Part Three of Vision for Crookston

Part III Oops, I gave it away already: Make Downtown Crookston a destination for thrift, consignment, antique and collectible shoppers. Encourage retired folks, married couples with one income already, and non-profits to start a business. You’ll notice that I mention the type of business owners we need—Business is just too slow downtown now to encourage a single person to open up a business and depend on that business for a living. Not yet, anyway. But if we
• First: Beautify, and slow traffic,
• Second: Address parking once and for all, and
• Third: encourage thrift, consignment, antique, & collectible shops,
More people will come to attend what we already do have: Farmer’s Market, OxCart Days, etc. plus, they will come just to shop. Most of the people that shopped at Kay’s Attic were from Grand Forks! They were on their way to the lakes for the weekend. Or, they were people who used to live in Crookston that stopped by to reminisce about the former S & L Building with its gravity run system for making change. (Anyone skilled enough to put one together? I have a set, a gift from a great friend, John Vraa.) These folks were visiting friends and relatives. Last fall, I had people in the store that came just for the thrifts, and antiques and collectibles. Just in case you didn’t know, we have a new thrift shop that benefits the Humane Society and a new antiques & collectibles store “Timeless Treasures” operated by Cindy LaFleur in the former Mattie’s Menagerie location. Kay’s Attic & Antique Emporium will be changing to a thrift shop that benefits Prairie Skyline Foundation. It’s going to be great, Crookston that is; I just know it.

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Town Square or Town Square? Response to Steve

Hi Steve, Thanks for posting! I’m glad to hear that you’d like to see the same thing, i.e. the downtown preserved, greatly valued for its character and seeing new development from private entrepreneurs as well as I do.

As usual with any vision, there are obstacles and problems to work out. The major obstacle with the town square green space idea is that the City will have a tough time getting approval from the State Historical Preservation Office for such extensive demolition of historic structures many of which were restored with public funds for green space when we do have many beautiful parks, especially the underutilized Central Park. Note we have a park on the corner of the busiest intersection in town, Main & Robert, and no one sits there and watches trucks and cars go by.

My vision involves “clustering” downtown businesses in the two blocks between Loring and Second Street, making the distances shorter to walk, not farther. I’d love to see walking encouraged, but to do so ironically will involve shorter distances not longer ones. (Its no secret we as a nation have gotten lazy) Many people have mentioned on the Crookston Times Guestbook and elsewhere over the years of the need for a central location for the proposed community center. (You know the one that never gets onto the drawing board??) My guess is we will want a roof over our heads for the community center, not simply green space. Since the City and School District chose to destroy not only Central High School but the Junior High School gymnasium as well, our chance for a sizeable central community center may well be gone. If we can concentrate the businesses and eaterys we will have at least a business center. Any vision we choose to follow will involve sacrifice no doubt about it, but we have lost so much already. Watch for my upcoming slide show on the blog.

The City through the Crookston Economic and Development Authority, (CHEDA) is interested in downtown. I believe they are working on a new housing Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for downtown that could encourage private development. It just hasn’t been in the news as much as our new 3 or 4 rink hockey arena which in my opinion is moving way too fast for the money involved.

Reading between the lines on the former Wayne Hotel project, the building won’t be torn down until the next Minnesota Housing grant round is completed the end of October and we hear if the project has this piece of funding in place. It isn’t over yet! The people of Crookston need to influence the City not the other way around. We will have to come up with our own vision and include a strong “How to do it” section, in which major obstacles have been researched. Through people like you and others that are doing some serious critical thinking about downtown Crookston, we can move forward.

PlaceEconomics

PlaceEconomics This is the site to visit if you want to tear down old buildings. I invite your comments! Reduce, reuse, and recycle!

C-town it is!

Along with making Crookston the destination for thrift, consignment, antique, and collectible shopping, I must say that our town has been named already! “C-town.”

Benjamin W. Parkin (San Francisco, CA) wrote
at 12:14pm on November 22nd, 2008: Just to set the record straight..... The term "C-town" originated back in the late '90's, probably around 1998. Wes Colborn (class of '94) and I started using it when we were college roommates, as a result of listening to Sir Mix-a-Lot and his use of "Sea Town", for Seattle. It quickly caught on and has given everyone from the C something to identify with. Props to the younger generation for keepin' it rollin'. Peace. (from www.kroxam.com facebook group)

Tommy Helgeson has called Crookston, “C-Town,” for years. We don’t need a fancy marketing firm, to create a logo and image for our town, we’ve had one all along. We especially don’t need the same fancy marketing firm that came up with the confusing “Protecting the Legacy,” theme for the new 3-ring hockey arena. Just think what can be done with “C-Town:” Cool, Classic, Crookston. Be cool, shop C-town! The Big C. I’m sure you can do better than me and come up with many more! Oh, there’s one: Come Up to Crookston!

