By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
The Northfield City Council last week took up the question of the long-term plan for the city’s two parklets. Built in 2020 with funds from the CARES Act, the parklets, located downtown, have sparked significant conversation among people who appreciate the space and others who are concerned about the parking spots they occupy.
For the last five years, the parklets have been located on Division Street, one in the 300 Block, located in front of Goodbye Blue Monday, and the second on the 500 Block, located in front of Hideway. The businesses near the parklets have been responsible for cleaning and maintaining the parklets, ensuring the tables are kept clean, garbage is collected, and umbrellas are opened and closed. At Tuesday’s meeting, City Staff stated that the arrangement worked well.
What prompted the conversation among the council was a letter sent to the city by the Eagles Club requesting that one of the parklets be relocated to Water Street in front of their business. City Staff proposed that the parklet at Goodbye Blue Monday be the one that was moved.
Chloe Kiener, the owner of Goodbye Blue Monday, noted that the parklet had become an integral part of her business over the last 5 years:
“I’ve been very happy with it since we’ve had it, you know our mission statement is to provide an inclusive gathering spot for all people in Northfield. And I think the part of it has been an extension of that.” – Chloe Kiener, Owner of Goodbye Blue Monday at the 6/3/2025 City Council Meeting
No representatives of The Eagles Club were present at the meeting and spoke.
Many of the council members noted that they could see the benefit of keeping the parklet in front of Blue Monday or possibly bringing more customers down to Water Street. Here’s Mayor Erica Zweifel:
“This is an opportunity to temporarily try something different. And so I do recognize that Division St. gets a lot of traffic and Water, St. gets less. And so for me, that’s a reason to try a parklet at that location.’ – Erica Zweifel, Northfield Mayor at the 6/3/2025 City Council Meeting
Several councilors noted that a more permanent solution may an additional parklet downtown. Here’s Councilor Davin Sokup:
“I wish that we could just, we would be voting to create a third park like because I think they’re great and they incentivize people hanging out downtown and deciding they want to stay longer.” – Davin Sokup, Northfield City Councilor at the 6/3/2025 City Council Meeting
Councilor Chad Beumer proposed a partnership between the city and the community to add an additional parklet:
“Interested to see if there would be a willingness with the businesses that are requesting them to do a partnership, cost-sharing partnership, maybe there’s potentially some entities out there that wouldn’t mind doing a donation contribution.” – Chad Beumer, Northfield City Councilor at the 6/3/2025 City Council Meeting
The council ultimately decided to keep the parklet at Goodbye Blue Monday for this year, but anticipates the issue to continue to be discussed as more businesses have expressed interest in a parklet recently. The council has asked the Friends of Downtown Northfield to draft a long-term policy and plan for the parklets.
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