The City of Minneapolis will host an open house to allow residents and business owners in the area near George Floyd Square to share ideas about possible re-designs in the area of 38th Street East and Chicago Avenue.
The open house is Saturday, October 22, from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the gymnasium at Phelps Park in the same neighborhood.
“We know we really need to think through how we conduct this engagement,” said Alexander Kado, the city’s project manager for 38th/Chicago.
“We’ve given a lot of time and attention to do it right.”
City leaders say many of the streets in that area are aging and need repair anyway, but they also cite the memorial materials that were placed at the intersection immediately following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin outside Cup Foods on Memorial Day 2020.
“The way that intersection functions today—and has functioned for the last two years—is really completely different than it was before the murder of George Floyd,” said Kado. “Some people want these changes to happen right away. Some people don’t want these changes to happen at all. So we’re trying to kind of strike a balance between those two polar opposites.”
The city hopes it can preserve many of the memorial aspects already in place while continuing to provide public access to residents and businesses at the intersection.
“The whole world is watching—we know that. And as they should be,” said Kado. “It’s incredibly important.”