Another one I’ve always admired, remember the TV program, “Northern Exposure?” The name is great, the moose is great, and the radio announcer, WOW, if we could have a guy like that! In addition to our announcers of course. A dose of philosophy in our brand! A little Tao here, some arts, and some good old “We can do it” attitude. We do need a voting place and the www.ilovecrookston.com site has the contest running. Go Enter, have some fun! I’m entering C-Town in case Ben or Tommy doesn’t, and also “Northern Exposure.” Part III of my vision for Crookston next post, I promise.

It can be done.

The other day I sped down the center lane on Main Street by the Arby’s and noticed out of the corner of my eye, a pedestrian wanting to cross the street as I went by. Oops, not very “Minnesota Nice” of me at all. AND, the watch for peds signs were only just taken down. I must not have learned anything from those signs. Imagine if I was the walker. I’d be steamed if I was in a hurry or freezing cold.

You know it wouldn’t be so hard to do: Going back to diagonal parking and two way streets on Main and Broadway to slow down traffic and prevent accidents like Ramona Unke. Mike Kammikar from Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) tells me that it all starts with the City Council. So, of course, we will have to convince them it’s worth it. We, meaning the Crookston retailers and shoppers.

It could be similar to what Bemidji did. And their downtown is booming. Crookston will have to beef up the truck routes around town and probably build a new road to bypass the Crookston High School and new hockey arena. Then MnDot would designate the bypasses as Highway 2 and Main Street and Broadway will revert to the City’s control. Of course it all comes at a cost. I’m guessing it might take $1 million per mile of new road around the High School and another couple million to make the bypasses better able to handle the truck traffic. Far less money than the new 3 ring hockey arena, parking will be vastly improved downtown, traffic reduced, noise reduced for a more pleasant walking experience. Of course delivery trucks and semi’s will have to pass through downtown and there’s no law that says trucks have to take the Highway 2 bypasses, I just have to feel that with this change, trucks choosing their way based on GPS units will be routed around town. As well as trucks influenced by new signage saying " go this way to follow U.S. Highway 2."

Everyone take a Cruise!

Before I continue with Part Three of my vision for the future of Crookston, I must take a moment to tell you that my oldest daughter, Sara, got married to Grant Louiseau of Perham, Minnesota on the beach of the island of St. Thomas on January 6, 2009; and honeymooned on the cruise ship, Carnival Glory . I’m so happy for them and for Mom who enjoyed a real vacation in many years. I am so refreshed. Thank you Sara and Grant!

Christmas 2008 Kay's Attic closes

I tried everything to keep the store open through the winter, even trying out a wood pellet stove. (Something I always wanted to try.) If it hadn't been for Blizzard Ali and my learning curve on using the stove, we might have made it through Christmas and the end of December. When the blizzard came, I couldn't get to the store to fill the stove with wood pellets and the store temperature plummeted to 30 degrees. The fire went out as did my enthusiasm for opening up despite all the Christmas decorating. If you haven't checked out the windows designed by Vicki Thorpe and Linda Stromstead, take a moment to stroll down Robert Street in Crookston. Check out the new store, "Happenstance" windows on your way.



I've got to admit that it is a tribute to the 6 brick thick walls of the building as a heat storage for winter and a cooling device for summer, that we didn't need heat until December and even the wood pellet stove brings the building from a cool 30 degrees up to 40 degrees in 20 below weather. Last summer we never needed air conditioning. I love the wood pellet/corn stove! It is perfect for Spring and Fall for this 5000 square foot store. In fact the heating bills were not the problem as when it had a natural gas high efficiency furnace and two ceiling fans circulating the heat, the highest cost was last January at $550. It is the recession that started last January that has caused us to close. Just when the first customer came in that said they traveled to Crookston just to visit the antique, collectibles, and thrift stores. She spent $350 in Crookston that day! Will we open again? I hope so.



At the same time, it happens that the Crookston Building Inspector decided to keep new "Happenstance" store owner, June Johnson, from staying open through the Christmas season. You see, there's a hole in the basement wall on the far east side of the building waiting to be patched. The former Crookston Paint & Glass building used to be two uildings. "Happenstance" is on the west side next to Kay's Attic.



The hole in the wall came about from poor drainage from the vacant lot between "The Novel Cup" and the east side of the building where a building was plucked out. Remember Rock's Jewelry and earlier, Associated Heating on the east side while Crookston Paint & Glass was on the other? Back in 1908 the east building was the "Lyceum Theatre!"



Just a little swale in the middle of the vacant lot would have drained water into the alley. Instead it drained into the building's foundation despite Crookston Paint & Glass owner, Chumley, (former renter) best efforts to bring in fill, it disappeared. The former and long term owners, Edith Krohn and family did little to care for their building and were happy to donate it to the Prairie Skyline Foundation. The former Crookston Paint & Glass building although 5000 square feet with a new roof was not built as well as the McKinnon built "Kay's Attic," aka the "Union Building." The builder, Jorgen Jorgenson, in 1893 used second-hand brick. Please readers, don't do that, not even for pavers, they just don't last as long. Our consignment store lasted almost 3 years. Stores come and go, buildings can last over 300 years. Just fix that drainage problem.