City outlines timeline for new North Minneapolis safety center, training and wellness campus tied to human-rights settlement

City officials on Monday outlined plans and a rough timeline for three capital projects to upgrade Minneapolis Police Department facilities, saying the work is required by a settlement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and aimed at modernizing precincts and centralizing training and wellness services.

Todd Barnett, the city official presenting the briefing, told the Committee of the Whole the projects under consideration are (1) a North Minneapolis Community Safety Center that would house the Fourth Precinct, (2) a community safety training and wellness center, and (3) a package of smaller improvements across MPD facilities. "The settlement agreement requires the city to conduct a comprehensive citywide MPD facilities assessment," Barnett said, summarizing requirements that the city complete assessments and provide resources to implement improvements.

The presentation framed the proposals as responses to findings in facility assessments completed in 2023 and 2024 that identified accessibility, safety, space and functional deficiencies at existing precincts and training sites. Barnett said the assessments recommend actions that range from minor upgrades to full facility replacement. Margaret Anderson Kelleher, the city's chief operating officer, said the city has developed an equipment, technology and facilities plan that lays out actions and timelines and that work already under way includes a mix of modest upgrades and planning for larger replacements.

Why it matters: City staff said compliance with the settlement agreement is time-sensitive. Anderson Kelleher and Barnett both stressed the city must provide resources to meet the agreement's standards and that facilities will have to be functional for a period before the settlement can be considered satisfied.

Key details and sequencing: Barnett said the training and wellness facility design work is expected to take place in 2026 with construction targeted for 2027, and he said the North Minneapolis Community Safety Center is expected to move from planning to design in 2026 and potentially to construction in 2027. The city is also pursuing near-term smaller improvements to existing MPD facilities as part of an ongoing implementation program begun in 2024. Anderson Kelleher said design priorities will include racial equity, climate standards, community engagement, workplace equity (for example, access to daylight and modern amenities) and transparency.

On funding and requests: Council members asked about budgeting and state assistance. Council member Aisha Choudhury (vice chair) asked about a state bond request; city staff said the administration is proposing a state bonding ask of approximately $19 million as part of an early legislative request, and the city's capital program includes an early funding ask of about $5.5 million to support predesign and site work for the training center. Barnett and Anderson Kelleher cautioned those figures are preliminary and that total project costs will depend on site acquisition, property costs and final program decisions.

Community engagement and program content: Barnett and Anderson Kelleher said plans for both the North Minneapolis center and the training and wellness center will be shaped by community engagement similar to the process used for the South Minneapolis Community Safety Center. City staff said the North Minneapolis site will likely provide a combination of MPD space and restorative and preventive services identified in community engagement, and they said satellite offices or substation models are generally more costly and can fragment staff.

Training and range: The city said it intends to move MPD’s indoor range out of the existing Fourth Precinct and into the new training and wellness center if feasible, but that final locations will depend on site feasibility and size. Property services staff told council members the training center will likely require a larger parcel (the director said an ideal site would be at least four acres) and that a purpose-built facility is more likely than an adaptive reuse for the scale of training and range space the city envisions.

Next steps: Staff said schematic and design work is planned for 2026 for the larger projects, with construction following subject to budgeting, site selection and procurement. Council members asked for updates on capital budgeting and closer coordination with the Capital Long-range Improvement Committee (CLIC). Barnett and Anderson Kelleher said the projects were reviewed as part of the city's facilities assessments and that the administration is pushing for expedited timelines because the settlement agreement sets operational-duration milestones the city must meet.

Ending note: Barnett and Anderson Kelleher emphasized the projects are intended to bring MPD facilities to current functional standards and to provide centralized training and wellness services for multiple safety departments. Several council members said they want robust community engagement and regular status updates as planning proceeds.