by Rich Larson
Scott Wopata, the executive director of the Community Action Center, said construction is about to begin on the Hillcrest
Village Housing Project. When complete, it will be a rare, and possibly first-of-its-kind, net-zero-energy housing project for emergency shelter and supportive housing.
The project has been in development for over three years, and Wopata said all the elements came together somewhat slowly and organically. As the CAC was negotiating to acquire the land, the former site of the Hillcrest Motel off of Highway 3 on the North side of town, he said engineers and environmental architects began to, come out of the woodwork to talk about ways the project could be climate supportive. Then he said, the University of Minnesota awarded the project a grant for expertise to help engineer things.
Suddenly, Wopata said, things began to develop from “’Hey, can we put a solar panel on this building,’ to people talking about carbon neutral and no fossil fuels.”
The way things have progressed, he said, even some of the project’s largest skeptics have come around on it.
“Everybody has their timeline on [realizing] how this can be done. People have jumped on board saying ‘Scott, I never thought this would be possible. I thought you were going down the wrong road. I thought CAC was making a mistake.’ And then, when they saw the whole thing come together, and all the plans and the budgets and everything, they said, ‘We were wrong. This can be done.’”
The city has been very supportive of the project, as it lines up quite evenly with the housing and climate goals set in the strategic plan. The Housing Authority has given them a $250,000 forgivable loan, and there are ongoing reviews to help with permits and sewer access.
Hillcrest Village will offer 17 housing units throughout six buildings on the site. Wopata said that having space for the people who will live there was an important factor in the design.
“We didn’t want this to be a gigantic, high-density building,” he said. “Space is important to healing.”
Demolition of the site is scheduled to begin within the next two weeks. Those interested in more information, volunteering or making a donation can visit the Community Action Center website by clicking here.
Our full conversation with Scott Wopata can be heard here
‘Literary Steps’ is attracting attention
The first product of the 2021 Artists on Mainstreet program has been unveiled at the west entrance of the Northfield Public Library.
Kathy Ness, the former librarian who has used her artistic skills lately to create masks for anyone in need during the pandemic, has turned what was a dull and anonymous staircase outside of the library into a colorful and imaginative walkway, by painting each step to look like the spine of a favorite children’s book.
“I just thought it was a prime spot for something,” said Ness. “It’s kind of a dark and gloomy entrance.”
With that in mind, Ness said she proposed her idea to the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation’s Artists on Mainstreet program, and hers was one of five submissions awarded a $2000 grant to bring it to life.
Ness said she and Kate Woodstrup, who teaches art at Bridgewater Elementary, spent the last two weeks laying on the steps and on the sidewalk working to meticulous detail. She said they spent a lot of time mixing colors to get the shades just right, and they put grids on each step to make the lettering easier. The result is a perfect replica of the spines of nearly two-dozen classic books for kids.
The name of the project, Literary Steps, is a play on what was her original plan.
“So I proposed it, thinking first that it would gradually be going from baby board books, to picture books, easy readers, simple chapter books, and then chapter books. Well, the steps are really skinny. And they don’t lend themselves to Little House on the Prairie. So I said ‘Let’s just do picture books.’”
The westside stairway is scheduled to be replaced in two or three years, but Ness said the paint she and Woodstrup used is durable enough that it should last until then. The NDDC has awarded four more grants for the Artists on Mainstreet program. Those projects remain in various stages of development.
Our full conversation with Mayor Rhonda Pownell and Kathy Ness can be heard here
District has ‘work teams’ evaluating a variety of issues
As the summer progresses, many educators in the Northfield school district are taking some time this summer to weigh in on 
issues where they believe the district could improve.
Northfield Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann said the district’s Director of Instructional Services, Hope Langston, has created work teams in an effort to, as Hillmann put it, “receive strong input from the people doing the work in our schools.”
These groups are looking at a variety of topics and concerns, from support for students transitioning out of elementary school to middle school to the 4th and 5th grade health curriculums to kindergarten literacy.
Hillmann said that rather than use the traditional committee structure, these groups are given specific instructions and parameters. They have a fixed number of hours in which they are allowed to work, they are given a specific task that they must accomplish, be it a recommendation or a plan, and they are told exactly how much their work team is costing the taxpayers.
Hillmann said as students begin to recover from a year of pandemic rules and distance learning, these groups are looking for ways to enhance the district’s social emotional curriculum.
“We’ve long had, for the last several years, a social emotional curriculum in kindergarten through eighth grade. And we’ve had people specifically trained to support the students social/emotional needs. But this year, of course, is a little different. So we have probably a dozen educators who have been coming together to look at how to best support our students as we begin to recover from the pandemic.”
Hillmann said that the district sees its educators as among its most prized resources, and he believes they are the best people to evaluate these areas.
Our full conversation with Northfield Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann can be heard here
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net.
