Northfield Downtown Development Corporation

In the January 8th New Yorker, there is an article about the changing economics of the movie industry. It’s called “Big Pictures” and was written by David Denby.

To summarize one of the several topics covered in the article, the conventional movie production model is broken. Under the current model, a movie can gross $100 million and still lose money. The few movies that are profitable now are often those made by independent film makers for a fraction of the big studio cost.

Near the end of the article, the author suggests that the conventional model for movie theaters is suffering from the same changing economics. Many of the massive multi-plexes are losing money.

The trend of the future may be “user-friendly” theaters. These theaters have much smaller houses, with fewer but plusher chairs, and all of the seats are reserved. The new paradigm theaters have lobbies that may contain a restaurant, bar and book-and-gift shop. One that he describes even has outside dining. According to the article, “the rest rooms are spotless and the concession stand serves delicious coffee”.

Apparently this new style theaters are intended to bring the older audience back. These former film-goers value movies as an art form and believe that movie-going is an experience that should be preserved and, apparently, enhanced.

Perhaps it’s the “traditional” model of movie theater, where the film is a craft not a commodity and part of the experience is the socializing before and after the show. Let’s hope that there’s a “user-friendly” theater in Northfield’s future. It sounds like a downtown movie house to me.

In today’s Strib South section, there’s a brief interview with Brendon Etter, founder of the Northfield Arts Guild’s Very Short Play Festival. David Gustafson, the interviewer, suggests that “Northfield residents are always involved in some quirky creative activity”. Brendon reacts by saying the town is becoming more suburbanized, as if that might be a threat to creativity.

At last night’s Planning Commission meeting, during the discussion of the Comprehensive Plan, there were many remarks about suburbanization, or homogenization, as some members seemed to prefer calling this apparent trend. At the end of the discussion, the Commission reached consensus that Northfield should try to grow by neighborhoods instead of by subdivision.

Perhaps if she’s not too busy tossing tomatoes, Tracy Davis could blog a thesis analyzing the relationship between community design and artistic inspiration on Locally Grown.

I won’t even mention the Strib’s second description of Northfield as “quirky” in last twelve months.

Yeah, it’s cold outside. Frankly, I’m glad for the reminder, sent to us courtesy of those Canadians, that, in spite of the apparent effects of global warming, we live in Minnesota and not Missouri.

In fact, we’re overdue for some of those character-building experiences that you can only get in the North Star State. I mean, any wimp from Arkansas can go out on a night when it’s in the mid-forties. Only we Minnesotans have the…fortitude..to party when the windchill is hovering around zero.

There’s plenty to lure us out from potential hibernation this weekend. On Friday night, Marty Anderson is at the Contented Cow and Jeff Ray is at the Tavern. Saturday features the Just Food Cabaret at the Northfield Arts Guild Theater and Jack Knife and the Sharps at the Grand Event Center. There’s also Lonesome Dan Kase at Hogan Brothers, Gary Heil at the Cow, Bear at the Tavern and DJ Music at the Reub-N-Stein.

So, come on Down(town), see your friends and neighbors, and celebrate being a Minnesotan, even better, being a Northfielder, and check out some of the fine offerings of our Art Town. For details and updates, see the Northfield Entertainment Guide and for contact information, see Visiting Northfield.

At yesterday’s Downtown Forum, several of the participants suggested that the Chamber, the City and the NDDC work together to assure retail vitality.

We’re on it.

Although all three groups are committed to on-going improvement in communication and outcomes, we are already working together. This afternoon we had a previously scheduled meeting to discuss better coordination of retail strategies. Pictured are Kathy Feldbrugge (Chamber), Keith Covey (NDDC), Brian O’Connell (City), Deanna Kuennen (City), Ross Currier (NDDC) and Joe Grundhoefer (NDDC). Many of the issues and actions that were raised at yesterday’s Forum were discussed today.

We’re in the process of evaluating current strategies, implementing existing plans, and gathering new ideas. Let us know about the challenges and opportunities that you see. As we said yesterday, you are the “experts”.

Over fifty people, many of them building and business owners, showed up at 8 am this morning in the Riverview Conference Room of the Historic Archer House to discuss Downtown Issues and develop Actions Plans.

The group started by raising the issues that effected many of the owners in downtown, including business and building owner Lee Lansing, business and building owner Norman Butler and building owner Victor Summa, the three “experts” that opened the discussion with brief remarks.

Lansing talked about Downtown’s place in the City’s Comprehensive Plan and the Council’s Priorities. He urged the group to hold their leaders accountable for implementing plans and making investments that help to strengthen downtown. Butler played the learned professor, diagramming all of the external forces that impact building and business financial operations. He pointed out that many owners work for a ten percent profit after capital, labor and materials costs, often seeing up to another 8% eaten up by other costs. Victor Summa talked about the challenges of financing the build-out of potential tenants. He said that no one in the leasing equation wants to shoulder too much risk and without risk, there will be no new businesses, no new entrepreneurs, no new ideas and no new restaurants.

The attendees brought up long-standing issues like high taxes, the challenge of maintaining and upgrading historic buildings, and the prohibitive expense of retro-fitting a code-compliant kitchen into a old building. Some new issues were surfaced, such as the relative effectiveness of the community’s business and economic development organizations, the focus of and resources behind various marketing efforts and the perceptions and reality of downtown retailers competing with the Walmarts of the world.

Frankly, some of the recommended actions were a surprise to me. Although suggestions like greater coordination of marketing efforts and more user friendly financial tools are things that the NDDC has long been working on, the prioritization given to keeping the library and the liquor store downtown was supported by an unexpected passion. Many, many people listed these items as critical activities for the next 12 months.

We will continue to refine these issues and actions over the next couple of weeks. We plan to cycle back to the building and business owners once more and then formally release our plans.

Thanks to all who joined us today.