720+ MARSHALL ST NE

25. S
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LAND USE 2010
Nicollet Island
- Residential
- Commercial
- Vacant Industrial
- Vacant Commercial
- Vacant Residential
Gluek/Edgewater Parks
- Vacant Residential
1720+ Marshall Properties
- Industrial
- Vacant Residential
North of Graco Inc.
- Park, Recreational & Preserve
- Minimal trails on post-industrial land
along abandoned rail line
Scherer Brothers Site
- Vacant Industrial
80% Vacant
5% Commercial
56% Industrial
8% Residential
1
1
2
2
3
3
0’ 500’ 1000’ 2000’ 3000’
LEGEND
Farmstead
Seasonal/Vacation
Single Family Detached
Manufactured Housing Park
Single Family Attached
Multifamily
Office
Retail & Other Commercial
Mixed Use Residential
Mixed Use Industrial
Mixed Use Commercial & Other
Industrial & Utility
Institutional
Park, Recreational & Preserve
Gold Course
Major Highway
Railway
Agricultural
Undeveloped
Water
MPRB Parcels
4
4
5
5
Park Board Parcels

26. S
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S
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OVERVIEW OF PARCEL PROTOTYPES
2128 MARSHALL ST NE
SMALL PARCEL, VACANT LARGE PARCEL, VACANTCOMMERCIAL PARCEL
1720+ MARSHALL ST NE1828 MARSHALL ST NE

27. Values
Beauty - To create aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable places for
visitors and area residents to enjoy and provide attractive spaces to
the community.
Brand / Image - To create a continuous identity throughout the
various properties that will notify visitors that these lots belong
to the Minneapolis Park Board and are part of a larger planning
effort and interim management strategy. This can be done through
signage, a painted fence or posts, through plantings, etc. Example
plant palettes: Aspen grove with understory of native grasses, such
as little bluestem, blue grama, switchgrass; Short-lived tree along
front edges.
Eliminate hazards - To eliminate dangers that may pose a threat to
visitors and local ecological communities, whether that be through
remediation, borders, grading, strategic access, security, lighting,
etc. Each site should be safe and welcoming to those in and around
it.
Access - To determine how far visitors are able to enter into the site.
While certain properties may be fully accessible, complete with an inte-
rior path, other properties may only allow visitors to look into the space
from the front, through signage, porches, and visual perspective.
Engagement (level of intention) - To determine how much program-
ming will be placed at different sites. Certain properties, particularly
those with limited access, may not include programming elements
beyond basic signage, while other areas will be better suited for a variety
of activities, such as exhibiting public art, etc.
Ecological function (bioremediation, habitat, water quality) - To restore
ecological function and integrity throughout the various properties, the
prototype designs will seek to utilize bioremediation through thoughtful
planting, enhanced habitat opportunities, and improvements to water
quality.
Connectivity to adjacent property - To strengthen the network of Park
Board properties, the prototype designs will attempt to connect to adja-
cent properties as often as possible. This strategy will assist in the de-
velopment of the greater park network as more opportunities become
increasingly available.
Knowledge / Communication - To convey the Minneapolis Park Board
and Foundation’s mission to the general public and educate visitors
about the interim land management strategy being undertaken into
order to expand future park land along the Mississippi Riverfront.

28. Layers of Function
Standard of care - The prototype designs seeks to convey that these
properties are being cared for and held in trust until the time when a
larger park system will be developed. Such efforts will help build trust
in these communities, where the abandoned buildings and lots could
otherwise negatively impact the neighborhood.
Maintenance demand - While each place must maintain a standard of
care, the maintenance required to do so cannot exceed anything greater
than once per month, i.e. mowing, weed whacking, etc.
Threshold of development - Although the Minneapolis Park Board and
Foundation mean for these individual spaces to be welcomed into the
local community, the intended purpose of these sites is not to be exten-
sively developed at this time. Rather, the community and visitors must
realize that the lots will only be development to a certain extent, until
the greater park system can be recognized.
Safety / security - Safety and security are prime considerations in the
development of each prototype design, as the properties must enhance
local community residents and visitors, not pose a threat. The sites will,
therefore, provide security access to the bluff line when possible, elim-
ination of possible on-site hazards, and safety features that protect the
property itself and its users.

29. Values
2128 / 2124 Marshall
Small parcel, vacant
1828 Marshall
Commercial
1720 Marshall
Large parcel, vacant
Access High Potential - 2128 is easily accessible, and
Medium Potential with 2124, depending on
the cooperation between the Sample Room
and MPF.
Low Potential - commercial property,
possibilities for small back path
High Potential
Engagement High Potential - open opportunity on 2128,
and potential for commercial collaboration
with Sample Room.
Low Potential - due to limitations on access High Potential
Ecological Function High Potential Low potential - due to limited space / Higher
potential ecological function if the parking lot
is relocated.
High Potential - remove building and
impervious surface
Connectivity to Adjacent
Properties
Medium Potential - Depending on the Sample
Room, properties could link into Gluek Park.
Medium potential - Nearly can connect with
1720 Marshall and Psycho Suzie’s.
Medium Potential - can connect to wooded
area, but not currently beyond that.
Knowledge /
Communication
High Potential High Potential - Signage will be key on this
site.
High Potential
Beauty High Potential Medium Potential - Changes to front parking
lot / Attractive back pathway
High Potential
Brand / Image High Potential High Potential - Signage will be key on this
site.
High Potential
Elimination of Hazards Low Potential (Limited Need) Low Potential (Limited Need) High Potential - lots of extra materials,
possible contaminants, safety

