MINNEAPOLIS — Contractors and security crews methodically worked to remove razor wire and large sections of security fencing around Minneapolis' former Third Police Precinct building on Monday.
The site has been sitting, seemingly untouched, since it was torched and ransacked by protestors after the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
The sight of movement at the site was so surprising for some, that it elicited claps and photos from passersby.
"If they are taking the fences down, it must mean something is happening," said Marne Detmar, who has spent years walking by the building. "It's coming back and that's such a good thing after the devastation that was what happened."
Detmar, like others in the community, is hopeful the building will be used as a community space in light of that devastation and the years of inaction that followed.
"It's a painful reminder to this community of what everybody went through," she said.
"I feel like it's more a punishment if you think about it," said Zyanna Goode, who also lives in the neighborhood. "You know, they'll fix a pot hole that's inconvenient for early commuters but for our community it's been like four years. What took so long?"
The community around the building has seen many changes in that time.
Janice Downing helped lead the transformation of the nearby Coliseum Building, which nearly burned down during the rioting in 2020. Four years later, the Coliseum re-opened as a space for local businesses, non-profits and community members.
"As we brought our building up, we were like, 'What about you? Do you. Do it,'" Downing said.
Now, she says they are anxious to hear more about what comes next... next door.
"The city has done multiple listening sessions and I'm like, 'How many times to do you have to listen in order to get the message that people want you to make this a community-based event center that people can come and use,'" Downing said.
Though plans for the building do include a community space, many questions remain about what it will look like and whether the city council will support plans to turn some of it into an early voting center, which acts as a central location for city elections staff, training and equipment.
"We are a bit a ways away from exactly what it's all gonna look like," said Chief Operating Officer Margaret Anderson Kelliher. "But we have heard loud and clear by a 3 to 1 ratio. People really like this idea of a democracy center with community space. And that is our goal is to achieve that."
In the meantime, community members hope cleanup will finally move quickly, so healing can follow.
"I do not think that it should be used as a political backdrop. It has nothing to do with national politics," Detmar said. "But I have my thoughts about the city council and some of the city council members and the fact that they have not stepped up when it comes to the police force in general and the police precinct that still stands the way that it is."
"I think it's about being a part of the solution," said Kamal Allah, who also lives nearby. "The talk is cool. Everybody has something to say, but who is going to do something? Who is going to be part of the change, who is going to actually going to stick their neck out and be a part of it."