For the past year, RCP and colleagues from the University’s Minnesota Design Center have been collaborating with staff, residents, and stakeholders in the Chisago County communities of Harris, Lindstrom, and Center City as part of the University’s Empowering Small Minnesota Communities (ESMC) program.
The program is supported by 2023 state legislation that allocated funds to the University to support partnerships with small Minnesota communities, with the goal of helping them identify opportunities to capitalize on their assets through infrastructure projects that support and enhance community vitality, identity, and resilience.
During its first two years, ESMC has undertaken partnerships and projects with more than 50 communities throughout the state that have addressed a broad range of infrastructure needs and opportunities—from housing and transportation to energy and the environment. In Chisago County, Harris, Lindstrom, and Center City all approached ESMC seeking assistance with parks and trails planning and design.
Lindstrom, population 5,000
The focus of the ESMC partnership with Lindstrom has been on the city’s Beach Park, a popular local destination. “Our goal is to increase tourism and get visitors and residents down to the park,” said Lindstrom City Administrator Dan Undum. “We also want to support our small business community by connecting [Beach Park to the business district] through signage and wayfinding,”
Among the proposed improvements to Beach Park that emerged from a survey of residents and a public design charette are walking and biking paths, more accessible parking and restrooms, expansion of the existing beach and swimming area, and the construction of a new pavilion and food truck pads. The proposed redesign also includes wayfinding signage to make the park more easily accessible from other locations in the community, and creation of a boardwalk connection to the planned Swedish Immigrant Regional Trail (SIRT), a 20-mile multi-use trail being developed through the Chisago Lakes Area celebrating Swedish immigrant history.
Center City, population 628
In neighboring Center City, the focus of the ESMC partnership has been on designing a public trailhead for the SIRT along U.S. Highway 8. Although the trailhead will be sited on a small parcel of land just south of the city’s historic downtown, it has the potential to make a big splash in Center City.
“The trailhead can serve a dual purpose by providing access to the Swedish Immigrant Trail, as well as additional greenspace in the community, which has very few parks,” said RCP Director Mike Greco, who serves as the 11-county metro area coordinator for ESMC and is helping to facilitate the partnership. “The proximity of the trailhead to Center City’s downtown also offers easy access to local restaurants and businesses, so it can provide an economic boost to the community by drawing trail users into the downtown district.”
The proposed design for the trailhead also includes stormwater management features such as raingardens and swales that can help to improve water quality in nearby South Center Lake, as well as ideas for a community mural and public art installations.
City of Harris, population 1,139
The City of Harris (population 1139) approached ESMC seeking help upgrading and reimagining several existing parks in the community, and creating a design for a new park. During the year-long partnership, work expanded organically to include consideration of flood mitigation strategies, a citywide trail system that provides access to Goose Creek (a tributary of the St. Croix River), and future residential, commercial, and industrial development opportunities.
Proposed redesigns for the city’s parks include expanding recreational opportunities and park amenities such as lighting, restrooms, and seating at Schoolhouse Park; creating a dog park and raingardens to mitigate flooding issues at Fireman’s Park; and converting several decommissioned wastewater treatment ponds on a city-owned property known as “The Ponds” into a summer entertainment amphitheater and winter ice skating rink with warming house.
City staff expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the ESMC partnership, noting that small towns such as Harris have few resources at their disposal to undertake such community-driven, asset-based design work. “We have just been amazed by the detail and planning by the University,” said Harris City Clerk Shannon Geier, who submitted the city’s proposal to the University and was a key contact for the ESMC team. “Our partners have been very collaborative. They have made us feel part of the team in ways we did not expect.”
As the work of Empowering Small Minnesota Communities in Lindstrom, Center City, and Harris concludes this summer, ESMC staff and city partners will be sharing the fruits of their collaboration at summer community events and festivals—Lindstrom’s Karl Oskar Days on Saturday, July 12; Harris Days on Saturday, July 26; and Center City Days on Sunday, July 27.
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The ESMC program received funding from the Minnesota Legislature during the 2025 session to continue the program through June 2028. This will allow ESMC to support additional partnerships and projects throughout the state of Minnesota. To receive notifications about future calls for proposals, subscribe to ESMC Program Updates.
ESMC is collaboratively led by University of Minnesota partners from the Minnesota Design Center in the College of Design, the Center for Transportation Studies, Extension’s Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and the Center for Regional and Urban Affairs.