Reports in Hand, Council Could Decide Northfield Safety Center Site

Based on recommendations from two appointed study groups, Northfield City Councilors could decide Tuesday night whether to remodel its aging or choose to build new on one of several sites in the southern half of the city.

The committees, staffed by two councilors and two residents each, were created by the body in April. a plan in March to finance a new center after facing public opposition. The council also struggled over the centrality of a site in a town where the most open space stretches away from its downtown core. It approved , with a $10.7 million budget, in November. 

The first committee was charged with deciding whether the current center could be rehabilitated. It found that modernizing the building and preparing the low-lying site against flood would cost nearly $1.5 million more than would building a police station on a new site at $6.3 million. A dearth of space and prohibitive cost led committee members to call reuse of the same site for a primary fire station "impractical."

The most promising new sites are clustered in the southern portion of the city, according to the second committee report, with each site is located not far off the arterial Hwy. 3. Sites at the , on Riverview Drive and on Declaration Street were the final three of a list that started with a dozen more options eventually nixed due to concerns including cost, space or flood risk.

State of the Arts

The city's Arts & Culture Commission will also address councilors on its work Tuesday night. In a memo to councilors, commission chair Philip Spensley highlighted the city's new and installation, potential sites for public sculpture and a study with on the economic impact of the arts in Northfield.

The nine-member board, started in 2007, is accepting applications to fill two vacant seats.

IF YOU GO:
WHAT: City Council work session and Arts & Culture Commission meeting
WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday
WHERE:
WHO: Open to the public