Save Hiawatha Golf

08/28/2026

$99 million!!
This is the new projected cost of the Hiawatha Links project (originally $43 million).
Start of construction has now moved to 2031 (from 2030).

08/25/2026

Debut of the new Hiawatha Links Plan.

The Park Board has scheduled their debut of the new plan for the Hiawatha Golf Course on the following date:
Thursday, August 27, 2026
6pm - 7:30pm
Lake Nokomis Community Center.
2401 Minnehaha Parkway, Minneapolis

Please attend and give your comments to the Park Board.

07/26/2026

On Saturday, July 25, Hiawatha Golf Course reached another important milestone in its history with the dedication of a permanent plaque commemorating its listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Although Hiawatha was officially listed on the National Register in April 2023, there was no permanent on-site recognition of that achievement until now.

The plaque was made possible entirely through the initiative, fundraising, and generosity of private individuals and organizations. The Bronze Foundation led the effort to commission the plaque and obtain permission for its installation in the landscape overlooking the first tee, creating a lasting public reminder of Hiawatha’s significance in Minneapolis history.

Speakers included Darwin Dean of the Bronze Foundation, Jonathan Carlson, whose family helped fund the National Register nomination prepared by Hess Roise, and Elizabeth Gales of Hess Roise, the historic preservation firm that researched and wrote the nomination.

Their remarks highlighted Hiawatha’s role in Minneapolis’ civil rights history, its significance as a publicly owned historic landscape, and why the National Register designation recognizes not only the clubhouse, but the golf course landscape itself.

For those who were unable to attend, here is the complete plaque dedication ceremony.

07/22/2026

Here’s a thoughtful opinion piece examining the future of Hiawatha Golf Course and why its National Register designation matters.

This Saturday, July 25 at 2:00 p.m., the Bronze Foundation will dedicate a commemorative plaque recognizing Hiawatha Golf Course’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places during the Upper Midwest Bronze Amateur Tournament.

We encourage everyone interested in Hiawatha’s history and future to read the editorial and attend the dedication ceremony.

Is Hiawatha Golf Course simply a golf course—or one of Minneapolis’s most important civil rights landmarks?

In a new editorial, Jonathan Carlson argues that the future of Hiawatha has become one of Minneapolis’ most consequential historic preservation and civil rights decisions.

The article examines Hiawatha’s National Register designation, the history of Black golf at the course, the Park Board’s redevelopment proposal, and why Commissioner Kay Carvajal Moran now faces a defining decision.

The full article is in the first comment below.

07/15/2026

The Park Board's Hiawatha Links meeting this Thursday (July 16th) has been postponed to August due to the fact that the Nokomis Community Center has no air conditioning.

07/13/2026

IMPORTANT EVENTS
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1) Debut of the New Plan - July 16, 2026, 6-7:30pm, Nokomis Community Center.
2) National Historic Designation Ceremony - July 25, 2026, Hiawatha Golf Course, ~1:30-2:00pm
3) Indigenous Study for Historical Designation.
4) Money Allocated for the Project.
5) Likely Site Contamination Issue with Mercury and Arsenic.
6) Web-site, social media volunteers?
7) Put up your SaveHiawatha18 signs!
____________________________________________________

1) Debut of the New Plan.

The Park Board has scheduled their debut of the new plan for The Hiawatha Golf Course on the following date:
July 16, 2026, 6pm - 7:30pm, Nokomis Community Center.
Please attend and give your comments to the Park Board.
___________________________________________________

2) National Historic Designation Ceremony.

The Hiawatha Golf Course National Historic Designation Monument will be dedicated during the Bronze Memorial Golf Tournament:
July 25, 2026, Saturday, ~1:30-2:00pm, Hiawatha Golf Course Clubhouse.
Everyone is welcome to attend the celebration!
___________________________________________________

3) Indigenous Study for Historical Designation.

In August of 2025 the Minneapolis Park Board said that they would debut their new plan for the Hiawatha Golf Course property in December of 2025, along with a new financial estimate of the cost. Instead, they postponed it until April-May of 2026 because they were working on an indigenous study of the property for historic recognition.

We obtained the Park Board's preliminary documents submitted to the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for this designation. The initial response from SHPO was that the proposal needed to be better defined with more citations, thus the Park Board postponed the debut of the new proposal and allocated more money for the indigenous study. The premise of the historic designation appears to be historical recognition for wild rice growing in the lake or on the property at some point in time.

We met with SHPO personnel in August of 2025 to give them information about the Black history of the site, and why it is historically important and tied to the preservation of the 18-hole golf course. SHPO also has environmental staff who consider the environmental impact of any changes to an historic property. We gave them our findings about the negative effects of the plan on the property and the neighboring homes. We felt that it was a positive meeting, and they were very clear that they consider all histories to be additive. In other words, no history would supersede another.

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4) Money Allocated for the Project.

In April the Park Board issued a 4th amendment to the Hiawatha Links project which allocated another $20,000 to the project for re-assessment of the projected revenues generated from the proposed facilities.

