Hopkins Eyes Cottageville Park Duplexes

Hopkins continues to search for partnerships that would pave the way for demolition of two duplexes obscuring as part of a plan that aims to create a friendlier, more open park.

The duplexes along the east side of Blake Road are the latest challenge city officials must tackle in their ongoing effort to improve the Cottageville Park neighborhood. That effort has already seen the —including an office building, two homes and two apartment buildings demolished earlier this year that were transformed into green space.

City planners see the duplexes as a the logical next step because a lift station near the park needs to be updated. The city would like to convince the Met Council to acquire the duplex properties and either build the new lift station on the newly acquired properties or swap for land elsewhere in the city. Either would allow the duplexes to be demolished.

“We would like to get this finalized by the end of the year,” said Tara Beard, Hopkins’ community development coordinator. “By doing so, we provide further visibility to the park and a better overall footprint for the entire project.”

One of the duplexes has one vacant space while the other is fully occupied.

Cottageville Park is a 1.5-acre piece of city-owned park property tucked in behind the east side of Blake Road, just north of Minnehaha Creek. The city and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed district to have the park be the focal point of a major renovation that would expand the park, make it more accessible physically and visually and .

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the location of the lift station and misidentified the entity that the city hopes will buy the duplex properties. Hopkins also does not have a Cottegeville Park Master Plan yet because the city is waiting until it knows the final footprint of the park to begin planning, which will include residents and the Blake Road Corridor Community. We regret the errors.