Minneapolis unveils a new vision for George Floyd Square

It has been 4½ years since the south Minneapolis area around the site of George Floyd’s police killing organically evolved into a place of protest and reflection. And it’s remained largely unchanged since 2020.

After two years of community workshops and a nine-month engagement process this year, the city has released a “vision report” on how it proposes to reconstruct the entire area in and around 38th Street and Chicago Avenue and transform it with rebuilt streets, new green spaces, a raised traffic circle in the intersection, pedestrian street lighting, wider sidewalks, upgraded pedestrian ramps and narrower travel lanes but big enough to accommodate bus rapid transit service.

After Floyd’s killing, protests sprang up where he died outside what was then called Cup Foods, and protesters took control of the four-block area surrounding the intersection. Streets were closed to traffic and it evolved into an autonomous zone with little police intervention until June 2021, when the city removed concrete barriers and eventually reopened the street to traffic.

The Minneapolis City Council, meeting as the Committee of the Whole, will review the report on Nov. 12.

Construction would begin next year, after the five-year anniversary of Floyd’s killing. City officials did not have cost estimates.

The proposal would leave in place the iconic raised fist installed by sculptor Jordan Powell-Karis at 38th and Chicago.

The city would like to have a nonprofit redevelop the “People’s Way,” a former Speedway gas station where protesters still meet regularly, into a community-centered space.

The city has no plans to disturb the “Say Their Names Cemetery” – a symbolic cemetery on a city-owned flood pond at 37th Street and Park Avenue South with headstones for Black people who lost their lives at the hands of the police.

“Mourning Passage” — a list of the names of people killed by police that is repainted on the street annually — would remain, though slightly north of its current location.

While calling the square “a sacred place,” the city would restore vehicular access to the neighborhood’s numerous driveways, garages and alleys, with full access for transit, emergency vehicles and deliveries. But traffic would be calmed with curb extensions, raised trail crossings, a raised intersection and wider sidewalks.

The report acknowledges “emotion” over the city leading the work at the square, with some saying there weren’t enough Black voices involved. Some critics want to see more progress toward protesters’ original 24 “demands for justice,” which include requiring police officers to maintain private liability insurance and firing some leaders of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, before development proceeds, particularly at the People’s Way.

A community-led town hall meeting will be held to discuss an alternative plan on Nov. 6 at Calvary Lutheran Church. Residents say they will urge the city to halt its plan and instead focus on a proposal on health care and housing, saying they want the city to ensure any development honors the legacy of Black lives taken by police violence and the trauma the neighborhood has endured.

Alexander Kado, senior project manager in charge of George Floyd Square, said the city is still taking feedback on the report. There was a public open house dinner dialogue Tuesday night.

Details of the plans include:

Even before Floyd’s death, the city was considering rebuilding 38th and Chicago, which were built between 1957 and 1963.

The city proposal would reconstruct the entire public right-of-way with new sidewalks, pedestrian ramps, pavement, curbs, gutters, lighting and utility work.

Thirty-eighth Street from Park Avenue to 10th Avenue and Chicago Avenue from 37th Street to 39th Street would be reconstructed beginning next year. Pedestrian lighting and bikeways would be installed along 38th and Chicago and “as many trees as feasible” would be planted on generous boulevards. Lead water lines would be replaced.

Metro Transit would restore the D-Line bus rapid transit service and Route 5 transit service along Chicago Avenue with new stops south of 38th Street and smaller bus shelters.

Medians would be installed and could be home to four smaller fist sculptures that mark the entrances to George Floyd Square.

Last year, the city purchased the former Speedway gas station – now dubbed the People’s Way – at 3744 Chicago Av., where protesters continue to meet regularly.

The city plans to transfer ownership of the property to a nonprofit community group or groups with spaces for “reflection, truth-telling and healing.”

The spot where Floyd was killed will be preserved for a Floyd memorial designed by his family and the Rise and Remember organization, which has been caring for memorials, with no traffic allowed over the place where Floyd took his last breath.

There are five fist sculptures now, the original large one in the 38th and Chicago intersection and four at each entrance to the square. The city report calls for the large sculpture to be installed in the new traffic circle – if Powell-Karis the sculptor agrees – and the others to be relocated to medians at each square entrance.

Artists and caretakers would be engaged in the planning, the report says, and all future memorials would need to “honor the spirit of the community that created George Floyd Square.”