PROJECT SPENDING
----------------

Money allocated for the Damon-Farber contract for this project (2024-2026) was as follows:

$250,000.00 - Resolution 2024-182 - Original Damon-Farber Contract - Sept. 4, 2024 - Begin schematic design work.
$704,345.00 - Resolution 2025-27 - Amendment 1 - Feb. 5, 2025 - Continue schematic design work.
$201,114.00 - Resolution 2025-75 - Amendment 2 - April 16, 2025 - Cultural landscape study and ethnographic study.
$129,176.50 - Resolution 2025-285 - Amendment 3 - December 10, 2025 - More cultural, historical architectural & project management work.
$ 20,000.00 - Resolution 2026-91 - Amendment 4 - May 6, 2026 - Update financial projections and project management consulting.
_____________________
$1,304,635.50

Sources of the money for the Damon-Farber contract:

$1,460,000.00 - 2025 Met Council Grant
$ 150,000.00 - Enterprise Fund
$ 132,622.00 - City of Minneapolis
_____________________
$1,742,622.00

Uses of the money:

$250,000.00 - Damon Farber Work - 2024
$704,345.00 - Damon Farber Work - 2025 - Amendment 1
$201,114.00 - Damon Farber Work - Amendment 2
$129,176.50 - Damon Farber Work - Amendment 3
$ 20,000.00 - Damon Farber Work - Amendment 4
$415,000.00 - Project Mgmt, Community Engagement, & Miscellaneous Expenses
$ 68,930.00 - ALTA/Topographical Survey with Community Land Solutions, Inc.
_________________________
$219,056.50 - Balance

Just a side note:
$ 20,000.00 - The Bronze Foundation says they paid this amount for the Black historic designation.
$201,114.00 to $330,290.50 - Park Board resolutions indicate that the cost for the indigenous historic study and potential historic designation was the money allocated in Amendment 2 plus part or all of the money approved in Amendment 3.

___________________________________________________

5) Likely Site Contamination Issue with Mercury and Arsenic.

We recently obtained information that golf courses in operation prior to the 1990's likely are contaminated with arsenic and mercury from years of pesticide and herbicide use prior to the 1990's. As long as the soil is not disturbed it is safe for golfers. But, any movement of contaminated soil needs to be tested and mitigated. The recent redevelopment of Hillcrest Golf Course (1920's vintage) in St. Paul required the removal of 110,000 tons of contaminated soil before development could occur. Recent testing of soil at the University of Minnesota Golf Course (1920's vintage) found contamination. So, it is expected that Hiawatha Golf Course (1930's vintage) also has this contamination which would need to be mitigated (likely hauled from the site) to avoid future exposure to golfers and contamination of Lake Hiawatha. Another problem experienced at Hillcrest was the lofting of contaminated dust from the contaminated soil into the neighborhood during the removal process. We feel that this is a very concerning issue. We haven't heard of any planning for this contamination issue. Please question the planning staff about this issue.

___________________________________________________

6) Web-site, social media volunteers?

In the meantime, we are looking at updating the web-site and doing more social media. If anyone has web development and/or social media skills and is interested in volunteering in this effort, please let us know through the web-site.

___________________________________________________

7) Display your SaveHiawatha18 sign! If you don't have one or you need a new one, contact us; we still have some left.

___________________________________________________

Thanks for your support,
SaveHiawatha18

03/19/2026

The 6th hole on Hiawatha Golf Course this morning at sunrise. Beautiful!!!

01/22/2026

The fight for the 18 holes at Hiawatha is far from over, but the landscape has officially shifted. For years, the number one proponent for tearing down this historic course was 12-year Commissioner Steffanie Musich, but as of this latest meeting, she is no longer on the dice. She lost her seat to a new generation, and her absence marks a major turning point for everyone who has been out here on the front lines trying to save this land.

In this video, you’ll see Darwin Dean, the President of the Bronze Foundation, standing before the newly seated Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to remind them exactly what’s at stake. This isn't just about a game of golf; it's about a Civil Rights landmark that finally got the national recognition it deserved in April 2023 when it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Hiawatha has been the heart of the Black golfing community since 1939. When Solomon Hughes first arrived in Minneapolis in 1942, he helped turn this course into a sanctuary for the Bronzeville community—a place where people could find mentorship, competition, and a real sense of belonging when the rest of the world was still segregated. Darwin makes it clear that we aren't interested in a plan that turns 70 acres of our history into an unusable swamp. The community has consistently said they want to keep all 18 holes, and with the primary voice for decommissioning now gone, it’s time to push for an alternative that actually respects our heritage and cleans up the lake without erasing our footprints.

01/19/2026

12/06/2025

Just an update about the Hiawatha Links spending. The Park Board was supposed to unveil their proposed schematic and new project cost for the Hiawatha Links plan by year's end.

On Wednesday, December 10th, 2025 the Park Board will be voting on whether to allocate more money to Damon-Farber for further work on the Hiawatha Links project. The authorized payments so far have been:

$250,000.00 Sep. 4, 2024
$704,345.00 Feb. 5, 2025 Amendment 1
$201,114.00 Apr. 16, 2025 Amendment 2

$1,155,459.00 Spending total so far

This Wednesday they will vote to authorize more money to Damon-Farber:

$129,176.50 Dec. 10, 2025 Amendment 3

$1,284,635.50 New spending total, if approved.

This new work is expected to delay the unveiling of the new plan and revised project cost for 4 months.

We believe that this spending should not be slammed through by a lame-duck board at their last meeting, especially since 5 of them will be gone.

If you want to comment, you can send your comments to the Park Board at [email protected] by Tuesday, December 9th, 2025.