On May 8, Carleton announced that it had purchased the building at 200 Division Street, formerly known as the Medical Arts Building.  The College has been a major tenant in the building since 2005 when the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) relocated there.  The acquisition will allow Carleton to use a portion of the building to expand much-needed space for SERC operations, as well as relocate some additional administrative functions out of core academic buildings on campus.

SERC’s presence in downtown generates its own excitement.  The Science Education Resource Center of Carleton College, founded in 2002,  works to improve science education through projects that support educators.  The office has special expertise in effective pedagogies, geoscience education, science community organization, workshop leadership, digital libraries, website development, and program and website evaluation.

On August 10, 2011, the National Science Foundation awarded SERC a $10 million, five-year grant in support of the project InTeGrate: Interdisciplinary Teaching of Geoscience for a Sustainable Future.  The grant is one of two funded that year through NSF’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP);  the other at Stanford Universitywith an engineering focus.  The STEP initiative aims to create a unique opportunity for faculty in a science discipline to address a national challenge or opportunity in undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education through a comprehensive and coordinated set of activities.

There are some people in our community who believe the future of our economy will be built on knowledge workers, workers who create economic value with their minds.  Scientists, educators, and web-crafters are all important segments of the knowledge worker labor force.  The presence of these workers in downtown Northfield, particularly with their commitment to an interdisciplinary approach, generates the type of knowledge spillovers that can not only nurture existing knowledge-based businesses but attract new knowledge-based businesses.  In fact, the type of interdisciplinary knowledge spillovers that such an enterprise generates can have an impact on the local economy that is not merely incremental but truly transformational.

Carleton intends to honor leases currently in place with non-College tenants, and to keep the building on the tax rolls at this time.  The three-story, 20,400-square foot building was constructed in 1948. The building lot is about a third of an acre and includes 15 parking spaces.  The College expects renovation work at the building to begin early this summer and be concluded before the end of the year.

PACE stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy and it’s a project that Councilor Erica Zweifel, working with the state Chamber of Commerce’s Energy Smart program, brought to Northfield.   It’s one way to finance energy cost reduction projects, along with private equity and lending, and the Xcel rebate programs.

Erica, along with Jill Curran of Energy Smart, have set up this program to kick off PACE, and encourage Northfield business and building owners to reduce their energy costs, with Leota leading the way.   You all are invited to learn more about these energy cost-reducing ideas.   Coffee and cookies will be served.

The NDDC is a non-partisan, non-profit community organization dedicated to the vitality of downtown Northfield.  For more information, contact Executive Director Ross Currier at 663-0319 or rcurrier@nddc.org.

This is the second in a series of three open house events for the public. The first session focused on the seven Gateway Corridor Areas identified for study. These Areas were the western portion of Highway 19, the eastern portion of Highway 19, the southern portion of Highway 3, the northern portion of Highway 3, Highway 246 at the south of town, Highway 23 at the northwest of town, and County Road 78 at the west of town. Initial concept drawings can be viewed and downloaded from the City’s website:

At this session, the project’s design team will present some of their initial ideas. These ideas include landscape plantings, streetscape treatments, pedestrian walkways, trail links, and bike routes and lanes throughout the project areas as well as at major intersections along the corridors.

The objective is to create a “sense of arrival” for people coming to our town and as they move through and/or into our community. The project will also identify priority needs and opportunities for multi-modal circulation and safety, as well as strengthening the connections between different neighborhoods or sides of our community.

Northfield’s elected officials and professional staff, including the project’s consultant (Bonestroo, now Stantec), as well as members of the Streetscape Task Force, want to hear your thoughts, concerns, and ideas. So please join us, Monday, January 30th, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., at the Archer House.

The Cannon River Modeling and subsequent projects are the result of work by the NDDC’s College-Community Collaboration Committee.  Formed in 2010 in response to comments made by St. Olaf President David Anderson and Carleton President Steven Poskanzer, the committee initially focused on mutual-marketing leverage and cross-promotional efforts.  In 2011, it added alumni recruitment as another strategy.  One of the key tactics in this work will be to engage undergraduates in meaningful community projects.

Three dozen professors at the two colleges have already contributed their ideas to this initiative.  Over sixty potential projects have been identified, organized by four broad categories: Enhancing College-Community Collaboration/Communication, Strengthening Our Sense of Place, Growing the Knowledge-Worker Economy, and Securing Resources/ Building Sustainability.

St. Olaf professors Matt Richey and Paul Roback, and their students, are beginning the Cannon River Modeling during the January 2012 Interim.  Pictured are St. Olaf Math Majors, Ben Simmons, Lauren Snyder, Matthew Kamrath, and Evan Doucet.  Also working on the river modeling project is Laurel Ohm, who was away at a conference.

