Scott County Cultural Commission

Partners: Scott County Historical Society, Three Rivers Park District, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Scott County, City of Shakopee

This grant will create a visitor experience plan for a public walking trail along the Minnesota River in downtown Shakopee from Huber Park to The Landing. Funding will provide an experiential road map into the look and feel of the riverfront corridor. It will encompass the entire visit, from wayfinding to thematic messages, clearly outlining visitors' vision and the key takeaways for the whole experience. The secondary goal is to create a lasting partnership between five organizations to expand the narratives to other parks across the county, interpretation within our organizations, and collaborative programming partnerships.

The trail stretches across downtown Shakopee from Huber Park through Memorial Park, both currently characterized by typical park amenities and still-visible, extant, and artifact-positive burial mounds that date back thousands of years. As around Minnesota, post-contact development and infrastructure have decimated these culturally significant burial sites. The entire area is also the site of Chief Sakpe's village, Tinta Otunwe, of historical significance for Dakota peoples. The trail ends at The Landing, a historic interpretive site that tells the area's post-European story using a living timeline with historic structures preserved from the Shakopee area. The Landing is opening their property to the public, connecting the riverfront trail to the State Trail on the east.