St. Paul closed Pig's Eye Park, its largest encampment, in August 2026 and is expanding shelter capacity as the roughly 140 displaced residents relocate.
City records reviewed by KSTP showed the August 5 clearing of the Pig's Eye Park encampment cost approximately $439,746, with more than $333,000 of that tied to contracted cleanup. City Council President Rebecca Noecker said the council was not informed of the total cost beforehand and said, "I don't think it was a success." The city confirmed seven people accepted shelter beds associated with the effort, out of roughly 200 people organizers estimated remained at the site before closure.
The city and Ramsey County had previously committed $2.25 million toward shelter expansion, stabilization beds and case management ahead of the closure.
City Council President Rebecca Noecker said there are no scheduled dates to clear St. Paul's remaining encampments after city leaders called the August closure of the Pig's Eye Park camp unsuccessful. The city spent more than $1 million on new shelter beds before that closure, but providers said only seven were used by people from the camp; about 100 residents moved instead to the Randolph Avenue camp, where police calls have risen more than 1,200%. The mayor's office said closure plans are ongoing but gave no date for Randolph Avenue.
Mayor Kaohly Her announced plans in July to close the city's three biggest encampments, and workers moved more than 200 people out of Pig's Eye Park by August 5; the city faces a $26 million budget deficit.
A spending breakdown KSTP obtained from Ramsey County showed how St. Paul and the county allocated $2.25 million for shelter expansion before clearing the Pig's Eye Park encampment in early August: $969,500 to Catholic Charities' Higher Ground for 49 beds, $103,125 to Model Cities for 6 stabilization beds, $300,000 for housing-focused case management, and $880,000 in city funds still in contract negotiations. The city previously confirmed only seven people from the camp accepted the beds, and outreach worker John Tolo estimated over 200 people are now at the Randolph Avenue camp.
The county's Shelter Entry and Diversion team handled 608 calls in the most recent reporting week, including 380 for shelter reservations, with several adult shelters at or near capacity.
Roughly 100 residents of the Pig's Eye Regional Park encampment, closed August 5, relocated to the Randolph Avenue woods, which the city said now hold at least 140 to 150 people, up from about 40. Assistant Mayor Cedrick Baker told the city council that just seven of the 140-plus Pig's Eye residents accepted shelter beds before the closure, and that the site's terrain and rail access limit emergency response. Ramsey County reported 28 individuals with active housing referrals, of whom eight have been housed, and put its total spending on the relocation effort at $1.1 million.
Ahead of the August 5 closure, the St. Paul City Council redirected $1 million to open 49 new dedicated shelter beds at Catholic Charities' Higher Ground facility downtown.
City officials told the St. Paul City Council's Public Safety Committee that the encampment near Shepard Road and Randolph Avenue more than tripled in size after the city closed the Pig's Eye Park encampment. Assistant Mayor Cedrick Baker said that despite a $1 million investment to expand shelter capacity, the city is aware of only seven former Pig's Eye Park residents who used the provided shelter services. Officials said the Randolph site, a former auto salvage yard, has soil contaminated with lead and carcinogens and flooding risks, and gave no timeline for future encampment closures.
CBS Minnesota reported on August 9 that the same encampment had doubled in size after the Pig's Eye closure.
Police records provided to Alpha News showed 212 police entries between June 1 and August 21 at addresses around Randolph Avenue and Shepard Road, near the encampment that grew after St. Paul closed the Pig's Eye Park camp on August 5 — 139 of them in the 17 days after the closure, against 73 in the more than two months before it. The outlet reported the records include both calls for service and police-initiated activity, and that much of the increase reflects a heightened police presence, including 50 proactive visits since August 5.
WCCO reported more than 140 people needed new places to live when Pig's Eye Park closed August 5; Ramsey County granted $969,500 to the downtown Catholic Charities shelter for 49 new beds over the next year.
After St. Paul closed the Pig's Eye Park encampment on Aug. 5, dozens of its residents moved about seven miles up the Mississippi River to an encampment near Randolph Avenue and Shepard Road, which one longtime resident said doubled in size. Before the shutdown, city officials estimated around 220 people lived across three major encampments, 140 of them at Pig's Eye, and the city is spending at least $1 million to expand shelter capacity. Residents of the adjacent Waterford Bay Apartments reported increased 911 calls and concerns about car break-ins; state Rep. Leigh Finke opposed the closure strategy.
Sahan Journal reported on Aug. 5 that the closure began against a 1,400-person shelter waitlist and 49 newly added shelter beds.