The Parks Department along with Columbia Heights Mayor met with community members about restoring and preserving the health of Highland Lake and Kordiak Park. View the meeting minutes here.

The Parks Department will be starting the design process to improve the parking lot and trails at the park. In addition, the County is seeking Department of Natural Resources Outdoor Recreation funds to replace the picnic pavilion.

Due to erosion and slope failure from flooding, the bridge over Coon Creek at the confluence of the Mississippi River and trails near the creek are closed. Please use this detour route.

• Design and engineering plans are being prepared for the bridge replacement, culvert replacement and trail reconstruction.

• Construction is anticipated to begin Winter 2023 and completed in 2024.Bridge, Culvert and Trail ReconstructionLower Coon Creek Corridor Restoration

The Parks Department along with Columbia Heights Mayor met with community members about restoring and preserving the health of Highland Lake and Kordiak Park. View the meeting minutes here.

The Parks Department will be starting the design process to improve the parking lot and trails at the park. In addition, the County is seeking Department of Natural Resources Outdoor Recreation funds to replace the picnic pavilion.

The County is currently working to hire a historic design consultant to develop plans and specifications for improvements to the Banfill Historic House. The building’s foundation needs repairing, as well as the siding and roof needs to be replaced. Construction is expected to occur in 2024 and continue into 2025.

The County has partnered with Anoka Conservation District (ACD) to address erosion issues along the Rum River within Anoka County.

A report developed by ACD identified 82 erosion sites along the river. Packaging funding from the County, ACD, the local watershed management organizations, Outdoor Heritage Council and Clean Water, the County is offering homeowners a cost shared grant program to address identified erosion issues within their property. This project will be on-going for the next few years.

The County has hired an engineering consultant to conduct preliminary design work for the Bridge Street Underpass Trail project. Upon completion of the design work, the County and consultant will go through the permitting process to develop plans and specifications based on permit requirements. Construction is anticipated to occur in 2025.

This is an update to the County’s Parks ADA Transition Plan from 1995.

The work is being conducted in-house and the inventory of items is complete. The County will be evaluating and analyzing the data and anticipate having a priority list completed by February 2024 for public review.