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Where will the New Hope boulder go?

A boulder that weighs at least 100,000 lbs is getting in the way of a construction project in New Hope. City officials say they want to get rid of it.

NEW HOPE, Minn. — Sometimes we here at KARE 11 see a newspaper headline we just can't ignore. On Tuesday, the headline from Sun Post, a regional newspaper that covers Crystal, Robbinsdale, New Hope and Golden Valley caught our attention.

Big rock creates big headache for New Hope the headline read. We were hooked. The article talked about how a big 10 ft by 10 ft boulder was hindering construction in New Hope. We had to go check it out.

New Hope city officials declined to comment on camera, but the city's Parks and Recreation Direction Susan Rader said the boulder is in the middle of a construction site for the city's new aquatic facility. 

Rader explained that although the boulder isn't really delaying the project, it is something that needs to get out of the way eventually.

That big "headache" of a rock was hidden on Tuesday. Construction workers on site explained that they had sort of rolled it into a corner and covered it up with dirt so they could work around it until they figure out where it can go.

The granite rock is estimated to be at least 100,000 pounds, making its removal even harder.

However, on Tuesday, we ran into someone who had completely different feelings about this rock.

"I think it would be neat beside the city hall in Plymouth," Plymouth City Council member Jim Prom said. "Plymouth is the rock of Hennepin County. That's just me."

Prom said he too had read the Sun Post article and decided he wanted to see the rock for himself. He said he was hoping to photograph the elusive rock, which has not been seen in its full glory since the fall of 2019.

"It's covered up," Prom said, sounding a bit disappointed. "I kinda pictured we'd scrape it up, put the logo on there. It would be tough to move--once you move it, it would stay there--I just like the imagery of the Plymouth Rock. So maybe we can work something out?"

Prom thought, with the rock's future up in the air, it would be the perfect time for him to make a pitch to his other council members.

"I was talking to Mayor Hemken at the League of Minnesota cities meeting we had last weekend and she mentioned she had this big rock," Prom said, referring to New Hope's Mayor Kathi Hemken. "[She] said oh yeah you can have it, you just move it and we'll give it to you. I pulled the city manager around and passed that idea by him. He wasn't so sure about it, so I thought I'd come over today to see the rock and pitch it to my council members and the mayor this evening when we have our bi-monthly meeting."

Until a decision is made, we know that rock isn't going anywhere. However, it is nice to  know the fate of the rock is in the right hands. 

If you're curious about New Hope's plans for a new aquatic center, you can find details to that here. They say they plan on opening the facility Summer of 2020.

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