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RCOUNT ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS WWADINCITIES.COM INFORMATION.
<br /> Past e CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
<br /> inform + A n new downtown . .
<br /> Rosemount ��rZw`l squats on the city's main inter-
<br /> Rosemount would get a ..•�...,, o-..,. section, windowless cinder-
<br /> m c� y� i�l ii 1171 " New medium
<br /> makeover OVel facelift—and some block walls facing the street
<br /> akeover major surgery— density residential with parking and entrances on
<br /> according to a plan 143rd St W the other side. Locals call the
<br /> (continued) endorsed by the City , New library " buildings"The Flintstones."
<br /> efforts Council. Plans call for a E "It has gotten to the point
<br /> unknown sources and coopera- new library in the St. 144 St "� where it's antiquated,and there
<br /> tion that has been lacking in Joseph Catholic Church, © is no consistent theme to it,"
<br /> years past. moving or closing off to + said Mike Baxter, chairman of
<br /> Redevelopment funding But the alternative is a long some streets and moving 4Sth St w the Redevelopment Committee.
<br /> slide into decay. "We'd end up • several businesses. . kis‘l Aggibi But that all would change,
<br /> in flux, but ideas aplenty being a bedroom community. gammon according to the plan.
<br /> NOMM
<br /> We are so close to that now,"
<br /> BY BOB SHAW said Maureen Geraghty New high density ' t W ' F APARTMENTS WANTED
<br /> Pioneer Press Bouchard, a member of the residential ' '
<br /> redevelopment committee. s 1'n general, the plan calls for
<br /> Downtown Rosemount, a graveyard "If the downtown folds up i! new apartments,which would
<br /> of past redevelopment efforts, may and developers come in and do gillg Existing building �0 ': draw people to the downtown
<br /> finally be getting it right. anything they dang well please, Lower 147th St W I owntow4i
<br /> (renovation) area, supporting •a series of
<br /> The city now has a redevelopment the downtown will look like Rosemount small shops and businesses.
<br /> plan that is almost breathtaking in garbage,"she said. "But for the New mixed use a
<br /> g g Burma Avenue, just off Min-
<br /> scope—re-routing streets,buying and first time, I am really opti- ''' neosta 3
<br /> moving businesses, putting a new mistic." ® New commercial , would be moved to
<br /> allow construction of more
<br /> library into an old church and changing - This time,businesses,home- ARM V DAKOTA housing and to align it with the
<br /> the look of the 13-square-block area. owners and officials are ener- couNTY entrance to Central Park.
<br /> The City Council approved the plan gized. This time, Chamber of Source:City of Rosemount MI KININ Rosemount Bouchard would like to see
<br /> last week. But officials have been Commerce rhetoric aside, real- more two-story buildings with
<br /> wrong before, and anyone can see life factors are behind the o P ti PIONEER PRESS . . „ ,
<br /> retail on the first level, apart-
<br /> 40 years of mistakes by driving through mism: ments on the second—exactly
<br /> downtown— a dying mall, auto parts • Although the downtown daily part of the plan, officials and several unique buildings. what used to be in downtown.
<br /> stores next to massage parlors, rim- used to be on the fringe of devel- hope to bring the 11-acre Cen- But the worst mistake was Rita Dupre, a 45-year resi-
<br /> down buildings bordering on blight. opment,it's becoming more cen- tral Park out of hiding. the Rosemount Mall. For that, dent and a member of the Rede-
<br /> This time is different,officials said. tralized because of new growth That park isn't now visible Bouchard blames Southdale in velopment Committee, scoffs at
<br /> "I am really pumped about this," to the east,such as development from Minnesota 3,but planners Edina. the New Urbanism projects that
<br /> said Council Member Mark DeBett- of the former Brockway glass envision expanding it to the In 1956, Southdale became try to create small towns in sub-
<br /> gnies. "I want to embrace change but factory. That will put 624 living highway. It would serve as the the nation's first indoor mall, urban settings — some have
<br /> embrace history as well." units within walking distance of trailhead for a new path to the and the idea took the country by facades with phony second-floor
<br /> The plan will require years of effort, downtown. Mississippi River. storm. Rosemount developers windows, as if someone lived
<br /> tens of millions of dollars from • Leadership is united. The To accomplish that, the city built a miniature version in the inside.
<br /> - newly elected mayor and City is applying for a Metropolitan 1960s.It was small enough to fit "We'd have'two full stories,"
<br /> ROSEMOUNT MAKEOVER,313 Council campaigned on the idea Council grant of $925,000 that into a single store at Southdale said Dupre. "We need to stand
<br /> of fixing downtown, and expec- would pay to move the BP sere- and had almost no out-facing out from suburbia.The outcome
<br /> tations are high.Most business- ice station and the Polfus Imple- windows with a dim two-story should be real. I don't want it
<br /> es support the plan. ment store." atrium. • artificial,like Disney World:"
<br /> The city has a rare opportu- The redevelopment plan,say •Later, as city officials came Not everyone likes the plan.
<br /> nity to bu y land'•downtown. officials, is key to the city's ' and went, shopping fads did, Mike Herrmann, owner of the
<br /> For example,Genz-Ryan Plumb- future. too. "Now you go down the •'downtown bar Shenanigan's,
<br /> ing&Heating may be willing to "It's just a first step,but it's a' street, and it's like, `Oh, there's was surprised when he attended
<br /> sell a, string of properties big one," said Council Member what we were doing in the''.60s an open house and saw a map of
<br /> •
<br /> along Minnesota 3, the'down-,, Kevin Strayton.; ...oh,that's what We were doing what planners had in mind.His
<br /> town's main street. The sites in thel ••'80s,' " said•`'city business was gone, replaced by
<br /> would be perfect, say planners, LITTLE PLANNING spokesman Alan Cox. housing and other businesses.
<br /> for a string of office or retail t • The downtown is a finish- "What are we supposed to
<br /> sites, uistorically, downtown Rose- mash of grain elevators, rail- think?"he asked the council.
<br /> •A new branch of the Dako- l'mount grew like a weed road facilities and auto repair Officials said the plan was
<br /> to County Library might move patch. Almost anything Ahat joints side by side-with restau- only a concept: 't = .
<br /> into the old St. Joseph Catholic could grow there was allowed to. rants,bars and shops. "How it all ends'tip;Whether
<br /> Church.The church is a dramat- The city was,a thriving rural The mall has damaged plas- you move to a new building or
<br /> is historic building on the main town in the early '1900s, but tic signs in front°°and empty ; not, those are all unknowns,"
<br /> street. Putting a library there Bouchard cringed as she stores used as janitors' closets. said Mayor Bill Droste. .
<br /> P renewal Occupants include a massage
<br /> would preserve a landmark and .recalled •4 the urban
<br /> add a high-traffic destination to drive of the 1960s. The thinking, parlor and the Rosemount AA. Bob Shaw can be reached at
<br /> downtown. was,she`said,to tear'down any Ina one corner, a drinking foun= bshaw @pioneerpress.com or
<br /> And
<br /> , although its not offi thing old including'"a hotel tam is filled with dirt. 651428-5433.
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