The initial work will focus on researching and reviewing existing river models to study key issues identified by former Carleton student Ana Vang.  These models include built environment, bank stability, channel changes, flood potential, sediment toxicity, sediment transport, riparian response, existing wildlife, and invasive species.

Carleton College, St. Olaf College, and the NDDC are committed to clear communication, process transparency, and openness to input.  An early project team will create a project website to promote sharing of information and assurance of continuity.

One of the two dozen or so projects that the Task Force has recommended to the City Council is the so-called “Gateways(s)” Project.  Although the actual project areas encompass substantial corridors related to these so-called gateways, the focus, at least initially, was on potential improvements at key locations along the city’s main roadway entrances.

The objective was to create a “sense of arrival” for people coming to our town and as they moved through and/or into our community.  However, as important as visually enhancing these entrance or gateway areas is identifying priority needs and opportunities for multi-modal circulation and safety, as well as strengthening the connections between different neighborhoods or sides of our community.

The “Corridor Project Areas” are identified on the illustrative “planning parameters graphic” (I’d call it a map).  The process will be structured around these “Corridor Project Areas”.

The work, and the discussion, has just begun.  Citizen input, early and often, is a priority for the process.  Each month of the three-month process (November, December and January) will include a public input session.  The first of these sessions in Monday, November 21st, 5 to 7 p.m., location to be determined.

Technically only a half block away from the C-1 Zone (part of the definition of the downtown as per the City Zoning Code), what was once “the old middle school” is only a block away from the Carnegie Library and only two blocks away from the “heart” of Northfield…Bridge Square.  The NDDC is going to reach out across that short distance and say “Welcome, we’re glad you’re here.”.

The NDDC believes that the Weitz will be a great addition to Downtown Northfield.   In fact, the NDDC is so excited about the opening, we thought somebody should throw a party.  Fortunately, somebody is…

Carleton College cordially invites everyone to a special community open house celebrating the completion of the new Weitz Center for Creativity on Saturday, September 17, from 3 to 6 p.m. The celebration will feature tours of the building and its many unique spaces, as well as light refreshments and musical entertainment.

The event will also feature a presentation at 4 p.m. by professor John Schott about his photo exhibit “Middle School,” which documents the condition of the vacant former Northfield Middle School as it awaited renovation. The photos were taken in the winter of 2009, when the building had been empty and unused for five years.

At 5 p.m., Carleton President Steve Poskanzer will speak to welcome those in attendance, followed by an “official” welcome to Downtown Northfield by Greg Kneser, President of the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation (NDDC).

The Weitz Center for Creativity is located at 320 North Third Street in Northfield. For more information on this event, contact the Office of College Relations at (507) 222-4308. To take a virtual tour of the Weitz Center for Creativity at Carleton College, visit http://apps.carleton.edu/weitz

Click to download app

The NDDC’s Marketing Committee has long supported community efforts to produce events and promotions that help attract people to downtown Northfield.  Whether through bucks or biceps, we’ve always worked to pitch in to the best of our abilities.

Recent work by the committee has resulted in a fine-tuned process.  “Make It Happen” mini-grants up to $100 are now available to help with event funding. The new application form can be found online in the NDDC  Library.

The Northfield Downtown Development Corporation values the outstanding efforts that bring events—and people—to downtown Northfield.  With this mini-grant, we hope to help support many future downtown events, especially those created collaboratively.

So, if you’ve got an idea, some initiative, and an eagerness for collaboration, check out the new NDDC “Make It Happen”  Mini-Grant Program Application.  We’re working together for a vibrant and vital downtown.

Enjoy this short slideshow of pictures from the Taste of Northfield.

But, yes, this Thursday (July 28th) is Crazy Daze in downtown Northfield.  Starting at 8 a.m. with activities until 8 p.m., it’s a whole lot of fun brought to you by the Retail Committee of the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce.

This year’s events include a Watermelon Seed Spittting Contest, 11:00 a.m., Just Food; Bean Bag Toss, 1:30 p.m., Fine Threads; Hula Hoop Contest, 2:00 p.m., Rare Pair; and Classic Cars, 5 p.m., on Division Street between 5th and 6th Streets.

So come on down(town) and have some fun at Crazy Daze.  For more information, see the Northfield Chamber website.

Our Cornerstone Sponsors this year are Archer House River Inn, Carleton College, First National Bank of Northfield, KYMN, Neuger Communications Group, and Northfield News.

Our Corporate Sponsors are College City Beverage, and Malt-O-Meal.

Our Business Boosters are By All Means Graphics, Chapati Indian Restaurant, City of Northfield, Community Resource Bank, Contented Cow Pub, Defeat of Jesse James Days Committee, Fette Electronics, Franek Electric, Guth Electric, J. Grundy’s Rueb’N'Stein, Northfield Historical Society, Northfield Municipal Liquor Store, Northfield Police Department, Taylor Truck Line, and, last, but far, far, from least, Waste Management.