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Second look produces new options for gathering space

Submitted Photo A drawing based on the Trinity lot shows how a gathering space in downtown Minot might look.

Three properties have risen to the top in the selection process for a downtown gathering space in Minot.

The city had been eyeing a Trinity Health parking lot abutting Broadway and south of Second Avenue Southwest, but concerns about the proximity to Broadway prompted a second look at alternate locations.

On Tuesday, the Minot City Council, meeting as Committee of the Whole, heard about the options from Robert Davis, Minot planning director and chief resilience officer.

Davis said sites have been narrowed to the Trinity lot; a mid-town property located in the block north of First Avenue Southeast and south of Central Avenue, with First Street Southeast on the west and railroad tracks running diagonally on the east side; and a property north of the Canadian Pacific railroad tracks on the east side of Third Street Southeast.

Among considerations in the selection process were cost of buying and preparing the lot, physical configuration, visibility, connectivity, accessibility, centrality and historic factors.

Minot has identified the top three lot choices for a downtown gathering space, as highlighted in the map. Submitted Photo

Davis said each lot has its benefits and drawbacks. There is concern about the impact on available parking with the Trinity and mid-town lots because both would remove parking, while the property east of Third Street has connectivity issues with the railroad and Third Street separating it from most of downtown. The mid-town lot also has buildings that include apartments.

The next step is to hold public meetings to get input on the sites. The committee forwarded the matter to the council to approve the scheduling of public meetings this month. Meetings with the Downtown Business & Professional Association and Minot Park Board also are to be scheduled.

A two-acre, centrally located gathering space is among projects the city promised in its National Disaster Resilience Program after holding public meetings to determine what residents wanted to see as resilience features. The resilience program includes $6 million to create the gathering space.

Davis said owners of the potential three lots have been contacted.

“We have to have owners willing to sell because this isn’t going to be an eminent domain project and, of course, we have to build the site within five years,” he said. The resilience program has a six-year deadline and the clock started ticking last year.

Davis said a 40-block, downtown area was studied to determine the best locations for a gathering space. A gathering space could have picnic areas, a playground, shelter/stage as well as green, open areas. Concepts have been considered but no design formalized.

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