Saint Paul Parks and Recreation is calling on roughly 100 community volunteers to grab hammers and work gloves next week, rebuilding the playground at Newell Park from the ground up. The main construction push lands Thursday, October 22, running from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the park, located at 900 Fairview Ave. N. in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood, with build activities stretching across October 20 through 22.
A Decades-Old Playground Gets Its Turn
The project comes from a partnership announced by Saint Paul Parks and Recreation on Facebook, which invited residents to join the build and teamed up with the Saint Paul Parks Conservancy, KABOOM!, Ecolab, Securian Financial, and the Kindling Impact Foundation to construct a brand-new playground in the neighborhood. The KABOOM! opportunity page provides a registration route for volunteers. The original play equipment at Newell Park dates back to 1995, and the 1990s-era playground was set to make way for new structures, as reported by the Midway Como Frogtown Monitor. The outlet notes the three-decade-old structures had been showing chipping paint and faded surfaces.
Kids Helped Design the New Play Space
Neighborhood children didn't just watch this project take shape from the sidelines — they helped draw it. On August 12, youth and residents took part in a design session hosted by St. Paul Parks & Rec and KABOOM! where residents sketched their dream playspaces, and consistent neighborhood themes led to two options designed by Landscape Structures for a public vote, per the same Monitor report. One option, dubbed Nature Adventure, includes log balance beams and mushroom steppers, while the other, All Aboard!, features train-inspired play elements.
The playground will be contractor-installed and include accessible entries and benches.
Saint Paul has run similar builds before. A playground build took place at Dunning Park in October 2023 with roughly 250 volunteers during an October 11–13 event, according to Saint Paul Parks and Recreation, and another followed at Carty Park in July 2025, Hoodline reported. Hoodline also covered the $2.58M Linwood Rec Center overhaul this past August, part of the same wave of citywide playground investment.
A Century-Old Park Gets a Modern Upgrade
Newell Park itself has deep roots in the neighborhood. Dedicated in 1908 and named for attorney and founding Saint Paul Park Board member Stanford Newell, the 10-acre park is among the city's oldest and features a historic pavilion built in 1929, according to the City of Saint Paul. The park's rolling oak hills and community gathering facilities have made it a neighborhood fixture for more than a century.
The KABOOM! signup page lists a minimum age of 18 for volunteers, with a minimum age of 1 for those accompanied by an adult. Youth activities are available for those unable to work in construction areas. Organizers are supplying all necessary safety equipment, meals, and t-shirts for volunteers who sign up.
How the City Pays for It
Saint Paul's 1% Common Cent local sales tax, enacted in April 2024 after voters approved it in November 2023, dedicates $246 million to parks over two decades, Hoodline has reported. That funding stream helped Saint Paul land fourth nationally on the 2026 ParkScore Index from the Trust for Public Land, a ranking driven by capital investments that addressed more than $60 million in deferred maintenance across city parks by 2026. Hoodline recently detailed how that same funding model powered the new turf field at Baker Park on the city's West Side.
