Proposed park on Adams Avenue: Public favors a mixed use area or full trailhead

City News November 14, 2025

The Albert Lea community favors either a mixed use of business and greenspace or a full trailhead for a proposed park on Adams Avenue, according to input received from surveys and comments on the project.

The City of Albert Lea is applying for a federal grant to clean up a contaminated industrial site at 620 Adams Ave. The city acquired the site through tax forfeiture after the former owner, Merrick’s of Minnesota, went bankrupt and abandoned the site in 2018. The site includes a series of buildings, some of which are structurally unsound and need to be removed.

As part of the grant application, the city sought public input on three options for the site, all of which would include parking for the Songbird Trail along the site. The City of Albert Lea and Freeborn County have received three state grants to start developing the Songbird Trail on a former rail corridor in phases. The trail would eventually run 15 miles from Front Street to Shoff Park, across Minnesota Highway 13, and to Hartland.

The city is proposing three options for the Adams Avenue site:

Mini Park – Remove all the buildings and develop a minimal park with greenspace and parking.
Mixed Use Area – Remove the hazardous buildings and leave the three structurally sound buildings to sell to a private business for reuse. The city would develop the rest of the site into greenspace with parking and perhaps other amenities.
Full Trailhead – Remove buildings and develop a full trailhead with parking, a shelter, restrooms and other amenities. This option could also include leaving the three structurally sound buildings to sell to a private business for reuse.

As part of gathering public input, the city mailed surveys to 160 property owners in the surrounding neighborhood. A total of 35, or 22%, returned the surveys. Neighbors were nearly split between a mixed use area or full trailhead, with 13 favoring the mixed use and 15 a full trailhead. Only six preferred a mini park and one said it would support any of the options.

In support of a full trailhead, one property owner wrote, “This project is exactly what this neighborhood needs.”

Other groups also chimed in, with the Freeborn County Trail Association favoring a mixed use area due to a full trailhead already available at Frank Hall Park, a 5-minute bike ride away.

“Shoff Park, with a shelter and beautiful gardens already in place, would be a much more appealing trailhead to develop,” the association said in its comment letter.

The local Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau both pledged support for cleanup of the contaminated site and park space of any kind.

The proposed options will now go to the Parks and Recreation Board for a recommendation. The city council will make the final decision after the city hears whether it will receive a grant to help with the cleanup.

For immediate release
Nov. 14, 2025
Media contact: Building Official Wayne Sorensen at 507-377-4340 or wsorensen@ci.albertlea.mn.us

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