A new report states that Rochester’s new six billion dollar Destination Medical Center district should expand existing district energy systems, encourage or require developers to follow state efficiency building requirements and maximize onsite renewable energy. The multi-billion-dollar plan calls for attracting developers over the next two decades to construct 12 million square feet of offices in an effort to create 35-to-45-thousand jobs.
Month: January 2016
Post Bulletin: Public spaces take stage in DMC spotlight
Public spaces are as integral to Destination Medical Center plans as the private development that will surround them, and the Rochester City Council is nearly ready to take a step ahead in designing those spaces.
The council at a Monday committee of the whole meeting discussed plans to advertise for public space design services, for the DMC subdistrict Heart of the City. The city would coordinate with the DMC Corp. Board to issue a request for proposals, said Gary Neumann, assistant city administrator.
Post Bulletin: Community engagement offers promise
Flurries of questions and conversation filled the spaces between people in two rooms at Forager Brewery on Thursday. Discussions compared the difference between a tunnel and a subway, between 30-year-old plans and current proposals and between what the landscape looks like today and the potential for decades in the future.
Ultimately, the focus of the gathering hosted by Imagine Kutzky was Rochester’s Second Street Southwest Corridor and what potential changes mean for the rest of Rochester.
Just as important, however, is what such an event means for the city and its residents. Conducted in an informal style, the gathering provided ample opportunity to connect with local activists, business leaders and city officials, all with the goal of sharing ideas and gathering information.
Urbanization in Rochester
Metropolitan areas are growing faster than the country as a whole. In fact, it is estimated that 86% of Americans will live in a metro area in 2016.
With the anticipation of adding about 35,000 additional jobs in Rochester over the next 20 years as part of the DMC plan, a surge in urbanization, which is the increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas, is highly likely.
There are a number of factors driving this urban growth, not the least of which is an innate desire for humans to be connected to one another. “We are social beings by nature. Even introverted people want to feel a sense of community,” says Lindsey Meek, civil engineer, neighborhood leader for the Downtown Neighborhood Association, and downtown resident.
Enhancing indoor quality of life: The Well Living Lab
On average, Americans spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors. From living and working to shopping and working out, exposure to indoor environments is at an all-time high. The Well Living Lab, a collaboration between the Mayo Clinic and Delos, is exploring how our health and wellbeing is affected by all of the time we are spending inside.
The purpose of the Well Living Lab is to study these indoor environments and create healthier indoor spaces in which to live, work, and play. Focused exclusively on human-centered research, the lab is the first of its kind. By maintaining an unprecedented degree of control over the research variables it is testing, the researchers are able to manipulate and test almost any type of indoor environment.
Q&A with Limb Lab’s Brandon Sampson
The mission of the Destination Medical Center (DMC) initiative is to attract people, investment, and jobs to America’s City for Health and support the economic growth of Minnesota, its bioscience sector, and beyond.
Local musician, prosthetist, and owner/founder of Limb Lab, Brandon Sampson sits down with DMC to answer some questions about his passion for helping people with prosthetic devices return to living life and embracing their “wearable art.” His story is just one of many in our community that align with the DMC vision to provide the ideal patient, companion, visitor, and community member experience.
MPR News: City of Rochester buys historic theater with help from Mayo
The city of Rochester has closed on the $6 million purchase of the historic Chateau Theatre.
The theater purchase is considered a Destination Medical Center project, which allows the expense to count toward the city’s $128 million contribution for public infrastructure costs. The Mayo Clinic paid $500,000 of the deal.
Rochester City Council President Randy Staver said it’s still unclear what the building’s long-term use and financial model will be.