Burnsville's Gateway Is Getting a New Entertainment Venue: Big Hits
Burnsville's Gateway area could get one of the most ambitious entertainment projects the south metro has seen, in the same eat-and-play vein as Apple Valley's Skyline Social & Games but built around golf and pickleball. But the story is more complicated than "approved and on the way."
Big Hits at the Gateway is a proposed multi-sport "eatertainment" complex at 11937 I-35W. The city has said yes. The state is a much harder sell, because the whole thing would be built on top of an old, unlined dump.
What's Actually Planned
Big Hits is pitched as a privately funded, roughly $40 to $45 million complex on about 30 acres just east of I-35W (itself getting an $80 million makeover), near the Minnesota River. The plans call for:
A three-level, 100-bay driving range (think Topgolf-style)
17 pickleball courts, indoor and outdoor
A 400-person event and conference center
plus food and drink. The developer's pitch is basically "turn a dump into a destination."
Where It Stands: The City Said Yes
On the city side, Big Hits has its core approvals. At a special meeting in late November 2025, the Burnsville City Council approved the preliminary and final plat, the conditional use permit (CUP), and the planned unit development (PUD), on a divided 3-2 vote, with Mayor Elizabeth Kautz opposed. The Star Tribune framed it as the council advancing the plan over the mayor's objections.
But the council attached a big string: the CUP gives the developer one year to clean up the site, or the project can't proceed. The city's yes is tied directly to real environmental cleanup actually happening.
The Real Hold-Up: The Freeway Dump
Here's the catch. The site is part of the Freeway Landfill and Freeway Dump, an old unlined dump that took waste back in the 1960s and is now a federal Superfund site overseen by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). Together the two unlined sites hold more than six million cubic yards of waste, and the state's central worry is protecting drinking water for Burnsville and Savage.
In late October 2025, the MPCA took the rare step of filing legal action against the landfill's owners (Michael McGowan's companies and family trust), arguing the site hasn't been properly cleaned up and that a redevelopment like Big Hits can't move forward without an MPCA-approved cleanup plan. The agency said it was the first time it had ever taken such action against the owner of a closed landfill.
The two sides don't agree on the fix. The state wants major remediation, like consolidating or excavating the waste and building a modern, lined landfill. The developer says his plan, capping the site and adding vapor-mitigation and stormwater systems, would protect the environment and pay for itself by making the land usable. Mayor Kautz, who voted no, warned the project could "endanger the public health" if it isn't done right.
So Can They Build It?
Not yet. Practically, Big Hits can't be built until the MPCA signs off on a Remedial Action Plan for the site, and that approval is exactly what's tied up in the dispute. As of mid-2026, there's no public sign that a cleanup plan has been approved or that ground has broken. The development team still describes the project as "shovel-ready," pending environmental approvals.
Timeline
Early on, the team hoped to break ground in spring 2026. With the CUP not approved until late November 2025 and the MPCA litigation unresolved, that's clearly slipped, and there's no firm revised opening date.
The near-term milestone to watch: the one-year cleanup clock on the city's CUP runs to roughly late November 2026. If the developer can win approval for and start an MPCA-approved cleanup by then, construction could follow. If the environmental fight stays stuck, the city's approval could lapse and the whole thing could stall despite being fully entitled.
The Bottom Line
Big Hits at the Gateway has Burnsville's approvals for a Topgolf-style driving range, pickleball, and events complex on the old Chalet Golf Driving Range site. The hinge now is environmental: it sits on a Superfund dump, the state is suing over the cleanup, and the city has given the developer about a year to get the land cleaned up or lose the approvals. As of mid-2026, this is a legal-and-environmental story more than a construction one. We'll update it as the cleanup fight plays out. In the meantime, here's what else is happening around Burnsville.
FAQ
Is Big Hits at the Gateway approved? Yes, by the city. The Burnsville City Council approved the plat, CUP, and PUD in late November 2025 on a 3-2 vote. But the approval requires the site to be cleaned up within a year.
Then why isn't it being built? The site is on the Freeway Dump, a Superfund site. The MPCA is suing over the cleanup, and the project can't be built until the state approves a Remedial Action Plan. As of mid-2026, that hasn't happened.
What's actually planned? A roughly $40 to $45 million complex on about 30 acres: a three-level, 100-bay driving range, 17 indoor and outdoor pickleball courts, and a 400-person event center.
Why is the state involved? The old unlined dump sits over drinking water for Burnsville and Savage. The MPCA wants a full cleanup before anything gets built on top of it.
When could it open? No firm date. The key deadline is the one-year cleanup condition, around late November 2026. If cleanup stalls, the project could too.
