Midway Peace Park

Nearly a decade in the making, the Midway Peace Park is where community advocacy and action meet. Before the park opening, access to nearby green space had been out of reach for the surrounding community—primarily immigrants and refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia living in the low-income Skyline Tower half a block away.

Young children played in the high-rise’s small playground—consisting of a few slides, swings, and metal benches—but the space lacked amenities for older teens and adults, such as a basketball court, soccer field, or room to exercise.

Parks and open spaces improve physical and mental health while fostering neighborly connection. Mindful of these benefits, the area’s high school students, neighbors, and advocates partnered with Trust for Public Land to bring this unique park to the Midway area of St. Paul.

Students from nearby Gordon Parks High School produced advocacy videos and wrote to local newspapers about the need to create green space in the area. Skyline Tower residents wrote more than 400 postcards to persuade the mayor that underused lots could serve as a space for residents to connect with nature.

Trust for Public Land collaborated with residents, neighbors, community advocates, and the City of St. Paul during the planning process to ensure that the end product would represent what community members wanted.

Today, the vibrant Midway Peace Park serves more than 3,500 residents living within a half mile. It includes walking paths, a multilevel playground, full-court basketball, and an open field for soccer, along with gathering areas with benches and tables, an outdoor amphitheater, and mosaics by a local artist. A signature stormwater feature even helps mitigate climate impacts.

By combining community advocacy and action, we reimagined a space that increases community health and achieves green-space equity for all.