Wednesdays on Broadway fills downtown Spring Valley with vendors and people once a month during the summer. (Photo by David Phillips)

New Design For Downtown Spring Valley May Be Preview of Future

 

SPRING VALLEY – Downtown Spring Valley has taken on a new look this year with a more colorful, pedestrian-friendly design that is a temporary preview of potential changes in the works.

The intersections on Broadway Avenue in the downtown section of Spring Valley have been bumped out into the traffic flow to provide more room for people to gather off the street. The new expanded pedestrian areas have flower pots and paintings on the pavement with plans for benches and picnic tables in the future. Temporary delineators outline the new proposed off-street areas on the one-way portion of Broadway.

The Spring Valley Business Alliance (SVBA) came up with the goal of revitalizing downtown after holding meetings to set priorities for the community in 2021. It has been working with the City of Spring Valley on getting public input on the proposal to see if the project should go ahead and, if so, what changes are needed.

The temporary preview may lead to a permanent new design that is the most recent, and ambitious, step in the revitalization of downtown Spring Valley, which has experienced many challenges over the past several decades. 

“I grew up here and I remember coming downtown on Friday nights and how vibrant downtown was. It was kind of the economic heart of Spring Valley. If nothing else, it was a gathering spot because you saw a lot of friends, family, classmates downtown,” said Dan Freeman, treasurer of the SVBA and a 1975 graduate of Spring Valley High School. 

Although Freeman said he realizes “things have changed a lot where we are never going to go back to those days,” he still feels it is important to make downtown more vital to attract visitors and instill pride in the community. 

Downtown Once A Magnet

More than 50 years ago, downtown Spring Valley was a magnet that drew people from all over the area. It was a busy retail center with three grocery stores, three banks, two pharmacies, two variety stores, a clothing store for men and another for women, two appliance stores and many other shops lining the two-and-a-half blocks of Broadway Avenue. However, downtown started losing retail businesses that either closed or relocated to the north side of the community on Highway 63, one of the busiest highways south of Rochester.

One of the earliest big moves was by Don Lanning, who relocated his grocery store to the highway in a new, larger building. At the time, he said he would have preferred to stay in the downtown area, but his lot was too small for expansion and potential downtown locations were hemmed in by the Spring Valley Creek, which has an extended floodplain on the south and east sides, as well as dense residential development on the north and west sides. Other businesses followed his to the north side of Spring Valley, lured by the exposure to the large amount of traffic that fills the highway each day.

Over time, downtown became filled with several empty buildings and many service businesses that didn’t bring in people. Parking spots weren’t hard to come by on the main drag even during the day while the streets were empty on evenings and weekends.

Freeman moved away soon after graduating from high school when downtown was near its peak. He still maintained a love for the community and relocated to Spring Valley a few years ago from the Twin Cities, where he worked as an accountant. The number of empty buildings — he counted about a dozen when he moved here — was enough of a concern that he decided to join in the effort to seek solutions to revitalize the community, most recently through the SVBA. 

 

 

In the years before SVBA, there had been ongoing efforts to pump some energy into downtown. Christmas on Historic Broadway, a joint project of the Spring Valley Area Chamber of Commerce and Brave Community Theatre, began in 2006. The annual downtown event in early December features a light parade, supper with Santa Claus, a sledding hill and many other winter activities.

Fins and Films, which started in 2017 by now local business owner Greg Melartin, features various automobile-related activities and a movie shown on a large, mobile screen on Broadway Avenue much like the old drive-in theaters except people bring blankets and chairs instead of their cars to watch the show. The annual summer event also features a fashion show, musicians, children’s activities and a car show.

In recent years, downtown started attracting some new retail businesses. Jenn Slifka opened Chateau de Chic Salon & Spa in 2006 on the edge of downtown. She married building contractor Alex Slifka, who is now president of the SVBA, and they moved the salon to a historic building in the heart of downtown in 2011. They now own five downtown buildings, four of them connected by an indoor passage. The connected ones to Chateau de Chic include: Chic by Chateau, a women’s clothing boutique; Some Like it Hot, a cafe, bakery and gift shop owned by Jenn’s mother, Suzanne Gardner; and Stellar 181 Taphouse, a bar and restaurant. The newest addition is Broadway Hive, which has three businesses in a corner building: Beatnik Boutique with gifts, plants and home decor; Sparrow’s Closet with vintage clothing, jewelry and furniture; and 1895 Artisans, a space for creative activities, including classes, events and gatherings. 

