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HGA presents conceptual designs for three North St. Paul parks; McKnight Athletic Complex plan proposes phased improvements and funding roadmap
Summary
HGA presented draft concept plans for three North St. Paul parks and a phased approach to McKnight Athletic Complex, with engagement notes, renderings and high-level cost estimates; the final report returns to the commission in February.
Trigg Hansen, a landscape architect with HGA Architects and Engineers, presented the consultant team’s draft concept-design and planning report for three North St. Paul parks at the Jan. 22 meeting and outlined next steps for review and approval.
Hansen said the work followed an engagement program that included open houses, Art Fest outreach, stakeholder interviews and liaison input. The report organizes findings into an overview, an explanation of the engagement approach, design concepts for each site and a final section with cost estimates and implementation guidance. Hansen described the document as intended to support fundraising and phased implementation rather than to set a single final construction plan.
The three project sites in the draft are: the downtown open space (a conceptual civic hub with circulation and “pops of color” in play features); Third Street open space (a nature play area combined with a potential community garden); and McKnight Athletic Complex (identified as the largest and most program-rich site, with Phase 1 recommendations and a Phase 2 plan that would create more flexible multi-sport fields, additional amenities such as playgrounds and a possible support building to host events).
Hansen said the McKnight recommendations respond to community requests for greater field flexibility and additional amenities and noted opportunities to partner with the school district and with private and public funders. He said the consultant included broad, “fully delivered” cost estimates intended to help the city evaluate funding needs and to prioritize projects. Hansen also said he would add a clearer comparison of artificial turf and natural turf conditions to the final document (that comparison was not apparent in the draft reviewed by commissioners).
Commissioners praised the engagement process and the draft designs. A commissioner asked specifically about a comparison between artificial turf and natural turf; Hansen acknowledged the omission and said the team would add relevant material to the appendix. Commission staff said portions of the park-and-open-space master plan would be updated to incorporate the HGA work, and the final HGA report will be presented again for approval at the February meeting.
No final funding decisions were made during the presentation; staff noted the capital improvement plan includes funds for some McKnight repairs but that full build-outs would require additional capital, grant funding or partnerships. Hansen encouraged the city to use the document as a tool for fundraising and phased implementation rather than as a prescriptive single-solution plan.
