PK’s Place playground opened in United Village

Night after night over the past week, children from St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood have explored the vertical tower, swings, sensory panels and other key aspects of PK’s Place – a privately operated, publicly accessible playground that may be the most extensive playground in the world is. city.

Built along Pascal Street, immediately adjacent to the east wall of the Allianz Field football stadium, the all-abilities playground features 25 structures, many of which are designed with disability accessibility in mind. Gently sloping ramps in the vertical tower are wide enough to allow a wheelchair user to access almost to the top, and a separate wheelchair-accessible swing is one of the first structures children encounter at the entrance to the playground.

PK’s Place – named after Minnesota United’s mascot Penalty Kick – was donated as a gift from the William W. and Nadine M. McGuire Family Foundation, which also funded the creation of Gold Medal Park in Minneapolis.

Officially a private park, the playground is managed as a public park, but overseen by the development team led by Bill McGuire, owner of Minnesota United. For the city, that is potentially a cost savings in terms of just litter collection, security and maintenance, and amenities such as a future water fountain and lighting.

“The water fountain isn’t installed yet and the lights aren’t installed yet, but it’s fully operational,” said Mike Hahm, the city’s former director of Parks and Rec who is now a consultant for the team and spokesperson for the development around Allianz Field. . “It’s a great example of how partnerships can come together to create great public spaces. The public didn’t have to pay for it.”

During a presentation to the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority on Wednesday, St. Paul City Council member Anika Bowie asked how the POPS — or “private public space” — scheme will work in terms of private rentals and special events, as well as public hours.

“It’s the developer’s responsibility to set those rules,” Hahm said. “It will be open during regular business hours. These areas are generally not reserved for private use.”

Hotel, office, restaurant is coming

The all-purpose playground, designed by Landscape Structures and Flagship Recreation, is one of the most inclusive in the city. The same designers created playgrounds at the new Assembly Union Park at Highland Bridge and St. Paul-Gillette Children’s Hospital.

It’s also the first major addition to the United Village development — the former home of the Midway Shopping Center — since the 19,000-seat stadium opened in April 2019, and city officials and local residents hope it’s a sign of positive things to come to go.

The 34-acre Snelling-Midway “superblock” was identified in 2015 as the preferred location for the Major League Soccer stadium, with residents and city officials quickly showing concept plans for housing, hotel rooms, offices and possibly a movie theater. None have been built yet.

Sill, McGuire and his development team say that by this time next year, a hotel, an office building and at least one of the two restaurant pavilions along University Avenue could be under construction. City staff has offered conditional site plan approval for all three projects, although specific restaurant partners or office tenants have yet to be announced, and the team has yet to confirm whether it will move its offices from Golden Valley to the site.

First up is the installation in late July of a giant diver sculpture, some 35 feet high, with a wingspan of 90 feet. The culvert will anchor a sculpture garden at the southeast corner of University and Snelling Avenues.

While the $250 million professional football stadium has been a major draw for fans and hosted a number of international events, it has slowed down in hosting music performances and community programs. Most of the financing for the public stadium is private, but a term sheet approved in December for future development around the site includes up to $17 million in tax increment financing, or TIF, a type of city-driven tax incentive in which real estate is financed. Tax revenues generated locally can also be used locally.

Some of those TIF dollars will be used to boost housing efforts in the area.

“Whatever is built on this site will generate TIF increases for affordable housing along University Avenue,” explained Council President Mitra Jalali.

The development plans also include a special valuation agreement, which has yet to be completed. A public hearing will be held this summer on the special assessments, which will be used to fund on-site improvements.