4 years later, lack of notable revitalization at George Floyd Square

(KSTP) – Every year in the place where George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police on May 25, 2020, volunteers re-paint his name among a list of people of color who also died at the hands of police across the U.S.

The artwork lining the street on Chicago Avenue at E 38th Street in south Minneapolis is known as “Mourning Passage,” and the annual act of remembrance marked the passage of the fourth year since Floyd died after former officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck and upper back for more than nine minutes.

Saturday also marked another year that surrounding residents and businesses remarked about a lack of notable revitalization after years of talks about it.

“It’s disappointing because this was always an underserved community as it was,” said the director of communications for nearby business Agape Movement Bridgette Stewart.

“And so, this community is still being overlooked and underserved.”

Stewart and Agape Movement colleague Derek Armstrong were among several residents selected to provide input on city plans to, in part, redevelop the street and create a permanent memorial at the intersection in 2021.

Now in 2024, the city is again gathering community input, citing a lack of unity over a vision the first time around, which has left George Floyd Square largely at a standstill since.

“We didn’t think keeping everything in place was going to mean, four or five years from now, we still have businesses that do not have easy access parking,” Stewart said, pointing out white concrete barricades that still sit where parking spots would be on Chicago Avenue.

“Every coffee shop owner that has come here and tried to open for the community to have a coffee shop, they’ve not been successful, because people cannot park and grab a cup of coffee or a cup of tea. It’s just not right, that should be gone.” Stewart said.

In 2023, the city bought the former Speedway gas station at the intersection that’s come to be known as Peoples Way with the intention of creating a public space for racial justice and healing.

Nearly a year later, the building remains closed. Stewart called the building “a nuisance.”

“We are, every day, having to say to homeless people, ‘Hey, you can’t — we can’t have a homeless encampment here. We can’t keep picking up needles,’” she continued.

“It’s not fair to us. We have suffered enough in this community.”

A few miles away, there has been some business and residential regrowth along the Lake Street corridor that was hit hard during the civil unrest in the days following Floyd’s death, including the restoration of the historic Coliseum building at Lake Street and 27th Avenue.

The building is expected to open in tandem with Juneteenth next month, according to developer Redesign Inc.’s website.

“We want Lake Street to have been reopened and businesses running because those are economic resources that come back into our community. But, why right here — where George Floyd died — why is it not?” Stewart commented.

As of its latest timeline released in October, the City of Minneapolis said permanent development on George Floyd Square won’t begin until 2025.

Click here for KSTP’s full George Floyd coverage.