Minneapolis 3rd Precinct still years away as plans take shape

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minneapolis 3rd Precinct police building burned in 2020, and it’s become a political talking point in 2024. But it still won’t have a new purpose for quite some time as the city’s politicians are fighting over its future.

Four years past, four to wait

It’s been more than four years since arsonists burned this building in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder.

There’s actually been a lot of cleanup work inside, but it won’t have a new purpose for at least four more years, and clashes between the mayor and city council could push it out even further.

Cleanup underway but invisible

Cleanup at the former home of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct may be underway, but it’s invisible from the outside.

"Extremely frustrated with the concrete barrier still being around the property along with the razor wire that is attached to those barriers," said Councilmember Robin Wonsley.

Mayor Jacob Frey’s administration says contractors have worked on safety issues inside and smoke removal will get underway soon.

From there, they can get started on exterior work.

Community/Voting center proposed

But that’s just the first step towards the combination community center and voting center the mayor proposed six months ago.

His staff members say a survey shows the community supports the idea and putting a voting center there just makes sense.

"This is amazing," said the city's chief operating officer, Margaret Anderson Kelliher. "It's practically on the light rail line. It's on Lake Street. It's such a great location."

In the best-case scenario, they don’t expect to finish the center before 2028.

And a lot of the council members who will decide whether to pay for it don’t like the idea.

Some of them argue the space represents racism and sexism and that any new building should address that.

Agreement between council, mayor

But they do seem to agree with the mayor’s sentiment that replacing the burned building is taking too long.

"It shouldn't take any longer," said the mayor. "We need to be working on this right now. Look, the rest of our city — contrary to what J.D. Vance is saying — is succeeding. We need to make sure that that old Third Precinct building succeeds along with it."

Ultimately, nothing was really decided on Tuesday.

The council voted to support the reconstruction of the building as a community and voting center, but they're opposed to building a new warehouse structure at the site.

The mayor's office proposed one, but they said Tuesday it would be more of a logistics center with functions other than just storage for voting equipment.

So there's at least a hint already of potential differences when the mayor asks council to approve future plans.