Re-imagining Mpls Third Precinct building as Democracy Center

Competing visions vie for space

One of the nation’s largest Black-owned architectural firms unveiled early plans to transform the former Minneapolis Third Police Precinct building into a Minneapolis Democracy Center on August 25, alongside proposals from two local groups competing to operate a new community space within the building.

Long before George Floyd’s murder in 2020, the Third Precinct building at 2600 Minnehaha Avenue stood as a symbol of racism and police oppression. Derek Chauvin, the former officer convicted of killing Floyd, worked there. Hours after Floyd’s death, protesters stormed the site, ultimately setting the building ablaze.

In April this year, the city awarded LSE Architects, Inc. an $800,000 contract to design the new center, which is envisioned as both a polling place and a civic hub. Meanwhile, Change Inc., a nonprofit serving underserved youth and families, and Mama Sheila’s House of Soul, a beloved Southside restaurant, are vying for the community space inside.

“This is like no other project we’ve done,” said Mohammed Lawal, CEO and principal architect at LSE. “We understand the magnitude and weight of what happened here, and we’re working closely with the city to honor that.”

LSE’s past projects include the 28,000-square-foot Pangea World Theatre Center for Peace and Justice, designed to meet Minnesota’s sustainability standards and certified under the Living Building Challenge. Similar sustainability principles, LSE says, will guide the Minneapolis Democracy Center’s design.

At an open house last week at the Historic Coliseum Building on Lake Street, roughly 80 residents voiced concerns ranging from environmental sustainability to election security. “We’re just starting the schematic design phase,” said Jennifer Anderson-Tuttle, LSE’s principal director of education and public sector. “We don’t have full designs yet, but we do have early site diagrams.”

Among the early ideas: daylighting through windows to make the building more open and inviting, wider sidewalks and plazas to encourage gathering, and landscaping to soften the experience for pedestrians. Anderson-Tuttle also highlighted plans to redesign the alley behind the Hook and Ladder development, turning it from a utilitarian drive-through into a green, activated space.

Security, however, remains top of mind for many. In the wake of national unrest over election misinformation, residents raised fears of vandalism or intimidation at polling sites. Lawal said those concerns are guiding the design through the city’s Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design framework. “That means avoiding blind corners, ensuring visibility, and making sure all four sides of the building are open and accessible,” he said.

Two organizations are also pitching visions for the Democracy Center’s community space. One, Change Inc., proposes a youth-focused hub for job training, mental health services, and education. Executive Director Jill Johnson said the plan centers on a commercial kitchen that would both launch a culinary career pathway and support a catering-based social enterprise. “We want to build a culinary pathway and make the space available evenings and weekends for community use,” added Senior Advisor Jody Nelson.

Mama Sheila’s House of Soul has a very different vision: relocating its popular Southside restaurant to the site and expanding it into a combined cultural museum, community center, and event venue. “We want to take the sad, ugly embers of this experience and turn it into something we can be proud of,” said co-owner Frederick Braithwaite. “There is no place in the community that combines dining with Black history the way we propose to do it.”

While the restaurant would operate as a business, the museum would be a nonprofit venture, a funding challenge Braithwaite acknowledged. “There is no model we can copy. We are building something unique,” he said.

“For two years, we’ve talked about a Black Cultural Center here,” added Wesley Smith, a longtime associate of Braithwaite. “Everywhere you look, there’s a Vietnamese Cultural Center, a Hmong Cultural Center. Everyone has one. But we don’t.”

The final design plans from LSE will be submitted to the city council this fall. In the meantime, residents can vote in a community survey to decide between Change Inc. and Mama Sheila’s for the space. The survey runs through September 12.

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