Watershed moment for the community

To the Editor:

The 1590 Project, the Fairmont Area Community Center Foundation (FACCF) and the Community Center Advisory Board (CCAB) have claimed that having a community center will bring future growth to our community and prevent a decline in population. They state, “This is yet another watershed moment for our community and city council to decide if Fairmont will join the long list of prospering communities that enjoy the benefits of a community center.”

Using Wikipedia and Data USA, I have researched several communities in southcentral Minnesota that have either a community center or a YMCA. Below are some of my findings.

The City of Albert Lea has a YMCA which was built with private donations and has been in existence since 1914. Both the City of Albert Lea and the surrounding county of Freeborn have lost population since 1990. The current population of Albert Lea is 17,656 which is an 8 percent decrease from the population of 19,200 in 1990, while the Freeborn County population sits at 30,895 residents, which is a 16 percent decrease since the 1990 population of 33,329. Albert Lea is at the intersection of two major highways, Interstate 35 and Interstate 90 and is less than 100 miles from Minneapolis and about 40 miles from Rochester. It has a community college that enrolls just under 2,000 students and has a major medical, manufacturing, transportation and logistics services as well as farming.

New Ulm has a community center located in the original Vogel Hockey Arena which was built in 1980. New Ulm built the new civic center hockey arena in 2003 and they also have a community center that was built on the existing structure. The facility has been run through the Parks and Recreation Department since the 1990s and is funded by a local sales tax. The current population of New Ulm is 14,120 which is a 3 percent increase or about 988 people since 1990 when the population was 13,132. Which equates to 33 people per year or 0.02 percent per year growth, which can easily be attributed to the birthrate of 11 births per 1000 people for the state. The surrounding county of Brown has a current population of 25,912 which is a 5 percent decrease since 1990.

New Ulm is home to Martin Luther College, a private four-year school with enrollment of just under 1,000 students. New Ulm’s major employers are healthcare and manufacturing with Kraft Foods, Shells Beer and 3M having manufacturing plants there. New Ulm is located less than 30 miles from Mankato, a city of close to 50,000 people, with many residents commuting to work in Mankato.

These are just two examples, but as you can see, building a community center will not necessarily be the answer to the problems facing Fairmont. One thing that sets us apart from other communities is our chain of five lakes, which are under utilized. We are known as the “City of Lakes” but would you encourage your friends and family to come to Fairmont and spend a hot July day in what we presently have to offer as green, soupy, smelly lakes? News flash – We also get our drinking water from these same lakes.

Bill Cieslinski

Fairmont