Parks, Trails & Recreation Master Plan

MEMORIAL PARK + THE LANDING CONT.

understand how close one is to the Minnesota River while traveling over the concrete highway at 60 miles per hour between manicured highway streetscapes and large warehouses. Remnants of the oak savanna are still standing, fragmented by development and highway, almost alien looking where they frame the barren highway. Approaching The Landing, a tall wooden fence and dense road-side overgrowth shield the historic site from passerbys, only somewhat apparent if you know what you are looking for. With the main entrance marking the eastern end of The Landing, the entire property runs between 3/4 and 1 mile in length along 101 and faces just over a mile of riverfront along the Minnesota River. It abuts Memorial Park at the Shenandoah Drive intersection, with secondary access into the park from that end. Within The Landing, the area’s post-european story is told as a living timeline. Beginning at the eastern end of the site with early trading and contact-era themed landscapes, visitors make their way by foot down the central gravel road to experience the settlement develop into a bustling 19th century town complete with some of the actual preserved historic structures from the Shakopee area. Many visitors enjoy The Landing via self-guided tours, and others choose to partake in interacting with period character actors. The Landing also hosts events at special times of the year, such as Easter and the Fourth of July. Three Rivers Parks District owns and operates The Landing, and is currently exploring ideas of how to attract more visitors and generate more revenue to support their efforts at the park. Memorial Park is characterized by still visible extant burial mounds that date back thousands of years, their soft forms undulating beneath the gnarled limbs of old-growth Oak trees that sprinkle their way through the greater extents of the park. The Oak trees are a powerful reminder of the greater Oak Savanna that once blanketed this region on the edge of the Big Woods forest. Walking beneath the canopy of these trees in Memorial Park is a unique and beautiful experience. Burial mounds just like these once covered a greater portion of the land here, safely at the crest of the Minnesota River Valley where

there was no risk of flooding and the ancestors resting here could overlook the mighty river waters. Over time, post-contact development, park development, and infrastructure development have decimated these culturally significant burial sites, reducing the hundreds of original mounds to just the few that remain in-tact today. Archaeological studies within and surrounding Memorial Park and The Landing have produced artifact- positive digs, ground-penetrating radar has identified a high potential for remains in many areas, Lidar has helped in identifying existing and potential mound formations, and historical stories and surveys document these formations over time. As previously stated in this document, it is generally assumed that the entire riverfront area, including the entirety of The Landing and Memorial Park, is rich in physical cultural resources anywhere below the land’s surface. Dedicated as a City park in 1954, there are a handful of typical park amenities throughout Memorial Park, as identified on the existing conditions map. Many of these facilities are no longer reasonably functional and need to be replaced or removed (such as the playground, one of the open-air shelters, and the volleyball court). The Chamber of Commerce building is outdated but still functional, and the bathroom building is in dire need of updates and upgrades, including becoming ADA compliant. The open-air park shelter on the west side of the park is in good condition and is well used by the community. This area of the park has open scenic views over the back channel (sometimes known as Mill Pond) of the Minnesota River, and provides quality habitat for ducks and Trumpeter Swans who gather here in the hundreds. The backwaters are fed by a combination of river water and fresh spring water from Faribault Springs (Wakanhdi Topa Wiwi), which still openly flows over a spillway. The spillway is an engineered articulated concrete block blanket with little aesthetic appeal considering the calm and scenic setting, at this powerfully metaphoric place where fresh spring water swirls into sediment and nutrient-rich river water. Interpretive panels exploring the history of Shakopee are newer additions to the path system as park users are led through the highway underpass,

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Park + Trail Planning

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SHAKOPEE PARKS, TRAILS, AND RECREATION MASTER PLAN | PARK + TRAIL PLANNING