Bloomington Parks and Recreation picked up four 2025 Awards of Excellence from the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association, the city said at a recent council meeting. Bloomington's haul touched everything from behind-the-scenes planning to a scrambled senior center relocation to a heavily attended cultural fair.
The Minnesota Recreation and Park Association presented Bloomington with four 2025 Awards of Excellence: for its data-driven park maintenance and operations plan, the Logan Lodge interim senior activity center (created after the Creekside Community Center closure), the new Bloomington Indigenous Art Fair, and the Dred Scott Field volunteer improvement project done in partnership with the Bloomington Fastpitch Association and Toro Company.
One award went to the department's data-driven park maintenance and operations plan, which MRPA recognized in its administrative and management strategies category. Another honored Logan Lodge, the interim senior activity space the city stood up after Creekside Community Center closed in early June 2025 to make way for the future Community Health and Wellness Center. Logan Lodge, at 9930 Logan Ave. S., opened June 16 and now hosts the card groups, needleworking and craft programs, and musical groups like the Bloomingtones and Crickets that used to meet at Creekside. The programs are expected to stay there until the new health and wellness center opens in 2027.
A third award, in MRPA's programming and events category, went to the Bloomington Indigenous Art Fair — the city's Indigenous Arts & Crafts Fair, held at Bloomington Civic Plaza on May 18 as a joint effort between Bloomington Public Schools' American Indian Education Program and the parks department. More than 1,700 people turned out for the event, which featured more than 30 Indigenous artists and vendors alongside Native flute performances and hoop dancing.
Bloomington's council recognized the department for the honors, which the city said reflect a year of adapting on the fly — building a new senior-programming hub on short notice while still running the marquee community events residents expect.