Overview
The City of Saint Paul Department of Parks and Recreation has allocated funding from the City's new Common Cent sales tax funding source for park improvements at Groveland Recreation Center. This project consists of improvements to the existing fields, tennis courts, play area, and related amenities, drainage, and accessibility on site.
Project Updates
June 30, 2025
Over the past several months, we have been working on plans for the site improvements at Groveland Recreation Center. You can view the proposed improvements at this link to a concept plan of the Groveland Recreation Center Site Improvements. The following are notes about each of the site uses being improved.
Play Area
We worked with one of our leading play equipment vendors to develop a plan for play area improvements. At the end of January, we interacted with roughly 250 Groveland Elementary 2nd – 5th grade students during their lunchtime. The students reviewed play area concepts and provided feedback on their preferences of play equipment layout and components. The energy and excitement the children exhibited, and their feedback provided an immense value to the development of the final play area plan. You can use this link to view a concept rendering of the proposed play area.
We will be using the existing play container as it is. The play area improvements will include separate structures for 2-5 and 5-12 year old kids. There will also be some independent events such as a spinning feature, tactile panel, brava swing, and traditional swings for children of all ages and abilities. One of the most unique pieces of the play area is a slide with an integral transfer station and incline which broadens play area accessibility. We are looking into the possibility of integrating a shade structure into the play area, but are still evaluating if it would be permitted. The play surfacing will be a combination of Poured in Place rubber surfacing and engineered wood fiber. Between the play area and tennis courts there will be new benches, picnic tables, and trees.
Tennis/Basketball courts
The Tennis and Basketball courts will be reconstructed in their current location. We are planning to have 2 half court basketball courts instead of the goals at opposite ends. This will help keep balls from bouncing from the one end of the court toward Sargent.
Ballfields/Ice skating
The layout of the baseball fields and ice skating area will remain relatively unchanged. We reviewed options to add additional ballfields, but impacts to the ice skating area were too great. The ballfields will be improved with new backstops and dugouts (at grade) and additional lighting and PA speaker. We will be improving accessible walk connections to both fields. The grades of the fields and ice skating surface will be shaped in order to shed water from the fields, yet flat enough to facilitate ice making. We coordinated with both baseball and ice skating stakeholders for these planned improvements.
Site accessibility
A combination ramp and stair will be reconstructed from St. Clair to the play area and Recreation Center entrance. A new accessible route will be provided to the warming house and baseball field. An new accessible route will connect the sidewalk along Sargent and the Tennis/basketball court area. These routes will provide better accessibility to all areas of the site.
We are on track to wrap up design and complete construction documents by the end of summer. This will allow us to complete the permitting process, advertise the project for bids, and start earthwork activities this fall. This will leave the site ready for ice skating in the winter. The majority of the site construction will occur in the spring and summer of 2026. The ballfields will be seeded in the spring and have the entire summer to establish.
October 3, 2024
Thank you to everyone that took the time to complete the Groveland Recreation Center projects survey. In total, we received 218 responses! This data will be very helpful for the development of plans for the park. In the next couple weeks, we'll summarize the data and share publicly.
As we summarize the data, we will begin to prepare site concepts and reach to to project contacts for additional engagement opportunities with the community for feedback on design direction.
August 23, 2024
Please help us understand how the Groveland Recreation Center site is used and what could make it better by taking this short survey: The survey has closed
We'll leave this survey open until September 30, 2024
July 2, 2024
Staff have been assigned to the project and will begin with preparing a community engagement plan, schedule, and budget for the project. Staff will also be collecting base information which will be used throughout the project.
A rough outline of the project schedule is:
Project Start and Site Inventory/Analysis: July 2024 – August 2024
Schematic Design and Community Engagement: September 2024 – November 2024
Design Development: December 2024 – February 2025
Construction Documents and Bidding: March 2025 – June 2025
Construction Start: July 2025
More details about the project and community engagement opportunities will be shared in the coming weeks.
