Northfield Downtown Development Corporation

Meetings either seem to keep me from getting my work done or add many more items to my “to-do” list. Often they do both. However, sometimes meetings are a valuable source of important information.

This morning I attended an interesting meeting. The gathering, back in maybe 2000, was known as something like the Art Town Group, then it became the Joint NDDC-NAG Arts, Recreation and Culture Committee, and now it seems to be the Arts and Culture Committee. It is peopled with some of Northfield’s most independent thinkers.

Today’s group included Bardwell Smith, Hayes Scriven, Dixon Bond, Philip Spensley, Rob Schanilec, Keith Covey, and Jane McWilliams. Library Board member Bob Bruce gave an update on the library’s planning process. That’s where the important information was shared.

The Library Board sent out a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Feasibility Study of the current site. Six architectural firms responded and four are currently being considered. In the next week or so, a final decision will be made. Then a two to three month process will begin, including at least two public forums. The first public forum is anticipated for early May.

Then Northfield Historical Society E. D. and new father Hayes Scriven and I made like bakers and hauled buns over to our next meeting. It was the Heritage Subcommittee of the Northfield in Bloom group.

There Alice Thomas led a group that included Gail Jones Hanson, Richard Collman, David Gonnerman, Judy Swanson, Marcia Walters, Joe Hargis, and Cliff Clark through a series of three steps. They included an Inventory of Existing Projects, “Opportunities” for New Projects, and a Prioritization of Projects.

During this work, I experienced another occasional outcome of meetings: humor. Richard Collman suggested a new slogan for Northfield:

“Pubs, Professors, and Preachers”.

There’s much happenin’ in Downtown Northfield this weekend. In fact, there’s something for just about everyone goin’ on.

It starts off with the Northfield Historical Society’s “Cemetery Stories”, Friday the 26th. Join one of the tours under the full moon for actors portraying former Northfielders from their grave sites at the Northfield Cemetery on South Division Street (across from the high school). Tours are 6:00, 6:20, 6:40, 7:00 and 7:20 pm.

Then it’s the Northfield Harvest Stomp, 7:00 to 10:30 pm at the Northfield Armory, 519 Division Street in Downtown Northfield. Produced by Carleton College and Northfield Community Contra Dance Association, the event will move to the rhythm of Contratopia. All dancers from novices to experts are invited.

Saturday afternoon, October 27th, it’s the Fall Festival, featuring Hayrides, Pie-eating Contests, Pumpkin Decorating, a Haunted House, Caramel Apples, Hot Apple Cider, Tony’s on the Sure, Lena the Horse, Face Painting, Live Music, Scarecrow Contest, Camp Fires and S’mores. It’s 1 to 5 pm, Bridge Square in Downtown Northfield. See this PDF flyer for complete details.

Finally, on Sunday the 28th, the Cannon Valley Regional Orchestra will open its 28th season with a Reformation Day Concert. The concert will be held Sunday, October 28, 3:00 PM at the newly renovated First United Church of Christ (Congregational) in Northfield at 300 Union St.

I was strolling around a pedestrian-friendly shopping district in a small Iowa town, really enjoying life. It was a sunny autumn day, my challenges were far away, and I had finally, at least temporarily, escaped the strife.

I was struck that this town was just about perfect. I wondered what seemed so right and then I began to look around, to see what cornerstones were in place.

To my right was the city hall and community center. To my left was the historic post office. Directly in front of me was the downtown library.

Oh sure, there were pizza places, a Chinese restaurant, and an Internet cafe or two, a woman’s clothing store, a bakery, a shoe store, a bike shop, a couple of churches, a radio station, a music store, banks, law offices, dentists and doctors and, oh yeah, a downtown grocery store…

…but it really seemed like it’s the substantial and quality public investment that creates the base and/or basis of the private investment that generates the economic vitality and keeps the community strong.

In today’s (September 4^th) Wall Street Journal, there’s an article about Adrian Benepe, New York City’s Park and Recreation Commissioner.

Mr. Benepe climbed the entire ladder to the top, starting with his first job picking up trash in a park on the Lower East Side. It was in his next job, as a roving ambassador and security-providing Park Ranger, that he had an epiphany. An elderly man told him that New York City suffered its collapse because it abandoned its parks to thugs and vandals.

From that experience, Mr. Benepe developed his belief that parks are what civilizes and transforms a city from a collection of buildings and people into a community. He argues that given the density of the city, New Yorkers are dependent on the parks not only for recreational purposes but also for social and political life. “Take even a tiny little triangle like Abingdon Square in Greenwich Village. If you fix it up and make it green, suddenly it becomes a magnet for people. If, on the other hand, it’s allowed to become gray and grimy, it becomes just the opposite - a haven for drug dealers.”

NDDC Vice President Joe Grundhoefer has been advocating for years that the downtown parks, Bridge Square and the adjacent piece overlooking the falls, should have picnic tables like the other parks in town. It would provide a nice respite for office workers, a little treat for mothers with small children, and a forum of political discussion for youth and seniors.

Joe has been told that picnic tables are hard to mow around and easy to throw in the river. As Kellen Kirchberg, Rick Estenson, Dave Shumway, and Eric Emmons will tell you, the City has at least one picnic table that would be awfully hard to toss into the river.

According to Mr. Benepe’s theory, the decision on picnic tables is clear: community or crime.

Ray Jacobson, prominent local artist, Carleton College professor emeritus, and World War II carrier-based dive bomber, will be the guest speaker at the August Downtown Forum sponsored by the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation (NDDC).

The Downtown Forum will be held Tuesday, August 7^th, 8 am, in the Riverview Conference Room of the Archer House, 212 Division Street. This month’s forum is an official event in the 4^th Annual ArtSwirl festival co-sponsored by the NDDC and the Northfield Arts Guild.

Ray, or “Jake” as he is affectionately known, will discuss art in Northfield, the impact of public sculpture, and his latest piece, “Harvest”, scheduled for completion and installation in 2008. This piece, celebrating Northfield’s milling history, will be placed on the bank of the Cannon River across from Ames Mill in downtown Northfield, as an artistic connection to our economic past, present, and future. The project is supported in part by Malt-O-Meal, the Sesquicentennial Committee, and the City of Northfield.

The NDDC is a non-profit community organization dedicated to the vitality of downtown Northfield. The Downtown Forum presents topics of interest to downtown stakeholders, but the public is invited and encouraged to attend as well. Coffee and cookies will be served.

For more information, contact Executive Director Ross Currier at 663-0319 or rcurrier@nddc.org.