 

 

The city has taken part in various state and regional economic development programs in recent years as well. Jenn Slifka came up with the idea for a new business group in 2019 during a public action forum of the Making it Home program offered through the University of Minnesota Extension Service. The idea was refined to the SVBA when Spring Valley took part in the inaugural Rural Entrepreneurial Venture (REV) program offered through the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation from 2019 to 2021.

Soon after the SVBA was formed in 2021, a summer-long event started in 2022 that has brought even more vitality to downtown. Wednesdays on Broadway on the third Wednesday of each month features more than 70 vendors lining the main two blocks of downtown along with music, children’s activities and large picnic tables for people to gather.

Wednesdays On Broadway Shows Potential Of Downtown

Prior to 2022, the Rustic Rose Greenhouse on the northside of Spring Valley had set up a farmers’ market Friday evenings on a side lot with a handful of vendors selling produce or baked goods. Tiffany Mundfrom, a real estate agent who had opened an office in downtown Spring Valley in 2021, liked the idea of a spot to offer fresh local products and get people together, she said, so she inquired about expanding the market at Rustic Rose.

She got positive feedback for her idea, but the location had to change because there wasn’t enough room for vendors and parking at Rustic Rose. Word of mouth spread, creating interest among many in the community with a core group getting together and deciding to set the market downtown to showcase the buildings and businesses already there. Alex Slifka suggested adding entertainment, mainly musicians, to the mix and the idea expanded to a farmers’ market with a block party feel.

 

 

Once the idea took hold, Mundfrom said she needed a way to take care of finances for paying bills and taking in fees from vendors, so she went through the business alliance, which was already set up as a non-profit entity. Now, Wednesdays on Broadway is its own non-profit with a separate bank account as a subgroup under the SVBA.

In planning meetings, the group was hoping to have at least 25 vendors to start. The event far exceeded that total even on the first Wednesday, growing to 50 to 60 vendors by the end of the first summer and averaging more than 70 now. 

“I was just blown away,” said Mundfrom. “People were so excited about the idea.”

The community also responded well. The vendors were planning for 150 people, but food vendors ran out of food well before the event ended. There is no official count of attendees, but Mundfrom said that first year vendors estimated 500 to 700 people based on their observations and sales. The crowds have grown in the ensuing years.

The vendors are a varied group, many from out of town, but also local businesses and home-based businesses seeking more exposure. Youth groups and other community organizations also participate by setting up booths or creating activities for youth.

It has become a social event for local people as they look forward to coming downtown Spring Valley to meet each other while visitors also show up to check out the fun atmosphere that has stayed much the same over the three-year run.

“We heard from the vendors it was an overall good experience for them so we didn’t feel the need to change it,” said Mundfrom.

 

 

Success Breeds Success

The SVBA saw the community embrace coming downtown once a month, so “we wanted to translate that to more of a daily or weekly experience for people,” said Freeman. The group didn’t want to shut down Broadway Avenue to traffic permanently, so the members looked for ways to modify the existing space to become more pedestrian-friendly.

The bump-outs provide more space for people to gather any time they want to, noted Freeman. Restaurants in many communities have outdoor dining, but there is not much room for that in Spring Valley. The expanded sidewalk area with benches and tables will allow someone to buy coffee at a diner and take it outside to gather with other people, he added.

Not only does the new design promote gathering, it also enhances the visual aspect of downtown by adding color and softening the brick and concrete environment, Freeman explained. In addition to the large pots with flowers, paintings have been added to the street. Local artist Andrea Hindt, who has painted many murals in town including ones on the Slifka building at the north entrance to downtown, created the artistic designs at each intersection with community members helping to fill the outlines in.

“The painting on the street adds just a little bit of quirkiness to the community, something you’re not going to see in communities around here,” said Freeman. “And they can tell a story, too, as each of the corners highlights a certain aspect of Spring Valley.”

The change will benefit not only local residents, but also visitors to Spring Valley and, in turn, all businesses in the community, noted Freeman.

“You have a fun spot to visit and wander around,” Freeman said of the new downtown design. “If you’re an outsider and you need something from the hardware store or grocery store or auto parts store, we have that covered, just not downtown, but you need a magnet that brings people in to spend some time here.”

 

 

The SVBA encompasses all of Spring Valley, not just downtown, emphasized Freeman. During early strategic planning sessions in 2021, priorities were determined with the top one being revitalizing downtown with new street-scaling so “people feel comfortable spending some time” in Spring Valley, he said. A second priority identified is improving signage coming into Spring Valley

Freeman has worked extensively with the city on the downtown project. He said he isn’t a fan of the delineators, but the city wanted them to show where the pedestrian portions would bump out into the roadway so people would know exactly how the changes would impact flow. If the project goes forward, the delineators would be removed and surmountable, or drive-over, curbs would be installed. 

