Plans To Reopen 38th And Chicago Put On Pause, Update Expected This Week

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey met with community leaders Monday to talk about the future of 38th and Chicago, the intersection where George Floyd was killed in police custody.

The city was set to begin reopening the intersection this week, which it says is "necessary to improve community access, mitigate neighborhood and business impacts and support public safety."

Concrete barriers have been up since May.

Reopening plans are now on pause; the city says there'll be more discussion with the public.

"I don't want city leaders to be making that decision without engaging with the community and understanding what we want to see happen," said Katie Dillon, who lives less than a block from the intersection.

Dillon says she'd like to see the intersection remain closed until at least the one-year anniversary of Floyd's death.

She's also in agreement with a list of two dozen demands community leaders have presented to the city as conditions for removing the barriers.

The demands are about taking tangible steps toward justice.

"We want to make sure we have job opportunities for youth in the neighborhood," Dillon said. "We want to make sure there's opportunities for Black businesses to thrive."

A full list of the community demands for justice can be found here. 

Visitors to the site have expressed feelings that it's a sacred space, and people have traveled from out of state to see the art installations and memorials to Floyd.

"It's very important that people come here to experience this and understand the depth of this," said a woman named Yaya. "It set off a revolution and I think it's important that we keep this and memorialize this."

Yaya led her sisters around the intersection Monday, who came from Chicago to see it for the first time.

The city's earmarked $250,000 for a permanent memorial and other healing efforts.

A move to symbolically rename Chicago Avenue near where Floyd died is also in the works.

The city will give an update Thursday on its plans for the intersection.