New Prague "POPS"
(Praha Outdoor Performance Stage)
It's Time
Shown above are preliminary design sketches of what the POPS facility might look like.
The POPS committee is working with an architect and a structural engineer to finalize the design and make sure it can be built within our budget.
(Click in the middle of the image above to see the image slightly larger.)
Ground-Breaking for the POPS building
November 5, 2025 update
Excavation has begun on the POPS Building. An amazing milestone. Tell all your friends. And thanks for the role you play in our success! Have a great day. Why? Because “It’s Time!”
The adjusted design for the underground of the building will still have helical piers, but we are now adding a grade beam approximately 5 feet below the grade, with poured foundation walls and a thickened concrete slab. We have eliminated the galvanized steel beams with the steel deck because of this. This is a significant savings, although we are budgeting increased costs for excavation to improve the soils at the site. Also higher concrete costs.
Installation of helical piers could start shortly after that. Installation must be approval by an independent firm and this, originally unanticipated, cost is built into the budget.
It’s possible the installation of foundation walls could begin by mid-November, weather permitting.
Assuming there are no delays, the foundation and the area around POPS could be backfilled by Thanksgiving.
If these portions of the project are completed as noted, that pretty much will take care of what’s done this fall.
Construction will resume when weather permits in the spring, hopefully in April. If work begins in April and continues at a “normal” pace, a possibility exists that the building will be completed around Labor Day. NO PROMISES, but if work proceeds at a reasonable pace, this is a possibility.
So, there exists a small chance for a “soft” opening during Dozinky Weekend, although this presents other logistical challenges and would have to be worked out with the chamber, etc.
As an FYI, we are telling all the summer concert series bands for 2026 that they will be performing at Memorial Park again. There will be NO summer concerts at POPS in 2026. The summer concert series will be at POPS starting in 2027, if all goes according to plan.
A tremendous shout-out to Eddie and his team at Shimota Project Management. His time (donated to the project as his contribution) has gone way above and beyond anything any of us had expected.
Hello. Thanks for your wonderful support of the Praha Outdoor Performance Stage (POPS) building project here in New Prague. Just 11 days ago we announced that Shimota Project Management LLC has been selected as the firm to construct the POPS venue at City Center. We will be holding a ground-breaking event on Thursday, July 24, 9 a.m., at City Center. You are invited to attend. The groundbreaking will be a short, simple event. Without your contributions, we wouldn't be at this juncture today. It has truly been an “it takes a village” effort. Thanks again for your support.
UPDATE: July 7, 2025
Architect's plans were sent to potential bidders in mid June. Two bids were received. Both were over our budget. This was, to a large degree, due to the over $250,000 of additional costs for the foundation at the Park Board recommended and City Council selected site of City Center. (West end of downtown, just north of the bowling alley.) Thirty-Five plus helical piers and a steel beam substructure will be required at this site, along with a steel deck on top of the beams to support the concrete stage floor. In addition, an independent body (engineer) will need to be on-site during the drilling of the piers to approve each one.. The New Prague Park Board has agreed to provide up to $100,000 of funding to help overcome the poor soil conditions there. While this is very helpful and appreciated, it covers only a portion of the underground work needed beyond what a normal foundation would have cost.
On June 30, the Board of Directors of the Forward New Prague Foundation voted to select Shimota Project Management, LLC to be the general contractor for building the POPS facility. We are negotiating a contract with this firm.
We are working on modifications to our building plan to bring the costs down to within our budget. Some options being considered are using lower cost materials in areas not normally seen by the public, making the concrete area in front of the stage smaller and using a shingled roof instead of a metal one. We are hoping to not have to change the two tower design or the size of the stage. In addition, some optional items, like adding a video wall for showing movies, will have to wait for a second phase of funding in 2026 and beyond.
Keep watching this site for updates as they become available.
Cities small and large throughout Minnesota encourage and entertain arts lovers throughout the year at outdoor venues to promote those interested in performing for the public. New Prague, a vibrant city of 8,100 people, has no outdoor performance facility. “It’s Time” is the catchphrase/motto for a community-wide effort to make this type of facility a reality in New Prague.
Why are we undertaking this effort?
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To complete a long-standing need of New Prague to provide this type of venue for community use. Creating outdoor arts events in New Prague with a tent/canopy is not a long-term solution.
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To collaborate with the city, school, community organizations, other community leaders and arts’ groups to build a venue the community can be proud of; and to show the importance of meeting the needs of the community together.
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To provide a venue for family entertainment throughout the year.
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To provide opportunities for people young and old to showcase their talents.
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To create a facility that is a showcase for the southwest metro area that shines a positive light on the city of New Prague.
The New Prague Area Arts Council (NPAAC) is the lead non-profit arts organization that began this undertaking as an important city project to build the Praha Outdoor Performance Stage (POPS) for the community through a private funding effort. It is doing this through an ad hoc POPS Committee of community, city, school, arts groups and other leaders who are dedicated to seeing this project come to fruition in the next three years for the city.
In April of 2023, the activities of the POPS effort transferred its day-to-day efforts to the new Forward New Prague Foundation (FNPF), a 501c3, tax-exempt organization created to help non-profit groups with these types of projects. The NPAAC will remain actively involved in the project.
You can view our full fundraising proposal by clicking here.
Weekly radio spots providing information on POPS can be heard on KCHK Radio. KCHK is a Bronze contributor of POPS through this trade for radio spots and quarterly interviews about POPS with community leaders on the building effort.
Monthly ads are provided on a pro bono basis by the New Prague Times, also a Bronze contributor to POPS.
Enjoy. It’s Time!
The POPS committee contracted with Bolton and Menk in 2023 to evaluate the three potential sites and score each site. In their report they scored the Memorial Park site the highest.
The POPS facilities committee and full leadership team reviewed and approved the report and sent it on to the Park Board.
The Park Board reviewed the information and sent a recommendation on to the City Council. That recommendation was to put the POPS facility in the City Center site.
At its January 16, 2024, meeting, the New Prague City Council selected the City Center as the location for the Praha Outdoor Performance Stage (POPS).
Preferred Site
Click on the photo to see more information about the preferred site.
