Construction has started on the rebuild of Hopkins Park in St. Cloud. The city broke ground at the park on the morning of Thursday, Oct. 29, beginning a project that will give the Hopkins neighborhood a new community center and a set of new places to play.

The park has been a gathering place for the Hopkins community for decades, and the city describes the renovation as a long-standing priority for the residents who live around it. The city council awarded the construction contract to Mulligan Constructors, Inc. at its Aug. 20 meeting.

What is being built

According to the city, the finished park will include:

  • A new community center building
  • A basketball court
  • A baseball field
  • Multi-use fields
  • A community garden
  • A new playground
  • A new parking area
  • Improvements to 17th Street beside the park

The city says the new facilities are meant to serve the surrounding neighborhood and the rest of St. Cloud as well, with room for recreation, sports, gatherings and community programs. It has posted renderings of the community center, the ballfield, the playground and the garden on its project page. Those images were generated from the conceptual drawings, so the finished buildings may differ.

What it costs and who pays

Construction is expected to cost $10.3 million, with additional money set aside for the community center's furniture and equipment. The city is paying for it with a bond that will be repaid from parks impact fees, which developers pay when they build new homes and businesses in St. Cloud. The city says property tax dollars are not funding the construction.

That arrangement ties the park to the growth around it: the new homes going up across St. Cloud, on the south shore of East Lake Tohopekaliga in Osceola County, Florida, are what generate the fees paying for it.

What comes next

The city has not posted a completion date. Updates, renderings and project details are on the Hopkins Park Renovation page of the city's website, and residents can sign up there for the city's event and parks notifications. Questions about the project can go to St. Cloud City Hall, 1300 Ninth Street.

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