MINNEAPOLIS — There will be no curfew Friday night, but Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey has extended his emergency declaration through Monday until 6 a.m., just in case things pickup again over the weekend.
As the area in downtown Minneapolis continues to heal, downtown leaders are preparing for the future.
"Its been a tough summer, its been one thing after another," said Steve Cramer, President and CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council.
Leaders with the council say as the times we’re facing continue to change, there’s no better time than now to prepare for a better future.
"Many of the businesses downtown have had great success in our downtown. We’re going through a difficult period no doubt. There’s a possibility of having great success in the future if they can hang in there," said Cramer.
Success on the way in the form of investments and new business ventures.
"Not the least of which is the renovation of the old Dayton's Department Store which will be a multi-tenant retail, entertainment, office complex," said Cramer.
However, expansion plans mean nothing for the businesses who’ve already decided to call it quits in the wake of mass destruction in the area, citing safety concerns, and a need for more police.
"We see the department is stretched very thin right now," said Cramer. He went on to say, "we do the best we can working with them and we also bring other resources in. You see our ambassadors down the street here, social outreach programs, other community assets that we’ve melded together into an overall safety program.
Downtown leaders say the area will bounce back through resilience, bigger and better, despite all the civil unrest and businesses making the decision to leave the area.
"It kind of started here because of the George Floyd killing, and that’s on us, and we’ve got to look into our souls and figure out how we can do better, but if we can figure that out then I think we can be a model for the rest of the country," said Cramer.
On Friday, the mayor touched on the fact that property crime is up 3.9% compared to this time last year, and the city is in discussions over how to keep future property damages from happening again.