Fast Fact: Funding
The funding for the 9 Hole Plan will not be needed in one lump sum because the redesign of the site will take time to get started and it will happen over the course of many years.
The funding for implementation of the 9 Hole Plan will not come from one source but many, including taxes, regional park dollars, philanthropy and grants, as well as money from renting park equipment.
Money from renting park equipment will be made possible because the 9 Hole Plan plan includes a water access area with boat storage and rentals in the summer and opens up new winter activities that could include rental equipment.
Money can also be earned at this site through concession sales, facility rentals, a new restaurant, a pro shop that sells golf equipment, and golfing. The new LEED certified clubhouse and event space buildings will be energy efficient and use recycled water, thereby decreasing ongoing utility costs.
A Summer Activity Diagram of the 9 Hole Plan for Hiawatha
A Winter Activity Diagram of the 9 Hole Plan for Hiawatha
Text from
The Funding Sources and Strategies Section
of The 9 Hole Plan
“The master plan establishes a long-term vision for improvement for the Hiawatha Golf Course area, which is a complete re-envisioning of the site. The estimated cost of $43 million for plan implementation reflects the cost to the MPRB if no outside funding is available.
However, given its location within a regional park and the opportunities to help address regional water management issues beyond the park boundary, this master plan will likely be implemented with funding from both the MPRB and outside sources.
Significant efforts will be needed in subsequent years to identify new funding sources, grants, donors, and partnerships to supplement existing local, regional, and state funding. MPRB will actively seek grants, collaborative funding agreements, donations, volunteer projects, and multi-agency projects to reduce the total cost to the MPRB.
This will require participation by a number of project partners that could include, but is not limited to, the City of Minneapolis, MCWD, MnDNR, Metropolitan Council, Hennepin County, non-profit entities, and community volunteers (e.g. Friends of Lake Hiawatha).
Nokomis Hiawatha Regional Park’s maintenance and operations outside the golf course are supported by state funding through lottery proceeds and not solely born by local taxpayers.
Similar projects, such as Water Works near the Stone Arch Bridge, or the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden were constructed not with local taxpayer funds only, but by region-wide tax payers, grants, donations (very large to very small), and state bonding paid back over several years.”
Source: Text of the 9 Hole Plan
Money for Restored Wetlands
Because of Capacity to Remove Phosphorus
"The restored wetlands that would be created by the 9 Hole Plan would accomplish 25% of the required reduction of phosphorus for the entire city. The city will still need to make the 75% reductions elsewhere on top of that. It’s really hard, and expensive, for them to do that. Which is why MPRB would receive significant compensation for helping solve the problem (and thus it is a funding source for implementation). "
- Former Park Board Commissioner Chris Meyer
Costs of Delay
The 18 hole advocates are slowing down implementation of the 9 Hole Plan, causing the cost of the project to increase. Each year they stall adds more to implementation costs because inflation increases over time.
Additionally, the risk of another destructive flood increases each year. Once the 9 Hole Plan is implemented we will have better flood mitigation designed into the site. Until then, another flood will be costly to recover from.
The environmental costs to the lake also increase each year the plan is delayed because the plan must be implemented in order to reduce pumping, filter out trash that enters the lake from the storm drain pipes, and filter out pollution in the water using restored wetlands.
Related Information
Is Hiawatha Golf Course making, or losing, money?
More information about current golf course profitability can be found on our Myths Page.
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