Strachauer Park Master Plan

Great concept!

As someone who uses the park weekly with my 3 kids, this is a great concept! We love the soccer fields for both ESA organized and neighborhood-kid organized games, the four square is a very welcome addition to the basketball court and the covered picnic space is great! From the drawing it looks like the playground area is a bit limited in what is offered but other than that this is a great plan! The sledding hill is also lovely but it looks like it goes right into trees?

Great integration of four original concepts and neighbor feedback

This design successfully integrates many ideas from the concepts we saw last fall. And while getting everything that everyone wants isn't likely, it seems like this concept addresses a lot of what neighbors asked for. Specifically, I appreciate the orientation of the playground, picnic, gathering space/shelter, and court areas — making them central in the park and keeping them away from the streets. I love having paths to help connect features within the park and can see paths being used by people of all ages for walking, biking/scootering. I think there is potential to include some adult fitness equipment along the walking paths around the park, especially over on the eastern side). With regard to the gathering space/shelter, I like the indoor/outdoor connection. It’s hard to tell the size of the indoor space; I’d like to know more about the amenities will it have and how many people will it be able to accommodate for a small/medium size get-together. I presume that the building design and materials will align with goals of the City’s Climate Action Plan and think discreet signage/QR codes that calls attention to these features as well as the native plantings around the park could be nice and educational. To further enhance community-building, it would be nice to have a free little library (maybe one for books and one for equipment like balls and skates) and bulletin board area for sharing community news/resources. Placement of the playground looks great though I think the specific equipment and layout needs some further discussion to ensure it’s accessible for young children as well as older kiddos. I’d love to see a sun-shaded little stage with dramatic play prompts in the playground spot — perhaps in the corner by the hammock grove. As others have noted, I like using a sledding hill to help with sound barrier to the Hwy 62 though definitely want to make sure safety is addressed so that its oriented away from the street and there is a sturdy barrier so people can't accidentally go out to the highway. Also, plantings need to extend to the far eastern end of the park where the neighborhood currently has no buffer to the highway. Ultimately, I would really like to see the City work more forcefully with MDOT on a getting a sound wall.

Great Update

This is a great update from the original array of plans put forth. Thanks!

Please put back the sledding hill, water feature, and walking paths!

What happened to the water feature, the sledding hill, the walking paths and the pickle ball courts? Everything interesting in the prior round of concepts seems to be missing.

More shade

Adding more share around the play area would lead to more use from us. On days when it’s really hot we’ll often choose other parks that have more shade because the playground equipment gets hot and the kids can’t play as long.

Update playground. Remove the pebbles and replace with a resilient artificial ground cover.

Make Stormwater management visible

Add a rain garden, note where the water goes from there.

Outdoor fitness challenge course

Like Schaper Park in Golden Valley, create an outdoor fitness challenge course that would be wonderful for growing kids - includes obstacles that participants navigate over, under, around and through as they race the clock. An awesome addition to a fitness-oriented park with the hockey rink, soccer fields and basketball court. *Kid addition: add a better zip line!

Freeway noise really interferes with the enjoyment of the park. Provide some barrier, mound or wall to begin to block the sound.

Dedicated dog park space

Rather than a seasonal park that serves as a hockey rink in the winter, create a dog park that can be used year round with the proper gates and fencing

Play area seems close to 62?

The play area seems close to 62 and furthest from the parking lot, anyone with babies & toddlers know how that can be challenging. I really like that Strauchaer Park is known for having a skating rink and a dog park. I do not care for any of the designs with stormwater - what does that smell like in the middle of summer?

Water Feature!

The "naturalized edge" has the potential to be a significant sound block from 62. If it is just trees then it probably will not do much to achieve the sound reduction but an earthen linear hill would? The stormwater ponding could be a delightful amenity if it is actually a year round pond. It seems the hockey rink could be incorporated. This appears to me to be a very bold step in returning the park to the neighborhood!

Not a fan of the Pond

Many reasons not a fan of the Pond idea. Safety for the kids playing at the playground, taking up space that could be used for something else, also we live very close to the park close to where the pond would be and we get so much dust and dirt from the highway, wonder if the pond would just end up gross and smelly due to highway runoff? If that area is going to be anything but a field more trees to block highway sounds and dirt would be ideal! I think keeping the hockey rink over pickle ball is important. I watch so many groups play hockey in the winter at those rinks, there are many kids who can’t or don’t play hockey for Edina and it’s a good place for those kids to be able to play the sport for fun that is so central to our community. If the pickle ball courts are a must they need to be more centralized.

shrink the paved area (to accommodate winter use) and use combination of paved & grass parking spots - like the south lot at Bde Mk Ska

pave-crete parking

Red Concept

I have some concerns. While the red concept mentions expanded parking, I would recommend a few changes of the pickleball and basketball courts to be more centralized. Parking on Beard Place is limited to one side of the road and doesn't seem to be taking advantage of the expanded parking. Also, regarding the winter skating. The last few winters we've seen several times where the ice over the ground has been hazardous. For a park already limited in space, is it the best idea for a park to encourage skating on a pond? This seems to be a safety hazard.

