Northfield Downtown Development Corporation

Northfield’s Skatepark Coalition will present the results of their many months of work on the proposed Skatepark, Tuesday, May 1, at the NDDC’s Monthly Forum.

Joe McGown, pictured here with a couple of people probably too old to be getting on skateboards, will be leading the presentation for the Skatepark Coalition. The Skatepark Coalition made a presentation to the Northfield Park Board four months ago and has been meeting regularly with those board members since the. The Coalition will be presenting their proposal to the City Council in late May.

The NDDC Forum begins at 8 am in the Riverview Conference Room of the Archer House, 212 Division Street, in downtown Northfield. Everyone is welcome and coffee and cookies will be served.

From the Thursday Star Tribune:

“Tuesday was officially Barbara Flanagan Day in the City of Lakes. Mayor R. T. Rybak signed the proclamation in honor of the longtime Star Tribune columnist and her unflagging support for sidewalk cafes.”

When I first moved to Minnesota about a quarter of a century ago, I used to love reading Flanagan’s column. I really admired her unflagging determination to get an ice rink created at the old railroad depot site in downtown Minneapolis.

Little did I know that she was my Sidewalk Dining Soulmate…

…so I did a little searching in the archives. Apparently, Minneapolis has had sidewalk dining for many decades but almost lost it in the early ’70s, only to be saved by Barbara Flanagan and Mayor Charlie Stenvig’s trip to Oslo, Norway. Now there’s a story on economic development.

Retailers gone wild…

…wild with prizes

…wild with proceeds for the Northfield Women’s Center

…wild with pampering and fun for all women

For more details, see the post card.

Tickets are going fast but are available at digs, Sisters Ugly, Oolala, The Art Store, Kids on Division, and the Rare Pair.

The Retail Support Strategies Task Force met with the University of Minnesota Extension Service this morning. As the group begins to focus on potential additions to Northfield’s retail mix, we thought it would be helpful to review the latest information on the community’s “Pull Factor”, or how well different segments of the city of Northfield’s retail sector pull in sales when compared with the per capita sales by category for the state of Minnesota.

Joining Task Force members Ann Marie Boyle (The Art Store), Colleen VanBlarcom (McDonald’s), Margaret Haugen (U S Federal Credit Union), Norman Butler/Julie Bixby (Chapati/The Contented Cow), Rob Schanilec (By All Means Graphics), Sharon Vollbrecht (Quality Appliance), Kathy Feldbrugge (Chamber of Commerce) and me, were Mayor Lee Lansing, City Administrator Al Roder, EDA President Rick Estenson, Chamber President David Ludescher and NDDC Vice President Joe Grunhoefer.

Northfield’s Pull Factor has shown a steady decline over the past 15 years. Some of this decline can be attributed to the changes in retailing and some of it can be related to our location within the expanding metro area. We’re hoping that we can get the City Council, the City Staff and the EDA to “sound the alarm” about supporting local businesses. They can certainly count on the determined assistance of the RSS Task Force.

Last Friday’s Art Crawl brought much excitement to our Art Town. The galleries, the “crawlers” and the artists all considered it to be a successful experience.

Twelve different locations opened their doors to the art-loving public. All reported large and enthusiastic crowds. Pictured here is the “Galleria de Bagel Bros”, where famous Art Crawler Bart DeMalignon surveys the “Peace Garden”, a collaborative effort of High School artists.

Crawl organizer Nick Sinclair and I made an effort to get more emerging artists involved in the event. He lined up the artists of The Key and I asked the Summas to make their space available to the High School artists. The effectiveness of this initiative was obvious in the make-up of Friday evening’s crowds.

It was great. Let’s do it again real soon!