The City of Minneapolis has released the results of months of community engagement about the City’s proposal to redevelop the property located at 3000 Minnehaha Ave., the site of the former 3rd Police Precinct, into a new democracy center and community space.

A demographically representative poll found 63% of respondents support the democracy center proposal. The survey found support was even stronger from those living within the 3rd Precinct, where there was a 70% approval rate. The full results of the City’s community engagement efforts were shared with community members during an open house at the Minneapolis American Indian Center Wednesday night.

“Community has been at the heart of the 3000 Minnehaha redevelopment, and they’re tired of waiting,” said Mayor Jacob Frey. “Our City has already held seven engagement sessions with residents and conducted a survey to gather input on the future of the site. The survey results show clear support for transforming the site into a democracy center and a community space. We’ll continue to gather input to ensure our shared vision comes to life, but what we won’t do is sit on our hands while the Third Precinct sits vacant. It’s time to move forward.”

“Thank you to the community members who participated and to the Office of Public Service team who designed a multi-layered engagement process,” said Laura Mellem, Deputy City Operations Officer of Communications and Engagement. “Thanks to their dedication, the City has been able to gauge community sentiment around a complex issue and important project.”

Proposal Background 

The City is proposing to relocate Elections & Voter Services (EVS), which is currently leasing industrial space in northeast Minneapolis, into the building at 3000 Minnehaha Ave. The building would become the new home to the City’s Early Vote Center, where it would be more centrally located, connected to transportation, and in an area with historically lower voter turnout. EVS would also coordinate mail balloting, hospital voting, voter outreach and engagement, and pop-up voting events at the democracy center. More than 8,000 square feet, roughly two thirds of the ground floor of the existing building, would be dedicated to community use.

Community Engagement  

Throughout the summer, the City project team conducted multiple forms of engagement with community members to receive input, including in-person meetings, stakeholder conversations, an open house, and a representative survey.  

This summer’s community engagement efforts began on June 10 with an open house to present the City’s plan to community members. The City’s engagement team polled the open house’s 76 attendees on the possible use of the building and its features. 

From June 10 through August 18, the City conducted the Engage Survey on the proposal that was open to the public and shared through the City’s website. That survey received 1,148 responses. 71% of respondents supported (“strongly support” or “somewhat support”) using the building for a democracy center while 21% opposed (“strongly oppose” or “somewhat oppose”) the use.  

From August 12 through September 9, the City also conducted the Pulse Survey. This scientific poll used representative samples to match the distribution of race, ethnicity, and gender in Minneapolis and received 913 responses. 63% of the respondents supported (“strongly support” or “somewhat support”) using the building for a democracy center while 17% opposed (“strongly oppose” or “somewhat oppose”) the use.  

50% of citywide respondents believe the proposed development would contribute to racial healing, and 64% of Black respondents believe the development would help with racial healing “to a large or some extent.”  

The survey also found interest from residents in several uses for the community space, including social services, business services, and community gathering.  

Throughout the summer, the City also hosted 6 curated community conversations in August and September to share more information about the proposal and receive feedback from a diverse sample of community members, including residents of nearby neighborhoods, business owners, and Spanish and Somali-speaking community members. A total of 36 attendees participated in these conversations. 

The full survey and additional analysis of community engagement activities can be found on the project website.

Next Steps

Open house materials will be posted on the project website and additional comments will be accepted by email through October 11. After the open house, the report will be presented to the City Council at its October 15 Committee of the Whole meeting. The City’s proposed timeline would have the site open as early as 2026.

To learn more, visit the City’s project website and sign up for Minnehaha 3000 updates.