Lilac Park, renewed - a Lilac Way park

06/30/2025

Get a Lilac Park poster to support this volunteer project, get a free garden tour! Options: 11x14 ($25) or 16x20 ($30) or a set of four posters for the price of three. Shipped via USPS, but if you pick it up at Restore Lilac Way in St. Louis Park you can avoid shipping costs AND see Karen’s garden oasis.

The posters are preprinted, and there are no plans to print again. Grab your poster now before they’re gone. Ready for easy framing, can be trimmed to 11x11 or 16x16 if you prefer square framing. Please share with other fans of history and Lilac Way.

This Lilac Park poster features the rare beehive fireplace, picnic table and the stunning 100' lilac hedge that blooms each May. Renewed in 2009.

09/06/2024

Crews at the City of St. Louis Park have removed the huge root system of the toppled tree, and the front perennial garden is being re-landscaped. Last spring, I asked the city to please replant Lilac Park's round perennial garden. Judy Voigt, Garden Crew Supervisor/Urban Ecologist for the City of St. Louis Park, and some AmeriCorps members are replanting it this week. So grateful, it is a key feature as you walk into the park, located near the sign I designed 15 years ago. Thank you, City of SLP!

They are always so responsive to my fussy requests about this park. Tonight I sent another email about a big tree in the lilac hedge, another in the pine tree and more storm damaged branches. 🙂

08/27/2024

Saw a Sharks vs Jets Duck Rumble on a gorgeous summer night in Lilac Park. I waited for a duck parade to pass to get a parking spot. Two minutes later, they went back the other way, then hovered around my car. When I looked in the rearview mirror, they were chasing my car. A visiting biker asked me if I knew anything about the park, he got my five minute synopsis and my card. He loves the park and has visited before, grateful for all the efforts by the city and the volunteers.

08/12/2024

FINALLY! Closed in 2019, the Cedar Lake LRT Regional Trail past Lilac Park is open again, with an exit into historic Lilac Park. The rebuilt trail includes a bridge over Beltline Blvd., and tunnels under Wooddale, Louisiana, and Blake. Cyclists can SAFELY cross busy streets without mingling with traffic. Read the story with this gift article.

About 50 cyclists joined a ride to officially reopen the Cedar Lake LRT Regional Trail from Minneapolis to Hopkins.

07/23/2024

Natural Resource Manager Mike Bahe said they are prioritizing the most hazardous situations where the highest density of people are impacted and working out from there. Understandably, they can’t give an exact timeframe on the Lilac Park storm damage clean-up. They do have this tree on the list, and will also address graffiti after downed trees are removed. St. Louis Park was hit quite badly in the July 13th storm. Just be careful if you are visiting.

07/22/2024

I was able to w**d and sweep the beehive today, all those trees and w**ds growing in the foundation were bugging me. The City had 150+ trees down in parks, and has about 30-40 more to remove. Lilac Park is on the list. At least the beehive looks good again

07/22/2024

Even renewed Lilac Park was not safe from last week's storm. Today's visit was heartbreaking. The July 13th storm caused quite a bit of damage. A massive tree is almost completely tipped over, showing an exposed root system. The park is still safe to visit, and I will be getting in touch with the city for a cleanup schedule. And I am really getting tired of people putting graffiti on a rare historic 1939 beehive fireplace. If you know 'Glem', get in touch with me. Seriously. The lilac hedge and beehive fireplace are ok. I am grateful the city will be replanting the round perennial bed near the signage, the 2009 plantings were overgrown or missing. I will start doing some minor cleanup as I can, and w**d around the beehive fireplace. Mother Nature sure was mad last week, I live close to this park and my area lost a lot of trees. I will post updates when I can - Karen Laukkonen, Restore Lilac Way

07/05/2024

Revitalized Lilac Park is only one mile away from protected Rock Island Park, and only 8 miles away from restored Graeser Park! If you love one, you'll love them all. MnDOT completed a $500,000 restoration project in Graeser Park in Robbinsdale in 2023, making it eligible for the National Historic Registry. Don't let summer go by without a visit to the last three Lilac Way parks.

A quick Lilac Way tour is the perfect escape, and it’s free! Stop in at Graeser Park, Rock Island and restored Lilac Park—all on an 8-mile stretch of Hwy. 100. Bring a lunch and see the preservation efforts of dedicated volunteers.

02/27/2024

This 2009 photo shows the newly-planted lilacs in the 100-ft. hedge. Now full grown, they were planted as part of the city of St. Louis Park's major renovation project. They should be blooming mid-May. Can't wait to see them again.

02/16/2024

Before the City of St. Louis Park renewed Lilac Park in 2008-09, it was called the 'St. Louis Park Roadside Parking Area'. When MnDOT inventoried Lilac Way parks in Dec. 1997, it had a 20' dia. council ring, four stone picnic tables, a crumbling 5' by 9' rectangular stone fireplace and a stone refuse container.

Thankfully, the rare beehive fireplace from old Lilac Park near Minnetonka Blvd was moved to this park in 2008, saving it from demolition for road construction. These 2007 photos show the park before its renewal. Now the park is a popular feature in St. Louis Park, with one of only two beehives left today.