When "The Fred" closed at sunset on October 5, 2014, KARE 11 reported that converting the nine-hole course to parkland could cost anywhere from $6 million to nearly $8 million, with about 40 percent of the land going to field sports. Twelve years later the budget is $17.7 million, paid for by the half-cent local sales tax Edina voters approved in November 2022. This fall, a lot of that money is going into taking things out of the ground.
The excavators working the west side of the old course are removing the golf course itself. They're pulling the sand, gravel, fabric and pipe that made it playable for short-mowed fairways, and they're digging down to the dark peat that was there before. The City's project updates show that the lawns, courts and trails come after that work. The part of the park you can see from the trail right now is the foundation for everything else.
What a Par-29 Course Left in the Ground
The golf course started with the City's purchase of Normandale Golf Course. It was rebuilt as an executive-length nine-hole, par-29 layout. Per the City's October 22, 2026 project update, its tees and greens were built with up to 16 inches of sand over gravel, and its fairways and roughs were shaped with imported material, irrigation and drain tile.
That soil worked well for golf, but the City says it can't support the site's historic landscapes or native Minnesota conditions like savanna or prairie. So crews in the new wetland preserve are digging down to native dark brown and black peat soils and hauling out what golf left behind:
- Light-colored sand and silty sand
- Gravel
- Fabrics and geogrid
- Drain tile
- Irrigation piping
The City says the removal covers open areas and wetland edges both, so plants can take hold over the long term. The update includes photos of the layers: dark peat under the surface, a fairway strip of imported sandy loam, and the sand profile of an old green. If you walk past freshly scraped ground this winter and see light sand against dark soil, you're looking at that same divide.
The wetland work has a longer schedule than the rest of the excavation. In a response on the City's project page, the project team said wetland restoration starts in fall 2026 and runs into spring and summer 2027. It begins with stormwater connections and grading, then moves to removing dredge material and reshaping banks. Invasive species removal and vegetation management come before any planting or seeding. Hennepin County's Natural Resources team is partnering with the City on native seeding and plant establishment.
The Decision That Reshaped the Wet Side of the Park
The northwest section wasn't always going to be a preserve. Since the 2017 master plan it had been called the Nature Bank: 17 acres of meadow and marsh planned as a formal wetlands mitigation bank. The City could have sold those credits or used them to offset other projects.
The City's March 23, 2026 About Town article lists the problems the bank raised. It would have required deeper excavation, more tree removal and heavy disruption to existing wildlife habitat. It would have limited trails and nature viewing, and it had to be kept separate from the park's other wetlands. It also would have limited the park's ability to clean and hold stormwater, which the City calls one of the park's most-needed jobs. Creating the bank would have added about $5 million to the budget.
In November 2025 the City Council approved withdrawing the bank application, and the section was redesigned as a wetland preserve. Park Planner Rachel DeVries explained the tradeoff in that article:
"We are able to preserve the existing wetlands and enhance and create more diverse habitats around them. Park visitors won't notice any difference from a wetlands bank, and they'll be able to enjoy it more because they'll be able to walk trails through it."
The stormwater role is easier to picture if you know Centennial Lakes Park. The City notes that its ponds are stormwater holding areas. Fred Richards Park, which takes in the former Lake Edina Park and sits south of Lake Edina behind the businesses on the north side of West 77th Street, is being shaped to do similar work across nearly twice the acreage.
Why the Clock Ran Long
Keep the soil work in mind and the twelve-year gap makes more sense. Here's the sequence from the City's own materials:
- October 2014: The course closes after its final round.
- 2017: The original master plan is drawn up.
- November 2022: Voters approve the half-cent sales tax that funds the $17.7 million build.
- April 2025: H+U Construction is hired to manage construction, with the work expected to take roughly 18 months.
- December 2025: Trucks deliver more than 4,000 cubic yards of dirt so it can compact naturally over winter before it goes under the sport courts.
- August 2026: Construction begins, with earthwork and grading first.
- 2027: Playground construction is expected to start, and the overall project continues through the year.
Most of 2025 went to work nobody could see. The March article says the design phase included soil sampling, archaeology testing and meeting the City's and the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District's requirements, all while holding costs. Because the site is complicated, that took longer than expected. "It isn't exciting work, but we need to do the foundational work to deliver the park people asked for," DeVries told the City's About Town.
Three Zones That Open When the Ground Is Ready
The finished park is planned in three sections. Here's what the City's plan puts in each:
| Zone | What's planned |
|---|---|
| Central Green | Pickleball and basketball courts, lawn games, stage and pavilion areas, clubhouse renovation, landscaping and walkways, parking and access via West 77th Street |
| Wetland Preserve | Wetland restoration and enhancement, trees and shrubs, play nodes, wildlife habitat structures, a trail |
| Great Lawn and Loop | New trail, open lawn play area with high-quality drainage, picnic pavilion, traditional and inclusive playgrounds |
The City doesn't plan to open these one at a time. The March article says opening features individually was never part of the plan, because it costs more and can do harm. Some sections may be finished before the whole park, and each would be evaluated on whether it can open without risk to ongoing construction, habitat or visitors. "We want to allow plants to establish, making sure we create sustainable landscapes and features," DeVries said in that piece.
The most anticipated feature shows how this works. On October 20, the City Council approved buying equipment for the park's new nature play area. Confluence designed it with input from a community survey and a playground accessibility workgroup of community members and inclusive-play advocates, and Midwest Playscapes is supplying the equipment. It will mix traditional inclusive play with nature play, with components for physical and social play that engage all the senses.
It will sit in the heart of the park near the basketball and pickleball courts, the sledding hill and a new parking lot and entrance off 77th Street. The City says it will be installed "in coordination with site features," so footings, accessible paths, fencing and safety surfacing all wait on the grading around them. The City also explains why this playground is a bigger build than usual. Rosland Park's playground was considered inclusive when it opened in 2016, but accessibility standards have changed since then. Ramps, special surfacing, adaptive equipment and quiet zones add significant cost, which is why Edina doesn't build these often.
Walking Past It This Winter
The Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail runs through the middle of the park. Three Rivers Park District lists the full trail as 15.3 paved miles, open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Last season's winter schedule listed it as plowed in Edina from November 1 through April 15. Three Rivers notes that plowing times depend on local city schedules, and that bridges and boardwalks can take longer.
Since construction started, the City has put up fencing and closed parts of the park as work moves through them, while keeping the trail open as much as possible. The City has said any trail closures will be posted and announced in advance. The playground off Parklawn Avenue, built in 2019 as the first of the park's two planned playgrounds, was expected to stay open through construction. The nearby picnic shelter was expected to stay open too, but not for rentals, because staff didn't want people booking events next to heavy construction.
Wildlife has come up on the City's project page, where a nearby resident asked whether the ducks and geese would be harmed. The project team answered that habitat disturbances are being scheduled to reduce the impact, that many animals will likely find other places to feed and nest during the work, and that the finished habitat is designed to bring back the species already recorded there and draw in more. For anyone who wants to follow the excavation through spring, the City's project page posts updates by email.
Old houses work a lot like this. The real restoration often starts with taking out what earlier owners added, like dropped ceilings, carpet over oak or layers of paint, before anyone gets to pick a finish. If you own a home near Fred Richards Park and wonder what a project this size could mean for your property over the next few years, Claire Louise Johnston is glad to talk it through. You can start by getting your instant home valuation.
