Kelley Park held its official grand opening on Saturday, September 26, with a Fall Food Truck Festival, a ribbon cutting and a closing set by Urban Classic: The Music of Earth, Wind & Fire. The park is the biggest public gathering space added to Apple Valley in years. It also opened for its official season with about five good-weather weekends left before November.
Apple Valley's first winter with its new amenities will play out somewhere else. Most of the new places to spend a cold evening here are privately run indoor venues along English Avenue and 153rd Street West, and almost all of them opened this year or are still about to. Knowing which ones are open, and which are still promises, makes it easier to plan the months between now and splash pad season.
What Kelley Park was designed to do
The city's project sheet for Kelley Park, at 6855 Fortino St., describes a park built around warm-weather activity. It has an event lawn, a performance stage with a green room, a focal playground, a splash pad that uses solar power and recycled water, a pavilion with restrooms, a flex lawn, a plaza and a 25-by-15-foot video screen. The park came out of the 2023 park referendum with a listed budget of $11.7 million, and the city worked on it closely with the Apple Valley Arts Foundation.
None of the listed features is a skating rink, and the city materials published so far include no winter programming for Kelley Park. The stage, the screen and the lawns point to what the park will be from May through September: concerts, outdoor movies and festivals. From December through March, the playground and plaza will still be there, but the main reasons to go will be closed for the season.
A second outdoor project is on the same schedule. The North Creek Greenway trailhead at Orchard Place is being rebuilt with a plaza gathering area, gazebos, pergolas, walkways and more seating. In a June community development newsletter, the city said the project, together with the 135-unit Orchard Place Apartments at 15665 English Avenue, was expected to be finished in November 2026. If that holds, the gazebos will be done just in time for snow. That timing is fine. It just means both new outdoor spaces will really get going in spring 2027.
Where the cold-weather options landed
Indoors, the picture looks very different than it did a year ago. Here are the new places along the English Avenue and 153rd Street corridor and nearby Cedar Avenue:
| Venue | Address | Status as of early October 2026 | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skyline Social & Games | 15555 English Ave. | Open since July 24 | Bowling, duckpin, axe throwing, arcade, restaurant and bar |
| 7 Brew Coffee | 15440 English Ave. | Open since June 22 | Drive-through coffee, tea and energy drinks |
| PickleHall | 7169 153rd St. W. | Opening date not yet confirmed | 18 indoor pickleball courts, food hall, self-pour tap wall |
| Chicken Salad Chick | 14658 Cedar Ave. | Open since July 28 | Quick-service lunch and dinner |
Sources: Skyline's location page, the city's June newsletter, PickleHall's website and the Star Tribune's restaurant roundup.
Skyline is the one doing the most winter work right now. Sun ThisWeek's opening coverage listed 20 bowling lanes, 12 duckpin lanes, five axe-throwing bays and a 60-game arcade. It also listed nine sand volleyball courts, 12 cornhole courts and four bocce courts, which were the summer half of the business. The company says its fall schedule includes duckpin and cribbage leagues that run 8 to 12 weeks. In winter it adds social bowling leagues every other week, including craft-beer bowling and poker bowling. The hours on the location page are labeled "Summer Season." They run 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday and Thursday, and 11 a.m. to midnight Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Check those before planning a late weeknight once the season changes.
7 Brew is the second 7 Brew in the Twin Cities metro, and the city describes it as part of the growing commercial mix within the Orchard Place development. Chicken Salad Chick, on Cedar Avenue, is the chain's first Minnesota location.
PickleHall is the piece still in motion
PickleHall is the venue most likely to change what a February Tuesday looks like in this part of town. It is also the one where you need to separate what has been announced from what is confirmed.
The building at 7169 153rd St. W. is being developed by Markid II Properties. In June, the city reported that the concrete walls and structural framework were largely in place. The plan calls for 18 climate-controlled indoor courts, a pro shop and a food hall. The four food vendors are North Star Deli, El Sazon, Habibi Halal and Travelers Tea Co. PickleHall's website describes an 80-tap self-pour wall, with 40 taps on each floor, pouring more than 40 beers, ciders and seltzers along with wine and cocktails. Tap cards are for guests 21 and older.
The opening date is unclear. The club page says "Opening in fall 2026," while the FAQ still says the timeline is to be announced. The Star Tribune's September 8 roundup said the target was to open by November 2026. In May, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported that PickleHall was aiming for a September opening, a target that has since come and gone. Expect late fall, and wait for the venue to announce an actual date before you count on it.
PickleHall has published pricing, and it is useful for figuring out whether this becomes a weekly habit or an occasional night out:
- Drop-in: $15 for open play, with four courts set aside for walk-in play.
- Private court, nonmember: $40 an hour plus a $5 reservation fee, bookable up to a week ahead.
- Annual memberships: Gold at $695, Platinum at $995 and Diamond at $1,295, each with unlimited open play and lower court rates.
- Household and early options: a Family plan at $900 a year for two adults and two children under 16, and a Founders plan at $1,000 a year for the first 50 members.
The posted hours are early. Court booking shows 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. The food hall page says Travelers Tea Co. opens at 5 a.m. and the other vendors open at 11 a.m. Treat both as provisional until the doors open. A 5 a.m. tea counter next to indoor courts would give this part of Apple Valley a before-work option it has not had.
The rest of October, before everything moves inside
Some of the best outings this month are still outdoors or seasonal, and they are on the calendar now:
- Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at the Minnesota Zoo, October 5 through November 1, with adults-only nights on October 7 and October 31.
- Minnesota Zoo DreamDay, Sunday, October 11, with free daytime admission and a Fall Pumpkin Plaza & Trail Party. Advance registration is required.
- Trunk or Treat, Saturday, October 31, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Splash Valley Water Park parking lot.
Dakota County's naturalist programs fill quickly. Autumn's Wild Edibles at the Lebanon Hills Visitor Center on October 6 was already waitlisted when last checked. Register early for winter programs.
After Halloween, the pattern for the next few months is set. Kelley Park and the new North Creek Greenway trailhead will wait for warmer weather. Skyline's bowling leagues start their every-other-week winter schedule. PickleHall's opening date is the last open question. Bookmark the PickleHall site and the city's community development news page, since those two sources will confirm the date first.
A year of new venues, a new park and a rebuilt trailhead changes how a part of town is used, and that shows up when homes there go on the market. If you own near Orchard Place or Central Village and want a candid read on how these additions factor into your home's value, Steve Pemberton can walk you through it. Start with "What's My Home Worth?"
