FAIRMONT - First on the agenda: Create Fairmont Lakes Historic District Association.
Check.
Next: Hold a community planning meeting to focus on revitalizing the downtown and surrounding area. The date is set for 5:30-8 p.m. May 25 at Red Rock Center, with an outside facilitator scheduled to lead the process.
Anyone and everyone is invited to attend if they're concerned about the downtown - and here in Fairmont, that should include quite a few people, considering it's common coffee talk to reminisce about the good ol' days, back when the city's downtown was vibrant and business was booming.
"I think it's possible to turn that around," said Mike Riley, sales executive at Profinium Financial. "It's just getting everything coordinated to do it."
And coordinating this effort would take more than a few people. Already on board with the Historic District Association are Red Rock Center for the Arts, Fairmont Opera House, Pioneer Museum, the city of Fairmont, Chamber of Commerce, churches, business leaders and citizens.
Lisa Dahl, owner of On the Wall, considers the May 25 meeting a "revitalization retreat" - and it's one she's been waiting for a long time.
Dahl has been watching businesses come and go the past 20-some years. As a member of the Downtown Association, later renamed the Greater Area Plaza Council, she worked to reverse the negative trend and wished for ways to fill the vacant buildings.
Riley, with an outsider's perspective and experience with revitalizing Sauk Rapid's downtown, has suggested more than a new name for the organization - it's a new direction altogether.
Fairmont, Riley said, has a great sense of history, an appreciation for the arts and beautiful lakes that seem to be underutilized. Focusing on these strong attributes is just the beginning in promoting the downtown area.
"You need resources as well," he said, hoping the banks in the historic district can work together to create some type of program to help existing and prospective downtown businesses.
Filling the empty buildings will take a multi-faceted approach, with no easy answer, Riley said. Working with the Chamber of Commerce, city and owners of neighboring buildings is a start. And, he suggested, collecting information for interested parties regarding available space, loans, education opportunities and the history and resources of the area is another way to sell Fairmont Lakes Historic District.
"This is a good direction to be going in," Dahl said.