Northfield Downtown Development Corporation

This column ran in the August 30 edition of the Northfield News.
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…and I realized what Bob was telling me.

The schedule for Northfield Transit lists three stops:

St. Olaf College
Carleton College
Target/Cub Foods

If the bus is leaving St. Olaf at 4:05, and leaving Carleton College at 4:15, then perhaps there should be a stop at “Lansings’/Econofoods” or “The Mercantile/Just Foods” at 4:20.

But someone might suggest that it’s not appropriate for a “Publication of the City of Northfield” to be giving free advertising to these downtown businesses. So I suppose we could have a stop called “Division Street” or “Water Street”…better yet, maybe something romantic sounding like “Bridge Square”.

But I think most of the stakeholders would be satisfied with “Downtown Northfield”.

Last week I reported that the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation had received recognition as the Official Downtown Organization through City Council approval of EDA funding for the NDDC.

Well, to help me keep it all in perspective, the other day I got a Letter from Bob Jacobsen. As I said before, the heck with the council, we got a letter from Bob.

If Bob Jacobsen is bringing a downtown issue to the NDDC, then, indeed, we are truly the downtown organization.

Bob was calling our attention to something that the NDDC Retail Cabal had recently discussed. Apparently, for some time, Northfield Transit Service will bring college students from the two campuses to points south on Highway 3…but NOT DOWNTOWN.

At the Retail Cabal, we learned that service was cut to downtown a few years ago to reduce costs. Those in attendance thought that it should be as convenient for students to shop downtown as out on south Highway 3.

Bob closed his letter with a handwritten note, “Ross, I thought the NDDC should be miffed”. Bob, we are…and we’re following up as I write.

At 5:15 pm today, I got a call from Deb Little, Transit Manager for the City of Northfield. She said that the hourly route from the colleges to points south on Highway 3 (mentioned in The City Commons) can be used by the students to get to downtown. She said all the students have to do is to ask to be dropped off in downtown. She said that she will make this clearer in future publications.

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From July 27 – August 1, 2006 Northfield will host two concurrent musical events. The first is “The Joint International Wind Music History Symposium” and the second is a “Vintage Band Music Festival.” Both are being organized by Paul Niemisto of the St. Olaf College music faculty.

The symposium will bring together members of the International Society for the Investigation and Promotion of Wind Band Music (IGEB) based in Graz, Austria and the Historic Brass Society, headquartered in New York City.

The Vintage Band Music Festival will feature historic brass bands from Minnesota and the Upper Midwest, including the Sheldon Theatre Brass Band from Red Wing, Minnesota. There will be several public performances each day at a variety of locations in downtown Northfield. A well-established festival in Danville, Kentucky, The Great American Brass Band Festival is being used as model.

Anyone interested in helping coordinate any aspect of either of these events can contact the NDDC at 663-0319 or Paul Niemisto at 646-3186. For more information, go to the official festival website, “Away from Home” .