Sartell Community Engages In Mill District Project Open House

SARTELL (WJON News) -- An area city's vision for a major redevelopment project is starting to come into focus. The City of Sartell held an open house for the Mill District at City Hall on Monday afternoon. The public was able to attend to get a glimpse of the future, ask questions, and see marketing materials.

Paul Habstritt, WJON

City Administrator Anna Gruber says the city council is cautiously optimistic about the future of the site:

"We all acknowledge and know that that site has a lot of constraints and challenges with it that make it really difficult to redevelop, and so we're tempering the excitement as well, recognizing that it's going to be challenging to find a user and the right user that we want, cause we want to protect the community in what we're bringing in there and are going to be somewhat picky in that selection process."

The Mill District will go live on real estate listings starting on July 1st, and the multi-use trail should be ready to use in some capacity by this fall.

Paul Habstritt, WJON

The Mill District could include docks, boat rentals, and other public amenities.

Gruber says they had a great turnout, and the community is excited about the potential public use amenities:

"People are just excited to be able to use the site. We stuck with the public amenities aspect and public use of the site, which is originated from that community visioning, and so the River Walk Trail, and being able to have docks and access to the water. It's just amazing to see the smiles on their faces and how excited they are about finally having a location in our region where they can access the river."

Gruber says they are still probably about two years away from getting any deals done and groundbreaking to take place, but everyone is optimistic about what is yet to come. The open house ran from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. on Monday.

Paul Habstritt, WJON

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