The Hiawatha Golf Course in Minneapolis could soon be listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Minnesota State Historic Preservation Review Board approved a nomination Tuesday night to list the 89-year-old, 18-hole municipal course on the registry. The Keeper of the National Register in Washington is expected to make a decision within 45 days of receipt.
It is unclear, though, what impact the designation would have on a controversial reconstruction plan for the course.
Historians say Hiawatha played a key role in the history of Black golfers in the Twin Cities. But it faces a major reconstruction as the Minneapolis Park Board looks to address environmental problems. There would be only enough room for a nine-hole course.
"We're pleased that the threatened Hiawatha Golf Course is one step closer to being listing in the National Register of Historic Places, an action we first called for on March 1, 2022," said Charles Birnbaum, president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation. "This nomination includes important information about Hiawatha's historical and cultural significance that we believe is essential to any decision-making process about the course's future."
Natural wetlands were dredged to create Lake Hiawatha and its namesake golf course in the early 1930s, providing for the development of the surrounding south Minneapolis neighborhood. The sinking golf course sits 4 feet below lake level in the Minnehaha Creek floodplain and requires constant groundwater pumping.
The Park Board passed a $43 million plan last fall to reconstruct Hiawatha as a nine-hole course on the upper elevations of the property while channeling storm water to flow more naturally throughout. The plan has been lauded by environmental advocates, but opposed by golfers demanding the course remain 18 holes.
The Bronze Foundation, a golf advocacy organization created by golfer Darwin Dean, proposed draining Lake Hiawatha rather than reducing the number of holes on the golf course. That idea did not gain traction.