Some local business owners have told Freeman that the new design has slowed down traffic and reduced the number of wrong-way drivers on the one-way street. It has also increased pedestrian safety with much shorter crosswalks, he added.

There has been some criticism of the narrower road access due to concerns about non-automobile traffic. Freeman has worked with city officials who have assured him that the new design wouldn’t hamper their responsibilities.

“We want to make sure anything we do works for maintenance, for street cleaning, for snowplowing, we want to make sure the fire trucks can make it downtown,” said Freeman.

However, there is some uncertainty about the city’s outlook on this project because there is a potential for significant turnover in elected positions. The mayor, when contacted for comment on the project, declined because he did not file for re-election and he hadn’t seen the results of the latest survey. There are several candidates for the two council seats up for election and there will likely be an open seat after the election because the two council members not up for re-election are seeking the mayor’s position.

Freeman said representatives from the business alliance plan to meet again with city officials to get their input and review the latest survey when things are more settled after the 2024 election.

The council did recently approve, on a split vote, support for a grant to purchase picnic tables and benches for the project. The alliance won’t find out about the outcome until next October and it then has a year to purchase items. If the project doesn’t go through for some reason, the alliance would refuse the grant.

Initial feedback on the project was positive when the city included a survey on the project earlier this year in residents’ utilities bill. After that survey, a committee with representatives from different groups in the city met to give input to landscape architects of the city engineering firm, Bolton and Menk, which came up with a design rendering for a community open house in April to give residents an idea of what downtown could look like. The positive feedback from those surveys and open house led to the decision to try this new phase.

“Spring Valley as a whole has a lot of potential,” said Freeman. “It’s just a matter of giving it a chance.”

Moving Forward Has Challenges

A second survey, which was distributed in September 2024, followed up on the first survey, asking for feedback on the trial run. One question on the most recent survey unveiled the first mention of a price tag of more than $1 million when asking local residents about potentially using taxpayer funds on the project. 

In coming up with projected cost as well as the format for the entire process, the city used model guidelines set by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, according to City Administrator Deb Zimmer. The cost estimate came from Bolton and Menk once the initial process came to an end.

Freeman noted that the alliance has already spent around $10,000 on the project for flowers, pots, and other items. It has a commitment for three memorial benches and is scheduling a second masquerade ball to raise funds. The group is also seeking other grants to aid the process.

“We’re trying to keep it so the city really doesn’t have to spend money,” said Freeman. “I don’t see us having a problem raising the money if that’s the direction the council agrees we should go.”

If the entire project can’t be funded right away, the SVBA would like to see some incremental progress that would help the small businesses in the community. “You can make small improvements and still have a drastic impact on downtown,” said Freeman.

Zimmer said the cost estimate was based on the original architectural rendering, which had tall, brick pillars at each end of the two-block design. It also includes money for engineering since storm water drainage would be altered. She added there could be potential changes to utilities and adjustments may be needed due to a height difference from one side of the street to the other, which could make the bump-outs challenging. 

As far as breaking down the project into pieces over time, it is possible, said Zimmer, but there are some potential issues, such as paying more for engineering or having to redo some portions if the project is stretched out. The council and SVBA will need to look to see what is reasonable as far as “the cost savings of doing it at all at once vs. the benefit of doing it over time,” she said.

Freeman is optimistic that the project can come to fruition even if it isn’t done immediately.

“If given a chance, people will be pleased with the results,” said Freeman. “At some point in time, hopefully it’s a source of pride for residents in Spring Valley.”

City officials continue to work through the review and planning stages and will also be setting more long-range priorities once annual capital planning is done in January 2025., so they will need to make some decisions before then, noted Zimmer noted there are already some big projects on the city agenda, including upgrading the wastewater treatment plant, reconstructing East Tracy Road, funding the city portion of an upcoming Highway 63 project and potentially replacing utilities in the southeast part of town.

Freeman realizes revitalizing downtown Spring Valley won’t be a quick and easy process.

“It can be an ambitious plan, but you have to think big. We’ve got to keep the town vibrant. Over the years, people have done that, visioning with the library and other projects around town. Nothing is easy. You have to stick with it,” said Freeman. “I’m optimistic that a little bit at a time, we’ll get positive changes downtown.”

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Contributor

David Phillips, of Spring Valley, had been a writer, photographer, editor and publisher with various newspapers for 45 years until he retired as publisher of southeastern Minnesota’s Bluff Country Newspaper Group in 2020.