On Tuesday night, the Northfield City Council voted to accept modifications of the Wall Street Road/Spring Creek Park Road construction project set for next summer that both eased the concerns of many Northfielders about what the project would do to the area, and the city’s concerns for creating safer roadways for several modes of transportation.
The project had become a potentially divisive one. The original designs called for bike paths and sidewalks on both sides of Wall Street Road, which runs through a heavily wooded area, with the Carleton Arboretum on one side and Oaklawn Cemetery on the other. Many old trees, for which people have a deep fondness, would have been cut down to make room for the pedestrian and bicycle trails.
Instead of the multiple bikeways and sidewalks, the project now calls for four-foot shoulders on either side of the road, and a 10 foot, paved, multi-use path to be constructed on just one side of the road between 4th Street and Hall Avenue.
Mayor Rhonda Pownell said, while the preservation of the trees is important, and she is happy that they will remain, she is a great advocate for safety on our roadways, and until now there has been no pedestrian accommodation anywhere in that area. What’s more, she said, the Mayflower Hill neighborhood is disconnected from the rest of Northfield due to a lack of safe crossings in the area. The trails and sidewalks would have been her preference, but the multi-use trail is a good compromise.
City Administrator Ben Martig said, with the Mill Towns Trail set to be built in the same space, that area will no longer be a remote Northfield island.
“I would say, like we talked earlier about the Mill Towns Trail, this roadway has been talked about, I think for decades as well, in terms of being improved. I was out there this fall, there’s a lot going on in that small little stretch. And so, this is an exciting improvement. Ultimately because of all the different factors the Council had to make some modifications from what the general plan was. But this can be a fifty-plus year project. It’s going to connect our disconnected neighborhoods to downtown.”
The hope is that construction will begin next spring. Martig said the project could take two years to be completed.
Hillmann says ACT scores are a good measure of Northfield School District’s abilities
Northfield Superintendent of Public Schools Dr. Matt Hillmann said, another round of testing has shown that Northfield students, at least those who intend to go on to college in the next year, have bounced back from the stress and hardship of the Covid-19 pandemic, and their test results are well ahead of both the state and national averages.
Last summer the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment test results showed the district students between 3rd and 8th grade are scoring higher in every category than most students across the state. Now, he said, the ACT scores have come back for the Class of 2023, and results are just as promising.
Overall, Hillmann said, out of a possible score of 36, the ACT average in the Northfield School District was 22.5, nearly two full points higher than the state average, and the highest average the district has seen in five years. English scores were one-and-a-half points higher than the state average, and two points over the national average. Math scores came in just under two points higher than the state average and three points over the national average. Reading scores were two points over the state average and three-and-a-half points over the national average. And science scores were a point-and-a-half better than the state average and a whopping three-and-a-half points higher than the national average.
While many colleges no longer rely on standardized tests like the ACT as much as they once did when measuring a student’s readiness to attend a specific school, Hillmann said the scores are still an important tool to be used when evaluating how Northfield students have progressed in the last couple of years.
“They aren’t putting the ACT in the driver seat like they used to, so they are allowing students to provide a more holistic approach in terms of proving that they are ready for admission at that particular college. But when we look at it as a as a check on our system, are our systems giving students the preparation that they need to be able to enter into a college environment. What this data says is yes.”
Hillmann said the scores show that the Northfield School District is putting its students in place to be ready for college, should they choose to take that path.
Historical Society using ‘creepy dolls’ to attract more visitors
The Northfield Historical Society has announced plans for an event next week they are calling a Creepy Doll Party.
Playing off of a now acknowledged societal aversion to dolls that do not look like Barbie, the museum will transform itself for one night into a spooky home for the vintage, lifeless figures with the dead-eye stare that can make anyone feel uncomfortable. Northfield Historical Society Executive Director Sean Allen said the museum will be darkened and patrons will use flashlights to get around the rooms and hope that the dolls aren’t following them.
Allen said the idea is not an original one. In an effort to simply bring more people to the museum than have visited in the past, the decision was made to borrow the idea that has been used by several other Historical Societies to great success.
Allen said the plan is to offer the visitors a scary experience, but he hopes it is not so scary that it is not appropriate for kids. He suggested parents might want to make an initial walk through before bringing some of the younger children to experience the dolls.
Allen also said that, while the Historical Society has plenty of dolls, they can always use more, and anyone who would care to rid themselves of their excess, or just make a loan to the organization would be more than welcome to do so.
“If you have dolls laying around – and everybody does – please drop them off with the Historical Society. Give them to Henry. He’ll be really excited to see them. We can use any types of dolls that you want. If you want to loan them to us, we’ll be happy to take them on loan as well. But please, yeah, drop them off.”
The Northfield Historical Society Creepy Doll Party is set for next Friday, October 27th, from 6-8 pm. The event will be free, but Allen said free-will donations will be happily accepted.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
