To Our Community and Depot Coffee House Patrons,
After nearly 25 years, the partners (City of Hopkins, the City of Minnetonka and the Hopkins School District), have made the difficult decision to suspend operations at the Depot Coffee House effective April 2, 2023.
At its heart, the Depot’s primary mission has always been to provide a safe, chemical-free environment for students and youth in the community. It has been a space for youth focused programming and leadership development. The City and our partners have committed to continue funding the Depot Youth Board activities while we spend the coming months working together to find the best way to maintain youth programming and leadership development and opportunities to continue serving the Depot’s mission.
Recently, the Depot Facility and Program Manager submitted their resignation in February, and it was determined that the Depot does not have sufficient revenue to support re-hiring the Depot Program Coordinator. The Depot Coffee House has operated at a deficit for number of years, largely due to outside factors including 169 and light rail construction closures of the adjacent regional trails due to the light rail project, the COVID-19 pandemic and limited funding.
The Depot is also a trailhead for Three Rivers Park District regional trails, and Three Rivers will continue to offer parking, restrooms, drinking water and a bike repair station. For questions related to trailhead operations at the Depot, please contact Three Rivers Park District at 763-559-9000 or https://www.threeriversparks.org/page/contact-us
If you have questions or comments about the closure of the Depot Coffee House, or ideas for the future of youth programming and leadership, we invite you to submit them through this online form: https://www.hopkinsmn.com/FormCenter/The-DepotFreight-Room-25/Depot-Feedback-Form-234.
Thank you for your patronage over the years. We look forward to continuing to support youth programming and youth leadership development in Hopkins and will continue to provide timely updates to our community.
Sincerely,
The City of Hopkins
The City of Minnetonka
Hopkins Public Schools
Three Rivers Park District