Minneapolis looks to transform police’s 3rd Precinct building that burned into “democracy center”

By Caroline Cummings

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    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Minneapolis city leaders are ready to move forward with a plan for the 3rd Precinct police station that burned during the civil unrest in 2020, which has stood vacant since. But the proposal — which would move city election services there — still faces some pushback from the City Council and will take years to implement.

The plan would renovate the building and make it a “democracy center,” moving elections services from a building the city leases in northeast Minneapolis to that site and also creating 8,000 square feet of community space.

City staff presented to the City Council during a committee meeting Tuesday findings from two surveys of residents that show broad support for the changes, which has been the subject of debate for the last few years. Community engagement was a request of the council and the results show support outweighs opposition by more than three to one.

“It’s time for our city to move forward. It’s time for a vision at the old 3rd Precinct building to take shape,” said Mayor Jacob Frey in a news conference before the meeting.

Council members did not take a formal vote on the concept but discussed the proposal, which still needs formal design planning. Frey and his staff said they intend to move forward with it, though ultimately will need council buy-in to fund parts of the project.

The meeting came just one day after Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance held a news conference outside the precinct, accusing his opponent Gov. Tim Walz of a failure of leadership at that time.

“Let’s not hand JD Vance a prop to use in a political way,” Frey said of the four years the police station has stood without any transformation.

Margaret Kelliher, the city operations officer, said the goal would be for the project to be complete by 2029, when the city’s current lease for the building that houses elections services expires. Work fixing the inside of the 3rd Precinct building is underway, like replacing windows and elevator shafts, though its exterior is still guarded by fences and in some cases topped with razor wire.

But some on the council would prefer the site to transform fully into a community space and raised concerns with some of the needed renovations to move election services to that location, including a warehouse space that officials say is necessary for the security of election equipment and would also allow for training of poll workers.

“The community I represent particularly is tired of fighting for crumbs when they should be earning and getting the entire loaf of bread. That’s what I told my residents I would fight for,” said Council Member Jason Chavez.

The meeting grew tense at times as council members sparred over the vision for the site, which is referred to simply as its address of 3000 Minnehaha [Avenue] in discussion. The council separately approved last year a new site for the police station, a building the city bought and will renovate.

“It feels as though some of my colleagues are desperate for any object to 3000 Minnehaha and this has been going on for too long,” said Council Member Linea Palmisano. “Enough is enough.”

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