MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Working Group Begins Planning Melissa and Mark Hortman Memorial State Park at Minnesota Capitol

Bipartisan panel must determine how the Capitol campus could function as a public state park, who would operate it and how improvements and programming would be funded

ST. PAUL, MN (August 14, 2026) A state working group has begun developing recommendations for transforming Minnesota’s Capitol campus into a memorial state park honoring late House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.

The Melissa and Mark Hortman Memorial State Park Working Group held its first meeting Tuesday, August 11, at the Minnesota State Capitol. The meeting moved the concept beyond the legislative proposal MinneapoliMedia reported earlier this year and into a formal planning process involving lawmakers, state agencies, historical officials and the City of Saint Paul.

The working group does not have authority to create the park on its own. Its assignment is to study the concept, resolve administrative and financial questions and submit recommendations to the Legislature by February 1, 2027.

Any actual establishment of the park, major physical changes or continuing appropriations would require additional government action.

A Vision for a More Accessible Capitol

House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson, who succeeded Hortman as caucus leader, said the concept grew from Hortman’s belief that the Capitol campus should be more accessible and inviting to the public.

The Minnesota Capitol grounds already contain lawns, monuments, memorials, walking paths and public gathering spaces. The memorial park proposal would consider bringing those areas together under a more coherent public-park identity, with educational programming, historical interpretation and clearer responsibility for maintaining and activating the campus.

Hortman envisioned the Capitol as more than a workplace for lawmakers and state employees, according to Stephenson. She believed it should function as a civic space where Minnesotans could gather, learn about their government and feel a sense of ownership over the democratic institutions operating there.

The state-park designation would be unusual because the Capitol campus is not a traditional natural-resource property. It contains government offices, historic buildings, security infrastructure, monuments, streets and ceremonial spaces.

That complexity is one of the principal reasons lawmakers created a working group rather than immediately designating and opening a new park.

What the Working Group Must Decide

The group must recommend how responsibilities would be divided among several public bodies already involved in the Capitol area.

Those institutions include:

• Minnesota Department of Administration
• Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
• Minnesota Historical Society
• Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board
• Minnesota Legislature
• City of Saint Paul

The Department of Administration oversees much of the Capitol complex and its government facilities. The Department of Natural Resources operates Minnesota’s state parks. The Minnesota Historical Society provides historical interpretation and manages the Capitol’s public tours. The Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board oversees design and development within the Capitol area.

Creating a memorial state park would require those overlapping responsibilities to be clearly defined.

The working group must determine which entity would oversee day-to-day administration, physical planning, public engagement, educational programming and historical interpretation.

It must also consider how the park would coexist with legislative sessions, demonstrations, public ceremonies, security operations and the daily work of state government.

Funding Remains a Central Question

Lawmakers appropriated $86,000 from the state’s General Fund to cover the working group’s administrative expenses during fiscal year 2027.

That appropriation supports the planning process. It is not construction or permanent operating money for the proposed park.

The working group must develop separate recommendations for establishing, improving and maintaining the park and for supporting related educational and interpretive programs.

Potential costs could include landscaping, accessibility improvements, signs, historical exhibits, gathering spaces, security coordination, maintenance and staffing. No final construction plan or total project cost has been approved.

Members must also examine whether park responsibilities can be incorporated into existing agency budgets or whether the Legislature would need to create a dedicated source of continuing funding.

A Bipartisan and Multi-Agency Panel

The working group brings together executive officials, legislators and representatives of agencies connected with the Capitol campus.

Members include Administration Commissioner Jessi Held, Natural Resources Commissioner Bob Meier, Minnesota Historical Society representative Kent Whitworth and Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board representative Erik Dahl.

Saint Paul Mayor Kaohly Her is also a member, reflecting the Capitol campus’s location within the city and the potential effects of the proposal on surrounding neighborhoods, transportation and public spaces.

Legislative members include senators and representatives from both political parties with responsibility for state government and environmental policy.

The group must elect a chair from among its legislative members and meet as often as necessary to complete its work.

Remembering Melissa and Mark Hortman

Melissa Hortman represented communities in the Brooklyn Park area for two decades and served as speaker of the Minnesota House from 2019 through 2024. She remained a leading figure in the House after her speakership and became DFL caucus leader in 2025.

Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed at their Brooklyn Park home on June 14, 2025, in a targeted act of political violence. State Sen. John Hoffman of Champlin and his wife, Yvette, were seriously wounded in a related attack earlier that morning.

Hortman later became the first woman to lie in state at the Minnesota Capitol.

The proposed park would carry the names of both Melissa and Mark Hortman. Referring to it only as the Melissa Hortman Memorial State Park would omit part of its official name and the Legislature’s intended commemoration.

From Proposal to Planning

MinneapoliMedia reported in April that lawmakers were advancing several memorial proposals honoring Hortman, including the Capitol-area state park concept, a memorial garden and statue and the designation of a portion of Highway 610.

The significant development now is that the park proposal survived the legislative process and the legally established working group has begun meeting.

Minnesota Laws 2026, Chapter 119, directs the panel to recommend how the park could be created within the Capitol Area defined by state law. Its report must address administration, programming, physical planning, public engagement and funding.

The final report may include draft legislation for lawmakers to consider during the 2027 session.

The working group is scheduled to expire March 15, 2027, or after submitting its report, whichever occurs later.

What Happens Next

Between now and February, members are expected to examine the Capitol campus’s existing governance, review possible park boundaries and consult agencies responsible for the property.

The process may also consider public access, disability accommodations, historical interpretation, security, maintenance and connections between the Capitol grounds and surrounding Saint Paul neighborhoods.

No final design has been selected, and the working group’s creation does not guarantee that the Legislature will ultimately establish or fund the park.

Its recommendations will give lawmakers a framework for deciding whether the concept is practical and how it could be implemented without disrupting the Capitol’s fundamental role as the center of Minnesota state government.

For supporters, the proposal offers a memorial aligned with Hortman’s approach to public service: not simply a monument to be viewed from a distance, but a public place intended to be used by Minnesotans.

The coming months will determine whether that vision can be translated into a workable plan.

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