If you removed the courts...

If you removed the courts from this plan I would like it a lot more. I have a lot of concerns about those courts being along Beard Pl. Even with the expanded parking its still going to create a lot more parking along Beard Pl. The parking along there gets so congested during soccer now, but at least I can predict when that will be. If you removed the courts (maybe leave basketball since that gets used a lot; I don't know what futsal is) and shift everything to the west that might be okay. But overall not a fan of this one.

Blue Concept

Similar to the Red Concept. The pickleball, basketball and futsal are all place along Beard Place, and parking is limited to one side of the road. I would recommend these amenities be more centralized to take advantage of the expanded parking. It addition, winter skating over a pond could be hazardous. The last few winters we’ve significant temperature swings, and a safety hazard.

Like the dog park. Eliminate pond and PB courts, add a hockey rink.

More green space, water too close

Similar to the red plan, I think the water feature at a park is risky. I do not the adult fitness areas would ever get uses. I don't know that anyone would use the hammock area when it's that close to 62 without a sound barrier. Expanded parking not needed if soccer goes. Love the pickleball and basketball courts.

Forget the expanded parking

I really like this plan. The addition of the dog run is fun as we love to watch dog 'parents' and their 'kid' walking to the park on nice days. I think the stormwater/skating pond is great! I would love to utilize an open skate area which currently is quite a mess and unsafe. I like the basketball court and I think the entire park seems usable and friendly. Once again, I think the buffering trees along 62 is necessary due to the sound pollution from the highway.

Nice Concept Plan

Generally this is my favorite concept of the four presented. I like how the activities (basketball court) aren't up against Beard Place, and that there aren't a lot of courts lined up (like in other concepts). The noise from games, parking, and flying balls will be more contained within the park. I also like how the building is more central to the park. Perhaps swap the court location and the playground location so kids aren't playing so close to the street. I would like to see the Hockey Rink remain in this concept plan. In the "skating/flex lawn" could it be possible to have a temporary/seasonal rink for the winter months, if not a permanent structure in the park at all times? Is the pickle ball area a mistake? If not, this seems like a more appropriate location so the fencing isn't as visible to the neighborhood. I also like the trail connections throughout.

Favorite

This one is my favorite so far, it feels much more like what we already have just updated and improved. My only complaint with this one is the dog park on that narrow strip of land between the highway and 62nd. If it could be moved in to avoid noise from dogs playing and fences right at the edge of the park that would ideal.

By far the best design of all (with a few mods)

By far best idea put forth. I would swap BB court with the playground (for safety reasons) but maintain some distance between the two so the little kids don't get hit w/ errant basketballs (yes, that happens with current design). Keep hockey boards and warming house in design. Increase the height of the berm or wall to decrease HW noise. Love the idea of a sliding hill. To keep parking off Beard Pl, consider small parking lot in the SW corner of park near PB court or strongly consider removing PB courts from plan. The park is very small to accommodate everything. BTW, there used to be a small parking lot in the SW corner years ago. Love the idea of paths in the park to assist in driving behavior where folks park. In the other plans, why a rain water run off area? Never seen a need for this in my 50+ years of living by the park. I frequent this park often with my grandkids who really enjoy it.

Best of the 4!

I agree, this is definitely my favorite of the 4 ideas. I do love the idea of a year-round dog park along with still having a space for skating. Maybe the dog park could even be expanded a little? I would agree with adding a sound wall along 62 - its hard to walk along that area because its VERY loud currently.

Best Plan - add Sound Wall

Don't settle for a hill across 1/4 of the park when we need a sound and visual wall across the entire southern edge of the park. Having both features would be fantastic, as there is no place to sled currently.

Sledding and water feature?

What is the plan to make this a sledding hill? I'm not sure its best to have a sledding hill so close to highway 62. Also where is the hockey rink? The Strachauer ice rink is one of the best in the city I would hate to see that go!

Terrific overall structure!

The sledding hill and pond provide the bones for really great family experiences. The park will change with the seasons and provide all ages of folks opportunities to appreciate being outside. The neighborhood, now that we have a sidewalk, is full of walkers; this gives all of us a place to walk to and enjoy. Lots of "events" can occur along the edges of the paths to enrich the visit from chess to sculpture, from reading to exercise.

Can we add the dog run?

This is my favorite plan as I like the buffering sledding hill along highway 62. I love the pond and the winter skating availability. I disagree that we need a permanent hockey rink and couldn't we just use seasonal batter boards, instead? I like the pickleball courts and I agree that additional parking is unnecessary.

No parking?

I think removing pickleball and adding parking would serve the park and residents better.

Similar to the Red and Blue Concepts

Similar to the Red, and Blue Concepts. The pickleball courts are along Beard Place, and parking is limited to one side of the road. I would recommend this be more centralized. In addition, winter skating over a pond may be hazardous. The last few winters we’ve significant temperature swings, and this seems to be a safety hazard waiting to happen. For one of Edina's smaller parks, adding a pond that takes up a larger footprint doesn't seem to take advantage of the park amenities in relation to the city's core values.