Treedome in Rochester May Close Due to Downtown Project

Last week, a proposal to add additions to a portion of Historic Downtown Rochester was approved.

Many Rochester residents were not happy about the results and responded by putting together a petition in hopes of getting Mayor Norton to veto the decision. On Monday, the Mayor announced that she will not be issuing a veto.

This proposed project, if it moves forward as planned, may force a local business to close. Treedome record store and live music venue's location is proposed to have the entrance turned into a lobby.

Will Rochester, MN Businesses Close Because of the New Construction Proposal?

Based on what I've seen of the proposal that was approved, here's what the plan is.

These additions will be added behind and above what is, right now, Cafe Steam, the Rochester Downtown Alliance office, Threshold Arts, and Treedome.

The additions will be a total of 7 stories, standing 5 stories taller than the existing buildings. They will also be at least 40 feet back from Broadway or, at maximum, 80 feet back, so it won't be directly over the current businesses.

Nothing explicitly says that these businesses in question will close (unless the construction headache proves to be too much), however, Treedome is in a really bad spot it seems.

KROC-AM writes that in the proposal that was approved, the plan calls for "a conversion of the entrance to the 309 building, [which is currently Treedome], into a two-story lobby while maintaining the current facade".

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No where does it explicitly say Treedome will be forced to close, but it kind of seems like that would be the case if the entire entrance is being reconstructed and turned into a lobby area.

The owners of Treedome, Maggie Panetta and Nathaniel Nelson, spoke with MPR about the planned project. MPR writes, "They will likely have to relocate their record store and music venue if [the] proposed residential development of their property moves forward."

Treedome also address the situation on their Facebook, writing:

To address the elephant in the room, what does this mean for the shop? Right now, NOTHING - no shows are getting canceled, and we are staying open. There are still many steps before development starts which will take a long time to fully kick in.
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We will make sure we can keep the DIY scene in Rochester kicking wherever we land next. Y’all need a space to play, and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure you’ve still got one with us.