The University of Minnesota has big plans for property it owns in Rosemount.

The school purchased the 5,000-acre plot of land in the late 1940's for a mere dollar under the conditions that the public would use it.

While corn covers the land at UMore Park now, the university says there is another rich resource below it.

"On the university property there is several hundred tons of gravel," said Charles Muscoplat.

Four hundred million tons to be exact. Muscoplat says the material comes from glaciers melting here many years ago. The school is looking to mine that gravel to study it, and then it will be used for roadways and other construction projects.

"There is an upcoming severe shortage of gravel in the seven county Metro area," Muscoplat explained.

The university has spent five years mapping out plans to mine at UMore Park, and says it can make $2 to $5 million a year—money it said will be used for scholarships, fellowships and research.

Besides it's mining potential, the University of Minnesota wants to create a community at the park—the end goal being a community with homes and stores with a population similar to St. Louis Park.

Environmental studies are already underway. If approved, the university could be mining here, by 2011. The university-founded community building could start in 2012.