Sheridan Memorial Park Honors War Veterans

The Sheridan Memorial Park was conceived by a local neighborhood association in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a way to honor Minnesota Veterans. HR Green and the Sheridan Neighborhood Association collaborated with local artists, and area war veterans to generate a Master Plan for a memorial park to be located adjacent to future mixed-use development. The Master Plan evolved to a broad design which included road construction, park construction, and restoration of the Mississippi Riverbank.

The park design includes a war memorial with a reflecting pool, tree grove, a peace garden, and walking links to a Mississippi River overlook. The prominent feature in the park is a large spherical sculpture of protective shields created by a local artist and is surrounded by gardens and vertical markers describing the ten conflicts in which Minnesotans have served. The perimeter walk features peace quotes engraved in granite.

The project was funded by the local watershed organization and had an immediate focus on water quality management through naturalized riverbank stabilization and rain gardens for the park. The riverbank restoration was for 1000 feet of eroding bank along the Mississippi River. This section of the river is backwater from the St. Anthony Falls lock and dam system, and so the major causes of erosion at the park were boat wakes and ice. One of the major challenges was that the Minneapolis Park Board did not want to lose any of the monument cottonwood trees that were beginning to fall into the river.

The preliminary analysis determined that the cause of erosion was not fluvial, and therefore extensive toe excavation was not required. The upper slope was graded and bioswales were installed to prevent rill erosion. Large block limestone was placed under cottonwoods to buttress the trees, and the exposed roots were repacked with soil and gravel to improve stability and prevent further cantilevering.