As the City of Northfield moves forward on the Bridge Square renovation, the 5th & Water Street redevelopment project, and a much larger 
vision for activating the city’s Riverfront areas, there are more and more questions being asked, and the answers to those questions are creating even more questions.
The people fielding those questions are Twin Cities consultants to the city Bruce Jacobson and Bob Close. The pair are former partners in a landscape and urban design and architecture firm who still work together on selected products. They were brought in by former Community Development Director Mitzi Baker to assist with the development of the Riverfront Enhancement Action Plan and have been retained by the city as the vision for that plan develops and grows larger.
“The goal really was to take a look at the Riverfront Enhancement Action plan, which really focused on public places, and the four big parks along that corridor, which are Ames Park, Riverside/Lions, Babcock and Sechler. These are really underutilized parks. We’re not saying they have to be big, wow, you know, huge investment and so forth, but they do need some attention.”
Jacobson said the two have a wealth of experience and have talked with thousands of people over their 30+ year careers about what makes a great community. It is his feeling that community conversation about Northfield’s needs and how it should grow is vitally important to this project, and he and Close have been retained to, as he put it, help guide and facilitate that conversation.
While the long-range plan does include possibilities like the removal of the Ames Mill Dam, and possible development of Ames Park, Jacobson insists that he and Close have not been commissioned to make wholesale change. Instead, he said, it is their responsibility to show the community a variety of possibilities.
For example, Jacobson pointed out that the City of Northfield owns just about all of the Cannon River riverfront land within the city limits. Combine that, he said, with the strategic property purchases being made by the city, and suddenly Northfield has an opportunity to create something that could pay high dividends for many years.
“The important piece is that the city controls the outcome, so you can insist on excellence. These are incredible opportunities right now to be able to leverage a modest amount, in my view – it’s still important for a town of this size, it’s still real money – but what the city invests in this will pay back tenfold or more over time.”
Throughout the process, Jacobson and Close have engaged with various civic groups. The Riverwalk MarketFair and Vintage Band Festival were consulted about the Bridge Square design. The Defeat of Jesse James Days Committee, he said, has been part of the conversation in several different facets of the process. While the ideas being discussed may seem controversial to many, Jacobson said as the conversations develop and more people take a strong look at the possibilities, they begin to understand.
“It feels like a once in a lifetime kind of alignment between leadership board and commissions, city staff, private development and many of the voices in the community. We’ve heard lots of different opinions, on every point of the compass, so not all the voices. But I think, generally, we’re building momentum around an idea, particularly for the central riverfront that is very active.”
Jacobson said he and Close are trying to reach as many people and organizations as possible. To that end, they will be presenting at three separate open forums in February, one at the Northfield Public Library, one at Greenvale Park Elementary School, and one at FiftyNorth. The dates of those open houses, he said, will be announced shortly.
Sauve will discuss Murder at Minnesota Point next month
And the Northfield Public Library is inviting all members of the community to an author talk with Northfield historian and award-winning 
Sauve, a longtime archivist at St. Olaf College who recently took a curating position with the Northfield Historical Society, has published a book called Murder at Minnesota Point. According to a statement released by the library, the book deals with the true story of a young, unidentified woman who was murdered on the shores of Minnesota Point in Duluth in 1894. Through the sensationalist journalistic techniques at the time, the murder was billed as Minnesota’s Crime of the Century.
The statement said Murder at Minnesota Point is the result of Sauve’s exhaustive 10-year study that “traces the villain’s descent into ruin.” The author’s talk will provide the backstory on how the book developed, and the library is excited to invite people for an engrossing story of a long-forgotten murder that the reader will not soon forget.
Sauve’s author talk is scheduled for Thursday, February 23 from 6:30 to 7:30pm at the Northfield Public Library. Attendees are asked to pre-register for the free event. The registration page can be found at mynpl.org.
