Historic Clark Field Transformed into St. Cloud’s 100th City Park

(KNSI) – A historic high school athletic complex that was once facing the wrecking ball is now St. Cloud’s 100th city park.

Clark Field was renamed Clark Park on Wednesday during a dedication ceremony. A granite marker explaining the lot’s history was erected on the northwest corner of the property. St. Cloud plans to bury a time capsule near the monument before the ground freezes.

Tech High School used the field for football, soccer, tennis and track and field. Clark Field was shuttered in 2015, and after the new Tech High School was built off 33rd Street South, the school district no longer needed the land.

St. Cloud swooped in to buy the old Tech building and converted it to city hall. Mayor Dave Kleis spoke to KNSI News after the ceremony and stated the greenspace was about to get demolished until the city stepped in. “The city bought this from the school district for $1. They were going to put an administrative building here, and we discouraged that a number of years ago. In 2021, we purchased it for the dollar, and we’re not going to just leave it here with a fence around it. We’ve got to use this as a park. So from Clark Field to Clark Park.”

Shortly after the district walked away from the field, residents in the Lake George neighborhood started a campaign to save it. Friends of Clark Field organizer Ruth Kaczor is happy to see their hard work pay off. “They had actually equipment in here to redevelop Clark Field. So we had stopped the bulldozers, if you will. And had a lot of opportunity to work with the school district, to work with the city, to work with the community, and I’m just really happy it’s here.”

The next step is to figure out how to use the space best. The city will spend much of the year and early 2025 planning the new parks’ future. The public space won’t be available for use until the issues that caused the facility to close are dealt with. St. Cloud Park Director Scott Zlotnik explains. “This was built anywhere between the 30s and upgrades throughout the 50s. When it comes to steps and handrails and how we access things, and what fall heights are, we know that we have a lot of occupational issues and safety issues here. So those all need to be rectified before this can 100% be back open to the public.”

The field was built on what used to be the McConnell pig farm. The granite wall surrounding the park is a Works Progress Administration project commissioned by the New Deal during the Great Depression. Clark Field was named after Tech High School’s first principal, Elizabeth Clark. She was in charge of the student body between 1917 and 1947. Before that, she was the principal at Union High School from 1911 to 1917. That school was located where the new Bremer building sits on 2nd Street South. Clark passed away in 1966 at the age of 85.

With the addition of the 100th park, St. Cloud now controls over 1,600 acres of public land.

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