“It’s been really exciting to see how people are using it,” said Jessica Ackerman with Local Motives, which operates Citizens Alley. “Pickleball has been happening on a regular basis.”

A grand opening held Monday, Aug. 11, featured live music, concessions, games and an opportunity for people to pick up scissors and join the Minot Area Chamber EDC Ambassadors in cutting a long red ribbon.

Ackerman said the event offered people a chance to experience Citizens Alley, getting to know it so they keep coming back and want to share ideas about activities they want to see happen.

So far, pickleball has been a hit. People are just showing up and finding pickleball partners, Ackerman said.

“That’s the beauty of this space. It’s really a place for people to connect and meet others, whether they know them or not, and, hopefully, with the items that are out there or the events that take place, that’s built into the opportunity for people to meet others,” she said.

In addition to a pickleball court, there is a basketball hoop. In October, Citizens Alley will flip to winter use with an ice rink. There will be leisure skating with skate rentals available and ice bumper cars. Both activities will be held on an announced schedule.

There will be organized events and certain game equipment set out at different times, Ackerman said.

“But otherwise, people can come and go as they please for a picnic, for a lunch meeting, to play pickup pickleball or just come and hang out,” she said.

“We’re trying to gauge the uses that people are most interested in and see if a schedule might work out better,” she said. “But for now, we’re just testing it out and setting up various things each day and kind of seeing what the feedback of use is.”

People interested in having events or renting Citizens Alley can go online and check with Citizens Alley or Local Motives to learn more.

Public events scheduled this summer include Ward County Library’s story time, meet-a-community-member and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities for youth. Minot Area Council of the Arts has additional Thursday night music and arts events scheduled. Silobration, celebrating the downtown Union Silo art project, is set for Friday, Aug. 29, and Atypical Brewery and Barrelworks is bringing a Grateful Dead tribute band for a ticketed concert on Saturday, Aug. 30.

This week, Friday has been set aside to focus on the games available at Citizens Alley.

“We’ll be setting out a variety of outdoor games. People will be encouraged to come play pickleball, play basketball,” Ackerman said. “This whole week, we’ve got a passport people can complete online, where they find certain things or experience certain things in Citizens Alley and then submit their completion and get entered into a drawing for some great experience prizes here.”

Prizes include a private ice bumper car ride, private ice skating session and private pickleball court.

Ackerman said Citizens Alley adds to the sense of the downtown pulling together in the same direction, encouraging people to walk the neighborhood and take in as many experiences as they can.

Citizens Alley shared in a $1 million Destination Development Grant through the North Dakota Department of Commerce with three other downtown projects.

The other projects are Aurora Nights, an exploration of culture featuring unique, educational, and celebratory culinary experiences curated by the Prairie Sky Breads team; Atypical Bier Hall and Igloos, an expanded all-season event space featuring a geodesic dome, or igloo, and a heated pergola that offers year-round activities; and No. 18, a marketplace still in development that will feature a farm-to-table eatery, games, entertainment and more in a historic downtown building.

Ackerman said Citizens Alley, as a nonprofit, is funded through donations, grants, sponsorships and earned revenue from a dedicated concession trailer, skate rentals, bumper car rides and certain other events.