30. Branding Palette

31. Branding Palette
1) Create a Place for People
2) Highlight Riverfirst
Initiative
3) Inform Visitors

32. Branding Palette
4) Use Signature Plantings
5) Curate Art on Sites
6) Distinctive Site Patterns

33. Branding Palette
7) Express MPRB
Ownership

34. 1) Create a Place for People

35. 2) Highlight Riverfirst Initiative

36. 3) InformVisitors

37. 4) Use Signature Plantings
Possibilities
Trees:
Aspen
Ex. Populus tremuloides‘NE Arb’
Prairie Gold Aspen - H30-40 x W15-20
Ex. Locust Trees
Black Locust, Honey Locust
Grass understory:
Blue Grama, Little Bluestem, Switch Grass -
Path and Habitat
Flowers:
Sunflower and Soybean - Remediation
Black-Eyed Susan - Garden Borders

38. 5) Curate Art

39. 6) Distinctive Site Patterns

40. 7) Express MPRB Ownership

41. Small Lot,Vacant
2128 Marshall St NE

42. Site Characteristics
S
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North FenceSW Corner
Surface Types
1

43. Design Proposals
Riverfirst
Sculpture
Interpretative
Sign
Future Trail
Alignment
Platform
Mown
Grass Path

44. Design Proposals
1) Place
for People
2) Highlight
Riverfirst Initiative
3) Inform
Visitors
4) Use Signature
Plantings
5) Curate
Public Art
6) Distinctive
Site Patterns
Future Trail
Alignment
Existing Concrete Walk View of Lot

45. Design Proposals - Sample Room Collaboration
Riverfirst
Sculpture
Future Trail
Alignment
Platform
Mown
Grass Path

46. Design Proposals - Sample Room Collaboration
1) Place
for People
2) Highlight
Riverfirst Initiative
3) Inform
Visitors
4) Use Signature
Plantings
5) Curate
Public Art6) Distinctive
Site Patterns
Future Trail
Alignment
Existing Concrete Walk View of Lot

47. Commercial Lot
1828 Marshall St NE

48. Commercial Lot
1828 Marshall St NE

49. Site Characteristics
S
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View from Marshall St. NE
Mississippi River View

50. Design Proposals

51. Design Proposals
DISTANCE FROM 1720 MARSHALL ST NE TO 1828 MARSHALL ST NE

52. Design Proposals
Future Trail
Alignment

53. Design Proposals
Riverfirst
Sculpture
Interpretative
Sign

54. Design Proposals
1) Place
for People
2) Highlight
Riverfirst Initiative
3) Inform
Visitors
4) Use Signature
Plantings
5) Curate
Public Art
6) Distinctive
Site Patterns
Existing View from Marshall St. NE

55. Large Lot,Vacant
1720+ Marshall St NE

56. Site Characteristics
S
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Wooded AreaSW Corner

57. Design Proposals
Riverfirst
Sculpture
Interpretative
Sign
Mown
Grass Path
Sunflower /
Soybean Mix
Future Trail
Alignment
Mulch Path
Through
Wooded
Area
Platform

58. Design Proposals
1) Place
for People
2) Highlight
Riverfirst Initiative
3) Inform
Visitors
4) Use Signature
Plantings
5) Curate
Public Art
6) Distinctive
Site Patterns
Future Trail
Alignment
Existing View from Marshall St. NE
Wooded Area

59. Next Steps
• Determine whether interim riverfront site development is an idea worthy of pursuit.
• Determine the brackets of a capital budget and targeted implementation season (maybe 2018).
• Present the idea to Board of Commissioners for feedback.
• Engage Planning, Environmental Stewardship, Public Safety, and Recreation in preparing schematic
designs and implementation toolkit for pilot sites.
• Community Engagement?
• Prepare construction documents.
• Engage arts curator to determine public art strategy and manage its curation across interim riverfront
sites.
• Establish annual budget for temporary/revolving public art installations.
• ROLL OUT.

60. Center for Watershed Protection http://www.cwp.org/the-green-renewal-of-milwaukee-s-menomonee-valley
“FAQ”. The Greening of Detroit, n.d. Web. 06 July 2015.
Green Pattern Book http://www.baltimoresustainability.org/sites/baltimoresustainability.org/files/GGI%20Template%20View_FINAL_
Compressed_.pdf
Greening Vacant Lots http://docs.nrdc.org/water/files/wat_13022701a.pdf
Harper, Jana, and Laurencia Strauss. Type(scapes) Proposal. St. Louis: Sustainable Land Lab, 10 Dec. 2012. PDF.
Hoisington Koegler Group Inc., and Friends of the Mississippi River. The Greenway Guidebook. N.p.: The Dakota County Greenway
Collaborative, 28 Sept. 2010. PDF.
Mercer, Monica.“Seeing Beyond the Trees.”Hour Detroit. N.p., 26 Mar. 2013. Web. 06 July 2015.
“Strategies to Manage Vacant and Abandoned Properties.”Community & Economic Development in North Carolina & Beyond. UNC School of
Government, 7 Nov. 2013. Web. 06 July 2015.
“Sunflower + Project: STL.”Sustainable Land Lab: From Vacant to Vital. Sustainable Land Lab, 2015. Web. 6 July 2015.
Sustainable Land Lab.“Sunflower + Project Presentation Board.” N.p. 2015. JPG.
“Type(scapes).”Sustainable Land Lab: From Vacant to Vital. Sustainable Land Lab, 2015. Web. 06 July 2015.
Vacant Lot Hydrology http://aestheticecosystems.com/stormwater-urban/
Vacant Lot Handbook http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/cityDCD/planning/pdfs/VacantLotHandbook.pdf
CITATIONS