Saint Paul Parks and Recreation is throwing open the gates on a brand-new downtown green space, with the grand opening of Wabasha Park set for next Tuesday, October 13, from noon to 1 p.m. at 376 Wabasha St. N. The event will include speakers, a ribbon cutting and a food truck on site, marking the public debut of a plaza that has been under construction for nearly a year.
The city announced the celebration in a post by Saint Paul Parks and Recreation, inviting residents to check out the finished site. The $4.1 million project was funded through Saint Paul’s voter-approved 1% local option sales tax, known as Common Cent, which was enacted in May 2024, according to the St. Paul Voice. The tax was designed to generate nearly $1 billion over 20 years for city infrastructure, with $246 million earmarked specifically for parks and recreation projects.
That parks funding was badly needed. When the sales tax was enacted in 2024, the Parks and Recreation Department was staring down $100 million in deferred maintenance across its $600 million asset portfolio, including $60 million in facilities considered to be in critical condition, the St. Paul Voice reports. Wabasha Park’s overhaul was one answer to that backlog, turning a deteriorating downtown plaza into a modern, accessible gathering space.
From Corporate Plaza to Public Park
The site itself has a long history under different names. The City of Saint Paul has owned the land since 1979, and over nearly five decades it was known successively as Capital Centre Plaza, Ecolab Plaza and Osborn Plaza. Ownership and tenants of the surrounding tower changed over time, according to the City of Saint Paul. Deterioration of the existing plaza and changes in surrounding land use eventually pushed the city to overhaul the space entirely…