St. Cloud’s Mayor Outlines Vision For A Vibrant Downtown

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- St. Cloud Mayor Jake Anderson delivered his first State of the City Address Tuesday afternoon at City Hall.

The three main areas he focused on were the city's commitment to the residents, what they've been working on since he became mayor, and where the city is headed.

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He says he's committed to redeveloping the downtown as the Comprehensive Plan process winds down. One key area in the plan will be a vision for the Stearns County campus area.

We envision it more as a housing-type stock in that area.  There are other ideas to perhaps relocate the Metro Bus terminal to the far side of that property.  A number of thoughts will be going through.  I think if I asked everyone to raise their hand, how long we've been talking about redeveloping the downtown, almost everyone's hand would go up. I'm going to challenge us for the next three years to really work on progress on developing it.  We're going to do what we can to get the catalyst sites moving.

The city has bonding requests in at the State Legislature for 5th Avenue from downtown to St. Cloud State University, and for a new Riverwalk along the Mississippi River.

Anderson says other city projects in the works for 2026 include the Pantown Neighborhood Phase 6 improvements, and improving the look of the city's roundabouts, similar to what Sartell's look like.

Anderson's recap of completed projects since he's been in office includes Lincoln Avenue, Pantown neighborhood Phase 5, Salem Lutheran Community Outpost, and the park projects at Whitney, Woodland Hills, Centennial, and 10/10 parks.

He calls the federal immigration enforcement and the community response the toughest thing he's had to face since he's been mayor.