Six years since a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd, city staff are moving ahead on development at George Floyd Square.

Last week, a team of city staff recommended Minnesota Agape Movement as a developer for the Peoples’ Way, a defunct Speedway gas station at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue which has long served as a gathering area for the George Floyd Square’s visitors and caretakers. The city bought the site in 2023, and has been searching for a group to co-develop it.

Agape was chosen from among several community groups that applied. The community organization started after Floyd’s murder, and is headquartered at George Floyd Square. The group, which includes several ex-gang members, conducts safety patrols and works with youth to divert them from violence and gangs.

The announcement sparked some backlash. City council member Jason Chavez pointed to a community survey that the city conducted last year, which asked residents their opinions on four groups that applied.

That survey found the most support for a different group — Rise and Remember, which preserves art, coordinates community outreach and plans events in the square. It’s led by the square’s longtime lead caretaker Jeanelle Austin and two family members of George Floyd, Paris Stevens and Angela Harrelson. It proposed a memorial garden for the site.

“I just have a lot of questions about fairness, transparency, accountability, what actually led to this decision if it wasn’t the community, because the community was very clear on their choice,” Chavez said.

City staff on the project said they took the survey results seriously, but also considered other factors in their decision.

Miles Mercer is the manager of business development in the city’s department of Community Planning and Economic Development. He said Agape stood out for its experience and community connections.

“There were these other factors like the relevant experience of the team that we had to weigh as well, so it was a mix of all those factors that had Agape rise to the top,” Mercer said.

The community survey found support for Agape’s idea, too — a six-story building featuring a museum, space for a small business, a restaurant and a gift shop. But the survey noted that reactions to Agape’s proposal were more polarized, with more people saying they strongly disagreed with the ideas.

A coalition of businesses at the intersection said in a statement that they welcomed the recommendation of Agape as the Peoples’ Way development partner.

Mercer said several community members expressed an interest in seeing Agape and the other groups collaborate on the development. He said Agape leaders have indicated they would be interested in that, too; if they get the development contract, Agape would lead the way on any collaborations.

Reginald Ferguson, CEO of Minnesota Agape Movement, said the group is looking forward to working on the development.

“We see this opportunity as both an honor and a responsibility to ensure the future of the space reflects healing, remembrance, justice, culture, economic opportunity, and continued investment in the people who carried this space through its most painful and powerful moments,” Ferguson said in a statement.

Agape has been caught up in controversy around the square before. The group contracted with the city in 2021 to remove barricades from the streets and reopen the square to traffic, against the wishes of activists.

The city council will need to approve the Peoples’ Way development contract before Agape can officially start its work. The recommendation to partner with Agape is slated to go before a council committee on June 2.

If it gets the contract, Agape will work with city staff for two to three years to finalize a design — which, Mercer said, may be different from the six-story building initially proposed.

“It will involve community engagement work, costing work, and feasibility work to really figure out what could they build there, and what funding can they raise, both philanthropic and maybe some public funding to realize a project,” Mercer said.

The Peoples’ Way development is one part of broader changes in the square. Street construction is slated to start on June 8, after years of debate over the best layout for the intersection — and whether to proceed with any construction at all. The construction project will take two years.

Businesses and residents in the square are getting ready to adjust to that work.

Austin, the director of Rise and Remember, said the group is busy ensuring all the art in the square is preserved.

“Right now our work is to make sure that all the items in our current inventory are actually inventoried, we consolidate space, and then make sure that there’s room for us then to make the move to take on new offerings,” Austin said. “I think a lot of this is extremely complicated because of the mixed feelings and mixed emotions from neighbors around the construction.”

Austin said most of the art will not be impacted by construction this year, based on the city’s plan to reconstruct the streets block-by-block over two years.

Businesses are also preparing for parking and foot traffic disruptions.

Victoria Lauing is the executive director at the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center. She said the art studio is preparing to communicate those changes to their visitors and delivery drivers.

“For the most part, we are continuing to do our work here,” Lauing said. “It’s a busy place, we’ve got a lot of people that rely on this space, so we keep focused on delivering our services to the people who use them here.”

Some residents and business owners have also started receiving notices from the city about special property tax assessments — a fee charged to property owners adjoining city construction projects. It’s determined based on square footage, with higher rates for commercial properties than residential ones. It could run up to tens of thousands of dollars for some businesses.

“I think it feels like a bitter pill to swallow at this point,” Lauing said. “Folks have been through a lot here. The businesses have struggled to stay operating, and then going through construction is always hard.”

But before construction starts, the square will likely draw crowds of visitors this weekend, with several events commemorating Floyd planned as Monday marks six years since his murder.

The organization Win Back is hosting its annual day of remembrance on Friday, featuring a brunch followed by panel discussions at George Floyd Square.

Rise and Remember is hosting several events throughout the weekend, including a Night of Honor on Saturday at the Metropolitan Ballroom, and a series of talks from racial justice leaders in the square on Sunday.

Monday is the group’s annual Rise and Remember festival at George Floyd Square. Austin said between 80 and 100 vendors will be on site, with food, music and activities.

Austin said the day is a chance to grieve Floyd — but also to celebrate.

“Grief is simply processing loss. It doesn’t always mean being sad, and I think that sometimes our ideas of grief mean that it has to be solemn or tearful or quiet, but that’s just not true,” Austin said. “It’s necessary to be able to celebrate the way that the people responded as George Floyd was being taken from us, and the fight and the resistance.”

The sixth annual festival will end with a candlelight vigil on Monday night.

Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.