What happened to the parking lot at the Upper Lock? If you've crossed the Stone Arch Bridge since June, you've seen fencing around the riverbank below the Mill City Museum. The fencing marks the first phase of the Owámniyomni restoration, a Dakota-led project on 5.2 acres of land, water and bluff next to the upper lock at St. Anthony Falls. Most of the work going on there right now removes things.
Once you see that, the fencing is easier to read. This winter's crews are taking out pavement and buildings, and planting comes after that. The restored land is targeted to reopen in spring 2027, and the water restoration is a later phase on a separate schedule.
What's coming out first
Owámniyomni Okhódayapi, the organization leading the project, announced in May what the first site work would remove:
- The Upper Lock parking lot
- The second level of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers central control station
- A restroom building that no longer works
- The security fencing and utilities, which are being moved rather than removed
Phase one started in June 2026. The organization had announced a mid-May start. As of its October update, the project's construction page lists excavation and sheet pile installation as recent work. A new roof for the Central Control Station is next. Asphalt removal, grading, site preparation and early planting are set to start this fall and run into 2027.
The removals were a deliberate choice. Kahomy Weston, the organization's project coordinator, told Sahan Journal that planning started with the question "what does the land want?" The team decided the answer was to do less, and to return the land to its natural state instead of adapting the existing buildings for new uses. The removals are also a legal step. Sahan Journal reported that the visitor center and restroom buildings have to come down before the organization can take ownership of the land.
What goes in after the asphalt comes out
Once the pavement is gone, the design calls for an Oak Savanna and an Upland Prairie, which the plan calls "Mother Gardens." They'll be grown from seeds and soils from the Prairie Island Indian Community and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. The plan also includes a restored limestone bluff and an ADA walkway down to the river. Army Corps fencing will move, and structures the Corps doesn't need will come out.
The project's landscape architect is GGN, a Seattle-based firm. David Malda, a principal there, described the project to Sahan Journal this way: "This isn't about adding something new. It's about trying to restore relationships."
"A big part of it is welcoming Dakota people back to the river. We're doing that by restoring Dakota lifeways and making Dakota people visible in their homelands." Kahomy Weston, in Sahan Journal
The best-known part of the design is still years away. The water phase will send river water over the original limestone into the Mill Race as a 25-foot cascade, and visitors will be able to touch the water. That work belongs to phase two, which the organization plans for 2028.
Phase two still has money to raise. In May, the organization said it had raised $40.5 million of a $60 million campaign. In October, Sahan Journal reported $47 million raised, with the remaining fundraising tied to the second phase.
Four dates, four different milestones
Because the work comes in pieces, the project has four timelines, and each one measures something different.
| Milestone | Current timing | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Site closure ends | Spring 2027 | Public access to the restored land returns |
| Phase one construction wraps | Mid-summer 2027, per the construction manager | Land and planting work |
| Army Corps land transfer | Early 2027, pushed back from late 2026 | Ownership moves to Owámniyomni Okhódayapi |
| Phase two | Planned for 2028 | Water and shoreline, including the cascade |
The spring 2027 date comes from the organization's May announcement, which said the site "will be closed for construction until spring 2027." The same week, MPR News reported that John Barrick of Loeffler, the project's construction manager, expected crews to "wrap up middle of summer next year." That puts the end of phase-one work in mid-summer 2027.
The ownership date has already moved once. Congress directed the Army Corps in 2020 to transfer the land to the city or a group the city chose, and Minneapolis chose Owámniyomni Okhódayapi in April 2025. In May, the organization said it was on track to take ownership in late 2026. Shelley Buck, the organization's president, told Sahan Journal in October that bureaucratic hurdles will push the transfer into early next year. The Star Tribune reported that the Corps will keep operating a flood-control tainter gate at the falls after the transfer.
Walking the edge of the fence in November
The restoration site is closed, but most of the riverfront around it is open. MPR News reported that the Stone Arch Bridge stays open throughout construction, and the organization recommends the bridge as the place to watch the work.
Mill Ruins Park is also open, with one change to how you get in and out. According to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, the lower Mill Ruins area can only be reached from the trail entrance near the 35W Bridge Remembrance Garden. There is no through access, so you leave the way you came in. A walk that used to be a loop now turns around at the bottom.
Three November closures are separate from the restoration, and they're the ones most likely to change a walk or a bike ride this month. All three are on the Park Board's road closures page:
- Through Nov. 25: West River Parkway and its trail are closed at 13th Avenue South while CenterPoint Energy replaces a natural gas main. Drivers are routed around the block, and the bike and pedestrian trail detours onto the parkway around the work zone.
- Saturday, Nov. 14, 7 a.m. to noon: The Hot Chocolate 5K/15K closes West River Parkway from Plymouth Avenue to East 27th Street, plus Main Street.
- Thursday, Nov. 26, 7 to 11 a.m.: The Turkey Day 5K closes West River Parkway from North 4th Avenue to 13th Avenue South.
The Water Works Pavilion, just upriver in Mill Ruins Park, is a separate Park Board project. Water Works Phase 2 is listed as in pre-design, with its construction timeframe still to be determined. The Park Board is coordinating that planning with Owámniyomni Okhódayapi so the two properties feel like one place to visit. That's on top of the roughly three additional acres whose design the Park Board is coordinating to link the restoration, Water Works Phase 2 and Mill Ruins Park.
Getting closer without a hard hat
You can't go inside the fence before spring, but you can learn about the site from across the street. The Owámniyomni Engagement Space is at 100 Portland Avenue South, Suite 10, in the Crown Plaza building, directly across from the Stone Arch Bridge entrance. Programs there are listed on the organization's events calendar rather than on a walk-in schedule.
Three events are on the calendar for the rest of the year:
- Tuesday, Nov. 17, 6 to 8 p.m.: A free screening of the film We Are The River, with food and drinks and executive producer Peter Myers.
- Wednesday, Nov. 18, noon to 1:30 p.m.: The Owámniyomni Interpretive Tour, starting at the Engagement Space.
- Wednesday, Dec. 16, noon to 1:30 p.m.: The same interpretive tour, from the same starting point.
Sahan Journal also reported that the space hosts a speaker series and classes in ribbon skirt making, corn husk doll making and cooking, and that Buck said the organization is looking at adding more activities.
If you'd rather follow along from home, the project's design page has a construction camera next to its running list of recent and upcoming work.
Living near the falls means some of the neighborhood's best walks will look different from season to season until 2028. At Massad Real Estate, we keep track of how changes like this affect daily life in Downtown East. If you own here and want to know how the riverfront fits into what your home is worth, request a free home valuation and we'll go over it with you.
