ABOVE: Looking west down Lake Avenue in Fairmont. While a portion of the project was tackled in 2025, the rest of the project will be completed in 2026.

FAIRMONT– A number of large projects in the city of Fairmont either finished or started this year. Some were planned to continue over a span of more than one year and some saw delays that have pushed them into a 2026 completion date.

Public Works Director, Matthew York, gave a recap of some of the projects. He said that Lake Avenue did not get completed as originally planned.

“There were construction delays and underground infrastructure (problems),” York said.

He acknowledged that some people are upset that the project is not finished. He pointed out that if the road could have been closed to through traffic, work could have gone faster, but that there are businesses on the street that needed to be accessed.

“It was a very large project with unforeseen conditions,” York said.

The project includes a total reconstruction from Fairlakes Road to Bixby Road with a new concrete road surface, curb and gutter, new water main and service connections to the curb stops, sanitary sewer main and service connections to the property line and new sewers.

The total cost came in at about $6.4 million, but the city received $1.5 million in a Local Road Improvement grant to go toward the project and it’s using about $2.6 million in Municipal State Aid Street funds. Finally, about $1.4 million in bonding improvement funds and $943,000 in direct assessments are being used to fund the project.

While originally expected to be completed by Nov. 21, crews stopped working around Thanksgiving. York said they will start again, weather-permitting.

“Frost has to be out of the ground because they have to dig up all of the rock that’s there now,” York said.

The old road has been removed and, while some of the new surface went down, a portion of the road is just left as exposed rock, which York said the city will maintain throughout the winter.

“It was fine but then when it got warm, the rocks shifted so we had to go back out with the diggers and clean it up,” York explained.

Another big project this year was the replacement of the north parking lot at Gomsrud Park. The project included the removal and replacement of boat ramps on both the Hall Lake and Budd Lake sides of the park.

The work started in August after several years of discussion and planning by the Fairmont City Council.

York said that the project is largely finished but that there needs to be some touch up work. He said the stormwater retention pond, which is a new addition due to environmental regulations the need to be complied with, still needs to be completed.

“The parking lot is completed. The lighting is in. It’s just some landscaping that needs to be done. It should be done around the first of June,” York said.

The bid for this project came in at $825,448 and is being paid for with liquor store funds.

The Sylvania Park Bandshell was another project that was largely completed this year.

“The only thing that’s left is they’re still waiting for some metal around the roof area. Everything is sealed. All of the windows and doors are in,” York said.

Work on the historic bandshell was done in two phases with the first, roof work, starting in 2023. The second phase, which included stucco work and repairs to the interior, was done over the summer and fall.

The goal of both the city and the Park Board was to finish up the project by 2026 as that is the 100th anniversary of the bandshell.

“It looks a little bit different than it did before. We tried to keep the same color and keep the same feel of it. We just freshened it up for upcoming years,” York said.

ABOVE: Work on the Bandshell at Sylvania Park in Fairmont was largely completed this year, just in time for its centennial in 2026.

Other projects that were in the works this year include a biosolids dryer system and ultraviolet light disinfection system and mechanicals at the wastewater treatment plant.

York said this work was refurbishment due to age and lifespan of equipment. The biosolids is also an enhancement of future needs.

This was one of the more expensive projects that the city is engaged in, coming in at about $32 million. Work actually started in November of last year and won’t be completed until November of next year. York explained that the replacement equipment is more costly.

A 2 million gallon ground storage tank will replace two old tanks from the 1930s out at the Industrial Park. York explained that the former tanks were previously ammonia tanks that the city took over around the 1960s and transformed into ground storage tanks.

“This is a new tank that’s currently operational but they’re doing some fine-tuning,” York said.

The $4 million tank was built on site and just last week, the old tanks were demolished.

Finally, the 10th Street substation project, which is a replacement of old equipment, was embarked on this year. York said it should be completed in 2026. Also in 2026, work will start on the West Industrial Park substation. It’s a new substation that will assist with power at the West Industrial Park and will be adjacent to the new ground storage tank.

Looking forward, some other large projects are slated for 2026 including the Blue Earth Avenue project, which much planning has been done for this year. Along with this, some infrastructure improvements should be completed on Downtown Plaza in 2026.

“Park Street is planned, from Blue Earth to 4th Street. It’s an underground infrastructure and roadway project,” York explained.

The inventory for the service lines project also started this year.

“We started talking to the residents about phase one for the project, which is north of Blue Earth to the railroad tracks. That’s the general area for phase one,” York said.

This multi-step project aims to eradicate all lead pipes per a state and federal mandate.