FAIRMONT– The Greater Plaza Area Council (GPAC) met on Wednesday to talk about some events, both new and tried and true, that are coming to Downtown Plaza in the coming months.

One of the new events coming to Downtown Plaza is Vault the Plaza, which is being spearheaded by Crystal Hanson of the Fairmont Track Association. The event is planned to be held June 27 but Hanson said it’s likely it will start a day early, on June 26, due to the high amount of entires.

“We are going to put a full pole vault runway and competition right in the middle of the street. It’s going to be amazing,” she said. “For sure we’ll run all day Saturday. The first flight is going to start at 8:30 or 9 (a.m.) and run until probably 6:30 or 7 at night.”

Right now she said a 120 ft. long raised runway is being built and Fairmont High School’s pole vault pit will be borrowed for the event.

Hanson said they originally talked about closing down all four blocks of downtown for the event but the middle two will likely be the only two closed as she said there’s a wind block there from the buildings. She also said those streets are a little more level, which will be ideal for pole vaulting.

As for why the event is going to take place downtown, Hanson said, “what’s important for me is to drive traffic downtown. It’s something fun for the community and I want it to benefit everyone.”

She added that she hopes downtown businesses can run specials or do something in conjunction with the event happening those days.

While she’s been asked to have food trucks be a part of it, Hanson said she would rather have people utilize the downtown restaurants but that the Sip Haus food truck will be on site serving dirty sodas and other drinks.

Speaking to the high interest in the event, Hanson explained that from June 23-25 there is a pole vault camp taking place at Fairmont High School which many athletes are traveling here to attend.

“We’ve got 40 kids coming from everywhere. There’s a couple of college kids coming. They’re coming from everywhere,” Hanson said.

She said a good number of them are going to stay an extra few days to attend the Vault the Plaza event. She also said that it will be a USATF-sanctioned track event and that officials will be there to run the scores.

Hanson said she reached out to a few groups looking for volunteers, and also acknowledged that there are some other events going on that same weekend, such as the Minnesota Youth Livestock Expo (MYLO) and a home baseball tournament, which she said could work to their favor.

“I think the fun of it is, people who are in town for those things can come and discover something really wild downtown,” Hanson said with a laugh.

Anyone who is interested in participating, sponsoring, or learning more about the event can search Vault the Plaza on Facebook or email Hanson at cnhansonfmt@gmail.com.

The group also talked about Crazy Days and set the dates as July 16, 17 and 18. Ways to boost participation, both from businesses and the community were discussed. On July 16 one of Imagine Martin’s Art Marts is scheduled to be held so it was said that having another event happening downtown could help increase foot traffic and thus create more shoppers for the downtown retail stores.

Prowl the Plaza, the annual trick-or-treat event that has been successful the past two years, was set for Friday, Oct. 30 as Halloween is on a Saturday and many of the downtown businesses won’t be open during the evening. In the last two years, hundreds of people have come through downtown to not only trick-or-treat at the storefronts, but to trunk-or-treat from the businesses who are not based downtown but who are invited to come set up for the event.

Potential dates for the annual Sip & Shop were also discussed and will be talked about further with the Fairmont Area Chamber of Commerce.

Celia Viesselman, who previously worked with the group through her role in the Martin County EDA, was present as a member of Project 1590 to talk about GPAC’s future with Main Street America.

In October 2024, GPAC had asked the city council for its support in joining Minnesota Main Streets, a branch of Main Street America. The organization has a goal of helping to re-energize and strengthen downtowns nationwide and Steve Hawkins of Project 1590 had introduced GPAC to it.

On Wednesday Viesselman acknowledged that GPAC is coming up to the end of its free two-year trial with Minnesota Main Street and she asked the group whether it wanted to continue with the membership. She also acknowledged that Hawkins no longer lives in the community and would not be able to be involved with it anymore.

“There’s so much beyond running your business that has to happen,” Viesselman told those present. “It’s the policies that the city has in place, it’s how nice to city looks when you walk down the street, if there’s sidewalks, if there’s parking, if there’s funding to help you improve your exterior, things like that.”

She asked what questions the group had and Sara Cyphers of D & S Trophies said she hadn’t seen much benefit from being a free member of the organization yet, but said that she could see the value in it if someone could help take charge.

Viesselman said that she could talk to Amber Patten with CEDA or Kandi Menne with the Fairmont Area Chamber of Commerce to see if they could step in to help facilitate and lead the program at the local level.

Speaking more of Minnesota Main Street, Viesselman said, “Sometimes there are grant opportunities that can come up for businesses… the bigger piece I would say is if there’s an issue, you can ask any other downtown group and learn from them. They have regular calls, regular webinars and things like that.”

Cyphers said GPAC had looked and decided they could pay for membership to Minnesota Main Street in order to get some more of the benefits. Viesselman was going to look up costs of the various tiers as she said they had recently changed.