In the spring of 1989, Glacier Park Company was selling a large plot of land – 48 acres on the north shore of Cedar Lake. A group of concerned neighbors founded Save Cedar Lake Park (SCLP) with a mission to “Establish a nature park on the north and northeast shores of Cedar Lake and along the railroad right-of-way from Cedar Lake to Highway 100.” This unique urban nature preserve would link together the Chain of Lakes, Mississippi River, and western Minneapolis suburbs with a pedestrian and bicycle corridor and would complete a grand vision for the city parks.
In January 1990, the Metropolitan Council of Minneapolis unanimously approved a recommendation to add the Cedar Lake Park initiative to the Park and Recreation Board’s existing capital improvement plan. By summertime, discussions were already in motion with the Nature Conservancy, State officials, and Glacier Park Co. to accomplish early acquisition.
Market value for the land was $1.7 million. The Metropolitan Council Open Space Commission approved $1.2 million in funds if SCLP could raise the remaining, which came to roughly $560,000. For the next two years, Save Cedar Lake Park organized a massive fund-raising push involving public education initiatives, newsletters, and a benefit concert, picking up a Committee on Urban Environment (CUE) Award along the way. The Minneapolis Chapter of the Audubon Society even pledged their entire Sanctuary Fund ($15,000) to SCLP, hoping to sway legislators. The “birders” felt this was the closest they could get to having a bird sanctuary.
30 years ago, in November 1992, SCLP presented the city with $473,000 citizen-collected dollars, the largest amount of public money raised to buy a piece of land in the state of Minnesota. And on November 25th, 1992, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, adding their $1.2 million contribution, purchased the land from Glacier Park Co., securing the future of Cedar Lake Park.
In 1995, construction of Phase One of the Cedar Lake Regional Trail was completed and the corridor has continued to grow and change in the years since--with prairie, a cedar grove, and maple and basswood forest. Most recently, construction of the Southwest Light Rail Project has further changed the area.
The Cedar Lake Park Association Records are currently being reorganized and processed by Michael V., one of our archival processing assistants hired as part of a $50,000 Legacy grant received by Special Collections this year. The grant supports processing many of our Minneapolis neighborhood association archival collections.
