By: Mollee Francisco 

It has been described as “the essence,” “the core,” “the identity” of Chaska, so it is no surprise that downtown continues to top the City Council’s list of priorities.

“Downtown has been a priority goal for as long as I’ve been on the council,” said Mayor Gary Van Eyll, now in his ninth year. “I don’t think that’ll ever change. I think we’ll always want to improve it.”

“I consider it to be important that the downtown core of Chaska be as strong as possible,” said Councilor Bob Lindall in an e-mail.

When asked to talk about downtown’s strengths, weaknesses and potential, all five city councilors had plenty to say.

“Everybody definitely has an opinion about downtown,” said Van Eyll. “And it’s not just people downtown, it’s everyone, the entire community.”

But not everyone agrees that downtown gets enough of the council’s focus.

“Downtown is my passion,” said Councilor Jay Rohe. “And in my opinion we haven’t done enough. There hasn’t been foresight or planning.

“We need a vision, a plan to execute,” he added. “I think it’s accomplishable.”

Highlights

“The neat thing is that we have a downtown,” said Rohe.

“It’s the essence of Chaska,” said Van Eyll.

And the council has a record of working to strengthen downtown in certain areas, Lindall said. “By strengthening the ****** to remove property from the flood plain, by encouraging rehabilitation of historic properties and economic development and by adding housing to and near the core,” he said.

Many of the councilors could agree that downtown already has several things to be proud of.

“The history,” said Van Eyll. “You can feel it.

“And City Square Park,” he continued. “When people drive by it, they see it, they stop and they fall in love with it. It represents Chaska.”

“The city parks, the historical buildings and the variety of businesses that currently reside in downtown are highlights,” said Councilor Christopher Schulz in an e-mail. “The downtown area continues to support restaurants, a variety of professional offices and retail along with various levels of government offices, all of which are attractions for downtown.”

“It’s definitely a destination for those who need to deal with government,” agreed Councilor Gino Businaro.

The traffic

Councilors also came to a consensus on the threats facing downtown, with one threat dwarfing all of the others.

“Traffic,” said Van Eyll. “The No. 1 threat to downtown will always be traffic.”

“I see the amount of truck traffic on (highways) 41 and 212 as a threat to downtown,” said Schulz. “I feel minimizing the truck traffic as quickly as possible would be beneficial and make for a more walkable downtown.”

Van Eyll, who has served on the Chestnut Street Task Force since its inception last year, thinks that the group’s recommendations for a redesigned Highway 41, which will include the addition of medians and landscaping, will help make the downtown area a more desirable place to visit.

Rohe also acknowledged the nuisance that increased traffic causes downtown, but also saw that as an opportunity.

“Let’s turn it into a positive,” he said. “Let’s figure out, how do we get people to stop?”

A destination place

How to bring people downtown, other than to pass through on their way to work or back home, is the $64,000 question for many on the council.

“We need to make downtown a destination,” said Van Eyll. “That has to be important.”

“I think the destination concept is important to all of us,” said Businaro.

And even council members are not immune from wishing for the same successes that Stillwater and Excelsior have enjoyed.

“It would be nice to make (downtown Chaska) a destination place like Excelsior or Stillwater,” he continued. “But it has to be a collaborative effort with businesses. It cannot be the city alone.”

“It would be wonderful if downtown Chaska were also a shopping destination like historic downtowns in Stillwater, Red Wing or and Galena, Ill.,” said Lindall. “It may not be realistic to think that will ever be the case for Chaska.”

But how to get similar businesses in Chaska has the council scratching their heads and wracking their brains.

“We want a vibrant downtown,” said Van Eyll. “But I don’t know if we can legislate what goes where.”

“You want to support downtown, but you also want to support retailers and where they think they can make a go of it,” said Businaro.

So what can be done? What are the first steps toward making Chaska a destination place for people and businesses?

“The mistake that city staff has made is thinking that increasing rooftops would spill over and increase activity downtown,” said Rohe. “We’ve done that. It hasn’t worked.”

“It’s a marketing issue,” said Businaro. “We need to have a theme. It has to be unique, attractive and mean something.

“The clay holes and the bricks are a theme but I don’t know if it’s enough,” he added.

For Rohe, the redevelopment of the northwest corner of highways 41 and 212 is a key piece in beginning to make downtown a destination place.

“No more rooftops downtown,” said Rohe of the initial concept plan that calls for apartment units on the corner. Rohe noted that the original plan for the space, two single-story buildings ideal for restaurants, is still his favorite.

“Could you see a Famous Dave’s there?” he asked. “What about Axel’s?”

The economics provided by city staff show that the city would have to take a financial hit if it went with the original plan, but Rohe was adamant that he would be willing to subsidize such a project if it meant the opportunity to draw people downtown.

“I want to see this town flourish,” he said, adding that he will vote against the concept plan that calls for a multiple story retail/residential building on that corner if it comes before the council.

“I want to do this right,” he said. “We owe it to downtown. We owe it to the businesses we displaced.”

For more from this series, visit our What about downtown? [1] group.