Tag: Destination Medical Center

Live Blog | 2016: “Our Year of Building Momentum”

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Heart of the City, seen above, represents the heart of downtown. This district creates a true center of Rochester, a crossroads where Mayo Clinic, commercial, retail, and residential meet.

DMC Corporation Board member and Mayo Clinic Trustee Bill George called 2016 “our year of building momentum.”

As he has done at several previous DMC Corporation Board meetings, George continued to emphasize a strong focus on the Heart of the City sub-district.

“All the citizens, all the visitors to Rochster need to see improvements,” George said. “It’s incumbent upon us to get that moving quickly.”

George also suggested the DMC Economic Development Agency begin detailing plans for development of Heart of the City.

“We need to back this and get it moving,” George said. “We need to have specific milestones by which we can measure progress.”

Live Blog | Public Comment at DMC Corporation Board Meeting

Historic preservation remains top of mind for some of those following DMC and the DMC Corporation Board of Governors. At this morning’s public comment period, one person implored the board to watch closely the “power brokers” in Rochester and Minnesota, who are looking to profit from downtown development.

“Be aware of the motivations of the power brokers,” she said. “We feel that we are being rolled over.”

Citing the Connolly Building on Fourth Ave, the visitor admonished that public officials should take a more vigilant and proactive role in preserving Rochester’s historical buildings and landmarks.

“I believe that this board is sincere about historical preservation,” she said.

Board members, including Rochester Mayor Ardell Brede, affirmed the visitor’s desire to preserve local history, but challenged her assertion that not enough is being done in this regard.

Brede called attention to efforts currently underway to preserve and enhance buildings throughout downtown Rochester, including:

  • Former Senior Center – “the castle building”
  • Chateau Theatre
  • Connolly Building

DMC Corporation Board Chair Tina Smith, also affirmed the desire to preserve local history. January’s DMC Corporation Board meeting is slated to have a full discussion about historic preservation and how the DMC Corporation can help, she said.

“I’m very much looking forward to that discussion,” Smith said.

Chateau Memories — a third-generation Rochesterite reflects on her family’s role in construction and maintenance of the historic theater

Lifelong Rochester resident and Mayo Clinic employee Rebecca Peterson's family has unique ties to the Chateau Theater on Peace Plaza--her grandfather plastered the original cityscape inside the auditorium, and her father worked on a mid-century restoration.
Lifelong Rochester resident and Mayo Clinic employee Rebecca Peterson has unique ties to the Chateau Theater on Peace Plaza: Her grandfather plastered the original cityscape inside the auditorium, and her father worked on a mid-century restoration.

Rebecca Peterson reflects fondly on the one-of-a-kind auditorium inside the Chateau Dodge Theatre, wading into childhood memories of stars twinkling overhead as she and her siblings settled in for a Disney triple feature. That was about 40 years ago, when First Street was still open to downtown traffic and the Chateau Theatre was in the regular business of showing movies.

“I remember just sitting there looking up at the stars,” Peterson said. “I probably didn’t get much out of the movie at all.”

DMC Corporation Public Hearing on 4/23

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The Destination Medical Center Corporation will hold a public hearing on Thursday, April 23 to consider the Destination Medical Center Development Plan for adoption. This is the last step along the path to adopting the Development Plan, so please bring your thoughts and input. The DMC Corporation Board of Directors wants to hear from you.

Rochester Ranked Second-Best Place to Live in the U.S.

Don’t take our word for it—Rochester, Minn. is officially a great place to live. At least according to Liveability.com, which ranked Rochester as the second-best place to live in the United States for 2015.

This is the second year in a row that Rochester has made the top-10 list of “best places to live” in the U.S. from Liveability, with our fair city improving over the No. 7 spot earned in 2014. At the risk of sounding overly self important, Liveability cited DMC and the projected job growth as a primary factor for the bump in this year’s ranking.

Live Blogging from DMCC Board Meeting on Thursday

We will be live blogging from the Destination Medical Center Corporation Board of Directors meeting on Thursday morning. Check in often for updates as they happen, and follow @DMCMN for updates in your Twitter feed. As with all public DMCC Board meetings, a live video feed is available through Ustream.

Among the highlights scheduled for this meeting are:

– Handover of the DMC draft Development Plan to the City of Rochester
– Presentation from the Economic Development Agency Board
– Review of the DMC mission, vision, and goals

A complete agenda and board packet are available for download from the DMCC website.

Check out the video below for a review of last month’s meeting, which includes a 45-minute presentation of the draft DMC Development Plan.

DMCC Board Meeting This Week

The Destination Medical Center Corporation Board of Directors meets from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Thursday, January 29 in the Riverview Room, Suite C of the Mayo Civic Center.

Agenda items include: formal transmittal of the Draft DMC Development Plan to the City of Rochester, a presentation from the Economic Development Agency Board and City, and a review of the DMC mission, vision, and goals.

The complete agenda and meeting packet is posted on our Events page at least 72 hours before scheduled meetings. It is also available here for download: DMCC Board Packet 1-29-2015

How to Attend

When: 9:30-noon on Thursday, January 29
In person: Mayo Civic Center, Riverview Room, Suite C
30 Civic Center Drive SE
Rochester, MN 55904
Online: Live streamTwitter, and the DMC Blog