ABOVE: Project 1590 is made up of several different community groups, each with its own focus on bettering the community.

FAIRMONT– Those in the Fairmont area have likely heard of Project 1590. The group, made up of community members, is on a mission to create a more vibrant community.

It started back in 2014 when a few individuals went through the Blandin Community Leadership Program.

“They came away from that saying, ‘we want to see change happen. We want to see movement.’ A group came together and wanted to do a community survey to get broader community feedback on what it wanted to see,” explained Board Chair, Celia Simpson.

Other board members include Steve Hawkins, Sam Viesselman, Dianne Bettin, Paul Carlson, Jon Omvig and Miles Duffy. However, between all of the groups Simpson said there are about 100 people involved.

The University of Minnesota partnered with the group on the original survey and some Master students analyzed the results to ensure there were some impartial decisions.

“They came back with the 10 big ideas and that list is on our website. Each one of them became a project committee at that time,” Simpson said.

They were: Bacon Capital USA, Focus on Fairmont, Kids Just Want to Have Fun, Beautify and Maintain our Waterways, Destination Downtown Fairmont, Enhance Fairmont’s Natural Water Park, Expand our Multi-Purpose Trail System, Fairmont Area Community Center, Retail Business Recruitment and Reuse Reimagine Vacant Buildings.

Simpson said some of the groups have gone away, but many are still in existence and thriving, such as Kids Just Want to Have Fun and Bacon Capital USA.

There have also been some newer committees added, including From the Ground Up and Martin County KnowHow.

Currently, the group has a renewed focus on the trail system.

“Paul’s (Carlson) vision now is to restart the trail committee and go out for some additional ideas. They had a lot of plans put into place, trying to make a broader, regional trail system,” Simpson said.

At a recent Fairmont City Council meeting, Carlson said that it’s been about five years since the bike trail committee has gotten together and he thought it was time to start meeting again.

“We’re in the process of gathering some interested members who might want to join,” Carlson said.

He said it’s been since 2019 since anything has been done with the trail system in Fairmont but that some people have gone to look at some new single track mountain biking trails in Jackson.

“We thought it could be an avenue the trail system could look at moving forward,” Carlson said. “We would really like to have a council member be part of the trail group. Those decisions don’t get made by a committee. We need the support of the city as well.”

Simpson pointed out that while there are some things that cities, counties or even school districts can do, a community grassroots effort is really crucial.

“It can make a difference in priorities a lot of times,” she said.

The trail group for example would need to have ties to the city, but without the push from a community group it may not happen.

“To address childcare, you need community partners. To address housing, you need community partners,” she said.

On the topic of housing, Simpson said another project 1590 will soon be working on is a community strategy session on housing.

“We want to get back to what 1590 was when it started and focus on finding solutions and building community groups together. One of the biggest things I’ve seen is the need for housing here in the Martin County area,” she said.

The plan is to kick it off in the fall and Project 1590 is going to bring in a consultant to facilitate the event.

Another thing Project 1590 can do is serve as a fiscal sponsor.

“We’ve been trying to get the word out. They are their own project and we’re our own entity but sometimes groups need a fiscal sponsor for a grant because they don’t qualify,” Simpson explained.

Simpson said some of the organizations they’ve assisted this way include the Fairmont Track Association and Fairmont Farmers’ Market.

Some other communities have groups similar to Project 1590 and Simpsons said in her experience any community that has strong community groups do better overall.

“They can thrive. They’re vibrant,” she said.

In addition to the trail project and housing survey, Project 1590 as a whole just plans to keep working on identifying community needs.

“We’d like to continue to grow the projects we have and make them more successful,” Simpson said.

For more information, visit project1590.com