Ahead of a public input meeting on Wednesday night, Minneapolis city officials say they’re still on the fast track to open a community safety center on Lake Street this summer.

The plan would put community resources, police and first responders all under one roof, and it follows a fair amount of criticism of officials in the last year for not fully including the south Minneapolis community in public safety decisions that affect them.

Amanda Harrington, who recently joined the Office of Community Safety under Commissioner Todd Barnette as the director of design and implementation, said she’s delved into a multitude of past public feedback and will be taking some lessons learned with her as she and her staff turn to the public once again, this time to design the Lake Street Community Safety Center.

“I’ve learned not to have forced choices,” Harrington said when asked about what would be different about the latest round of engagement with her now at the helm.

“I’ve learned to actually bring the community along with us, and that’s going to be also on me to be transparent as we make decisions and make sure I’m looping back to community regularly.”

Exactly what safety services — beyond police — will fill the space remains dependent on what people who live there have to say, starting with the Wednesday night meeting at the Powderhorn Recreation Center.

Harrington had narrowed it down to themes, though, based on prior engagement.

“Social services was the top of that list,” she began. “But there were other things. There was community space, there was art, there was space for youth.”

Admittedly vague concepts, but anything more concrete would take anyway from the public’s ability to weigh in, she argued.

“People keep wanting me to tell them the plan, and the reason there is no plan is because we haven’t had the community prioritized yet,” she continued.

However, given the fast-approaching opening date, Harrington said her office has started outreach to community organizations and at least one partnership has been solidified.

“I invited LEAD (Let Everyone Advance with Dignity) to be in space with us, and they’ve agreed to be there one day a week,” she said, adding that there’s also a clear interest in including violence interrupters in the space as well.

The facility is intended to be a temporary space until city officials open the future Third Police Precinct site or South Minneapolis Community Safety Center — the city’s most recent branding of the facility.

Depending on how this first summer rollout goes, some elements of the Lake Street Community Safety Center could be incorporated into the South Minneapolis Community Safety Center, which is expected to open sometime in 2025 on Minnehaha Avenue.

“That’s going to depend on what community tells us. I think there could be overlap or it might be very different,” Harrington said, also acknowledging that the budget for the Minnehaha site is much higher than the $500,000 price cap on the Lake Street facility.

At the end of the day, combining a police station with community resources will be a first-of-its-kind trial run for the city.

“And quite honestly, it’s not really something [that’s] been done around the country,” Harrington added.

She said she expects some pushback on the concept “from pretty much everyone.”

“Change is hard,” she continued, adding, “Working in silos hasn’t worked. We’ve tried that — ‘We have a nonprofit over here. We have a police station over there. We have a school over there.’ If that hasn’t worked, instead of continuing to do that, maybe we have to try something different. And maybe it’ll fall flat. I don’t think it will.”

Harrington remained unable to reveal the exact location of the upcoming Lake Street Community Safety Center as negotiations with the building owner continued as of Wednesday.

She said the night’s meeting won’t be the only opportunity to offer feedback, adding that her office will be “doing something a little more nontraditional.”

“We’re just going to walk the streets,” she said. “We’re going to go to places where there’s a lot of foot traffic in South Minneapolis and talk to people who might never show up to a large community event, or even a smaller event hosted by a nonprofit. So, we are really trying hard to hear from a lot of different voices.”