After the economy crashed in 2008, Northfield’s The Crossing townhomes development came to a halt. It’s sat vacant since. In the last year and a half, developers have worked with the City to bring a Fairfield Inn and Suites to the location off hwy 3 and 2nd street. Developer Brent Nystrom called it a Fairfield Plus due to additional amenities including underground parking and they’ll be building a patio on the back, facing the Cannon River, with a bar which will also be open to the public. The hotel will go in Lot 6 of that piece of
property. There are 3 small lots left to develop. Nystrom said, “the ownership group of the hotel is about 20 different people and entities. They’re almost all local to Northfield so it’s very much a Northfield ownership group. Some subset of those folks are also the owners, and hopefully, the developers of those lots along Hwy 3”. He added, “lot of moving parts and pieces. I’m very excited about how it all came together. Really great partners and, I think, a really great project”. They’ll break ground, likely, next week. While the hotel will have parking for patrons, downtown parking has been an issue for years. Mayor Pownell commented, “you have such a difficult time finding a place to park. You want to enjoy the community. We need to ensure that the people that are coming here to visit our great community, have a place that they can park”. That’s an issue that keeps returning, much like driving around the block looking for a parking spot.
Some new features on City website
St. Olaf Intern Dan Hagen reports on the City’s revamped website. City Administrator Ben Martig noted that the new mobile format is one of the most significant upgrades in an attempt to let people get the information they’re looking for but also portray our community in a positive image. Mayor Pownell said a new feature allows citizens to report things such as potholes or a tree down. Saying it’s a really easy way for citizens to stay in communication with the City. E-comments will also be a new feature coming, wherein you can comment on Council agenda items without having to be at the meeting. Be sure to fill out the Survey. You have until May 4th. Let your voice be heard.
?’s to ask yourself when considering volunteering
It’s national volunteer week and Northfield Shares Executive Director Mike Krance says if you’re looking for volunteer work ask yourself some questions first. Such as “what are you passionate about”. It could be animals, sports, cooking, education, outdoors, mentoring… Also what cause do you care about? Or even closer to home, “what is your family already involved with?” And of course, you can go to northfieldshares.org. They challenge the community to Give 5 – 5 hours a month to volunteerism, in whatever capacity that is for you. Maybe just helping your neighbor weed their garden.
4-27-17 News
