Neighbors need more info from MPS about Cooper School plan

WHAT ABOUT THE PLAYGROUND?

Oct. 3, 2023: Resident learn that MPS plans to spend $1,000 to immediately remove the aging playground at the former Cooper Elementary School building (3239 44th Ave) installed in 1997. The playground dated to the late 1990s, and had received few updates since the school closed in 2005. It was built in 1923. Mulch and sand has been occasionally replenished, and damaged equipment removed and boarded up, rather than replaced.

Nov. 2, 2023: MPS hosts a listening session about the Cooper playground at Howe Elementary School attended by about 100 people.

March 2024: Signs posted say the playground is closed. The windows on the first floor of the building are boarded up to deter break-ins and vandalism.

Nov. 19, 2025: Lisa Priest of the Longfellow Community Council announces on Save Cooper Playground/PlayMpls.org: In case you haven’t yet heard the news…. WE’RE GETTING A PLAYGROUND! Thank you to all who have put countless hours into grant writing, survey sharing, writing letters, going to meetings and more, to get us to this place.

This week: Demo will begin on the current playground. The playground will be roped off during this time. All equipment except for the green structure at the south end (plus the balance beams, and the benches on the outside perimeter) will go. The sand will be removed and new mulch will be added. There will be a break over Thanksgiving. The week after Thanksgiving, the new playground will go in! I have been told that we will have a new playground by December 10th.

May 12, 2026: Minneapolis School Board hears a plan to either demolish or add onto Cooper School to house Anishinabe Academy at a cost of $90-105 million (as the district faces a $50 million deficit and many schools are under capacity). The plan presented at the school board meeting includes an enclosed playground, and it wasn't not clear if neighbors could use it. The timeline includes design in 2026 with occupancy by 2029. Anishinabe Academy is currently at 3100 E 28th St., sharing space with Sullivan STEAM School.

May 16, 2026: New playground celebration

Attachments

20260527-140503-93c-Presentation_Anishinabe.pdf

Dear Members of the Board, MPS staff, and Council Member Chowdhury, 

I am writing to express my concerns about the proposed plans for building on the Cooper  School site. I believe neighbors need and deserve more information and more consideration  before this project moves forward. 

First, I want to be clear that I am very happy about the general proposal that the Cooper School  site be used once again as an educational space and I support and welcome Anishinabe  Academy in particular. Like many of my other neighbors, I am enthusiastic about the Academy  as a place contributing to cultural revitalization for urban indigenous youth. However, I am  asking the Board not to advance the project further without additional public review of the site  plan. Transparency and public input are important; our schools and neighborhoods are the  most effective when we work together as partners to advance a shared vision. Partnership built  on a solid foundation requires that we hear each other out, and work together to address  trade-offs and issues of concern so we can move forward, united in purpose. 

The size, scope and character of the proposed builds came as a surprise to many in the  neighborhood. The proposed builds will far outstrip the current Cooper School footprint, taking  up the entire block. Also, the proposed number of students in the largest plan (700) will be far  more than the 200 students enrolled at the current Anishinabe Academy. These are significant  differences from what many of us were expecting. 

The recently published building proposals have newly raised the following site-impact questions  that deserve to be answered and addressed: 

1. Green space

• How much green space access will be lost overall? The proposals account for lost area, but don’t indicate anything about lost access to space that remains.
• How will the remaining open space be configured so that undesirable effects of new construction are minimized for neighbors?
• Will neighbors and community members retain meaningful access to green space outside school hours? This green space is used by the community every day, even in winter.
• Can the design preserve usable, welcoming, community-oriented open space for all neighbors? 

2. Building size and massing

• What will the new building’s bulk, height, placement, and wall length mean for surrounding homes and streets? A three-story building will bring a big change in neighborhood impact. 
• If the back side of a large gymnasium faces homes that currently face open green space, as is indicated by some of the plans, what will neighbors actually experience?
• Please provide sightline studies showing views from the street, sidewalk, front porches, and front windows for current residents.
• Please consider setbacks, landscaping, and community-facing design elements that reduce negative impacts.

3. Traffic, drop-off, and circulation

• What should neighbors expect during peak morning arrival and afternoon dismissal?
• How many buses and how many private vehicles are projected?
• Will nearby residential streets absorb overflow traffic, queuing, or event parking?
• What are the effects on pedestrian safety, emergency access, winter conditions, and after-hours gym use?
• Please provide a full traffic study that answers these questions; the proposed school has a capacity of nearly 700 students, this is far larger than the number of students who were served by Cooper School 

4. Long-term viability

• How will MPS ensure that the site remains educationally and financially sustainable over time?
• Current MPS guidance indicates a recommended minimum enrollment for a K–8 school of roughly 1,018–1,133 students.
• The current Concept 1B capacity of 650–700 students appears out of step with that guidance.
• What are the enrollment assumptions, and what happens if sufficient enrollment growth does not materialize? There is neighborhood concern that we will be trading a cherished community space for a building that will fall into disuse if enrollment fails to grow.
• How will MPS manage the long-term costs of maintaining this major capital investment?  Even if money materializes for construction, how will operations be supported over time?  What if they can’t be? 

My request to the board: please do not advance the project further without a transparent  public review of the site plan, including green-space preservation and community access,  building massing and sightline impacts, traffic and circulation, and long-term viability. I support  the school. I want a better site plan and transparent process that involves the public. 

A good and fair outcome should support Anishinabe Academy students while also fully  informing and serving the needs of the surrounding neighborhood. 

Respectfully,

J. Reed, neighbor to the former Cooper Elementary site

3200 block of 44th Avenue South