Northfield Downtown Development Corporation

After having a cup of coffee the other morning, Jim Bohnhoff and I walked over to see his latest project. He mentioned that he had read my blog about sculptural signs and pointed out that we have a few in Northfield: of the Relief Sculpture variety.

He was just finishing up the one at Hogan Brothers…

I continued south to to look at last summer’s addition, Fine Groove…

…and then strolled back north to the granddaddy of them all, Goodbye Blue Monday…

Jim’s right, we’ve got a growing collection of very cool sculptural signs in downtown Northfield. Thanks Jim, for the insight and the signs.

At last night’s meeting, the Northfield City Council voted 7-0 to approve the recommendation of the Economic Development Authority to fund the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation.

We requested matching funding for 2005 and 2006 from the EDA at their June 9th meeting. Since we were off-cycle for 2005 and they haven’t received a budget for 2006, they were comfortable only with granting us a portion of our 2005 request. This was completely understandable. What pleased us was the acknowledgement that the work that the NDDC is doing is vital to economic development efforts in the downtown district.

Equally satisfying is the support of the City Council for our work. We’re pleased that they have confidence in our ability to achieve results.

We will be using the $15,000 from the EDA for the following five programs:

1) Coordinated marketing on behalf of downtown Northfield
2) Communication with and on behalf of downtown constituencies
3) Recruitment of new businesses/retention of existing businesses
4) Solutions to logistical problems common to the district
5) Benchmarking of downtown economic and demographic data

Thanks need to be given not only to the EDA and the City Council, but also to our Board of Directors, our donors, and the volunteer community advisors that make up our committees and contribute some great ideas.

The first time that I remember noticing what I call “Sculptural Signs” was when I visited Portsmouth, New Hampshire many years ago.

Portsmouth is a city of about 26,000 people that was founded back in 1623. It has one of a declining number of active naval yards in our country. From many of the parks, pubs and back alleys, you are very aware of the local maritime economy.

…and as you stroll the streets, it’s hard not to notice the great collection of sculptural signs…

Me & Ollie’s sign indicates that this bakery and sandwich shop must produce heavenly loaves.

Bardwell, I hope that Sakura’s sign is an inspiration to you on several levels.

The sign for 43 Degrees North is one of the most complex examples of the scuptural sign that I’ve ever seen.

This one always catches the eyes of the younger crowd.

There’s an oblique reference to Strawberry Banke, the colonial beginnings of Portsmouth, in this sign.

Notice the hand holding the book on the sign beam for the News Shop.

Here’s the sign that started it all for me…and I’ve been trying to sell Joe Grundhoefer on this one for a couple of years.

I believe that not only will these sculptural signs add to the vitality of our downtown streetscape, it will also add to our reputation as one of the finest pedestrian-friendly, history-rich shopping experiences in the region. It might even help us get recognized as an Art Town.

This column ran in the August 9 edition of the Northfield News.
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On the Citizen Wig website, there was a great blog that highlights one of the many benefits of shopping local…unmatched customer service.

Check it out at Citizen Wig…