Live Blog | City’s Update: Chateau, Transportation, and Standards

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This shot of U.S. Highway 52 highlights Rochester’s transportation artery and it’s fastest route to the Twin Cities and Minneapolis-St Paul Airport.

Transportation

Rochester City Administrator Stevan Kvenvold said the City shares the Board’s emphasis on early transportation planning as essential to long-term development of Destination Medical Center.

Part of that will mean working to define specific plans and work with the Federal Department of Transportation to secure grants and funding for the projects, something the City intends to undertake in partnership with the Rochester-Olmsted Planning Department.

Chateau Theatre

While the transportation piece will be critical to setting the stage for resident and visitor movement into and throughout Rochester, Kvenvold’s updates on the Chateau Theatre will perhaps be of more import to local residents who have championed preservation and re-opening of the historical landmark.

The city’s bid to purchase the Chateau from its current owner is tentatively set to finalize within the next “couple of weeks,” Kvenvold said.

“We’re looking forward to the (deal) closing and moving forward with the reuse of that structure,” Kvenvold said.

Rochester Mayor and DMC Corporation Board Member Ardell Brede reported also that a public group overseeing the public deployment of the Chateau met for the first time last week. The Chateau Theatre Re-Use Task Force held its first meeting on September 17 inside the theater.

Standards

The DMC District map above shows the boundaries of where DMC projects can be built.
The DMC District map above shows the boundaries of where DMC projects can be built.

A third piece of the City’s update included an announcement that Rochester plans to hire Metropolitan Design Center of the University of Minnesota to develop specific criteria that will help to standardize the application process.

The Design Center will work with the City, the DMC Economic Development Agency, and the Rochester-Olmsted Planning Department to establish:

  • Minimum standards to be incorporation into zoning ordinaces
  • A guide for streetscapes
  • Standards for projects to secure additional funding

The goal of this initiative will be to standardize the way investors and developers both apply for and are evaluated on applications to initiate projects within the DMC District.