MINNEAPOLIS — City and downtown leaders announced how much funding is set to support recommendations received from a task force that was established to help revitalize downtown.
Mayor Jacob Frey convened the Vibrant Downtown Storefronts Workgroup last year, and the group released several recommendations for the city this past June.
"One of them was to expand on Chameleon Shoppes," the mayor said during a press conference Friday.
Chameleon Shoppes specializes in bringing BIPOC- and women-owned businesses into vacant spaces. One such business is FX Minnesota. The apparel retailer moved into the IDS Center's Crystal Court about a year and a half ago.
The mayor met with Council members Lisa Goodman and Michael Rainville at the store to make the funding announcement.
Joining them were Interim City Operations Officer Heather Johnston, Interim Director of Community Planning and Economic Development Erik Hansen, and workgroup co-chairs Gabrielle Grier, CIO of the African American Leadership Forum, and Steve Cramer, president and CEO of the MPLS Downtown Council and Downtown Improvement District.
"We allocated $750,000 to expand on this Chameleon Shoppes vision to activate some of these vacant and underutilized spaces," Frey said.
The funding is part of the mayor's proposed 2024 budget.
"But those are not the only recommendations that we're implementing," he continued. "We're right on Nicollet Mall and we know that for Nicollet Mall to be successful, it needs to go through a change itself."
Frey says the goal is to get bus traffic off Nicollet Mall and make the area a pedestrian-only zone.
"To make sure that people can walk down this beautiful pedestrian mall without concern of getting hit by an automobile or a bus," he said.
Downtown leaders also laid out what's happening along Nicollet Mall through the holiday season.
"There are 485 events between Thanksgiving and New Year's on our calendar," Cramer said.
Starting Saturday, Nov. 25, the city and partners plan to activate 10 new holiday windows on Nicollet Mall. This will continue through January.
"These windows will feature 10 sculptures from the historic collection of Dayton's holiday displays," Johnston explained. "In addition to this, the Art & Cultural Affairs Department is actively working with businesses to reimagine a culture cluster …The area is proposed to be called the Downtown Art Loop."
She says fashion designers, art galleries, theaters, film companies and other creatives will be filling vacant storefronts.
Nov. 16, nearly 80 local entrepreneurs will also temporarily set up their own shops within Dayton's.
"And by the way, you're going to be able to go into Dayton's and get your Santa Bear," Frey said.
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