Northfield Downtown Development Corporation

Carleton College has invested in downtown Northfield for many years.  The college has supported groups and events that contribute to the downtown’s vitality, college staff and students have given of their time and talent through volunteering for organizations and initiatives that work for the downtown’s vibrancy, and the entire college community has significantly and positively impacted the downtown economy since its founding in 1866.  Now the college is taking their investment to a new level. (more…)

Our annual Partnership Celebration was a fun affair. Thanks to New Moon Trio and Area 51 for the great tunes. Thanks also to Board members who greeted folks at the door and sold raffle tickets. As always,Chuck Pryor and his staff at the Grand Event Center were excellent hosts.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the raffle and congratulations to our winner, Jeff Johnson. No, not NDDC Board member Jeff Johnson, the OTHER Jeff Johnson! Thanks most of all to our NDDC volunteers, Partnership Campaign donors, and Taste of Northfield sponsors. Great downtowns don’t just happen!

Here’s a little slideshow for posterity.

NDDC Partnership Celebration 2012 at the Grand

November’s Downtown Forum, the College Presidents, has been rescheduled to January.

If you’re looking for a great downtown event this week, stop in the Downtown Northfield, MN Post Office on Wednesday, November 2nd, and wish it a Happy (Historic) Birthday.

Then, later in the month, join the Public Forum on the City of Northfield Streetscape Task Force’s “Gateways” Project.  It’s Monday, November 21st, 5:oo to 7:00 p.m., location to be determined.

In April of 1986, the Northfield City Council voted to create a Municipal Redevelopment District in downtown Northfield within which improvement projects could be funded with tax increment financing (TIF). The TIF district became known as Municipal District #4 and included a couple dozen parcels located in the C-1 and C-2 zoning districts, Downtown Core and Downtown Fringe.  The money would be generated by the amount that future property taxes increased over 1986 levels and the district would have a 27-year life, sunsetting in 2013.

The City Council wanted the funds to be used for improving streets, repairing the river wall by the Ames Mill dam, and building a public parking lot as well as other downtown improvements to be planned later.  The limited supply of parking downtown and its threat to economic vitality had been documented since the 1978 University of Minnesota Northfield River Corridor Plan and was subsequently corroborated by the 2001 Walker Parking Study. (more…)

The NDDC has been conceptually and programatically connected with both Northfield colleges, Carleton and St. Olaf, since the organization’s birth in 2000.  These two large local employers are perhaps our most frequent collaborators.

One of the NDDC’s founders, Bardwell Smith, is Professor Emeritus of Religion and Asian Studies at Carleton College.  The organization has always had at least one board member from each of the colleges.  In addition, the NDDC has conducted annual outreach campaigns during major college events such as New Student Week, Family Weekend, Commencement Weekend, Reunion Weekend, and Homecoming Weekend.  Each year, the college presidents have been the NDDC’s guests at a Downtown Forum.  Finally, the organization has led or participated in many community projects that were powered by Carleton and/or St. Olaf College students. (more…)