Cock of the Walk(er), and other Sculpture Garden highlights

An expanded and redesigned Minneapolis Sculpture Garden opens to the public Saturday.

After years of work — and some recent bad press due to the now-removed "Scaffold" — the popular park is ready with improved accessibility and new selfie-friendly sightlines.

Plus 15 new sculptures, with at least two more on the way. The headliner is likely to be "Hahn/Cock," the giant blue rooster fashioned by the German artist Katharina Fritsch.

Siri Engberg, senior curator of visual arts at the Walker Art Center, said the Sculpture Garden had aged since its opening in 1988 and "needed to be upgraded, all the systems underground." Such extensive work "required us to remove all the art," she said &mdash and that meant an opportunity to rethink the garden's design.

"And how new artworks could be brought in to be more in conversation with the old favorites," she said.

After two years of heavy construction, a ton of landscaping and a huge amount of planting, the garden is transformed. It's more open, has more entryways and is paved in a way that will make it easier for wheelchairs and strollers.

And, in the age of selfies, the Walker staff has placed pieces to make sure people could get interesting shots.

"We went to Google Earth and we looked at the pathways that people would wear as people went to take their photos," she said. "And that gave us a sense of 'Maybe we should put a little sidewalk here, maybe we should give people a moment to where they can really position themselves to take that picture.'"

A day of activities is planned for Saturday, with a ribbon-cutting at noon.