WILLMAR BLEND FESTIVAL--June 2009

Downtown Willmar has always been the place people gather. They have come for festivals, shopping, plays, meals, and the weekly farmers’ market. They have come for school, for church, for work, and to check out books. They have come from nearby neighborhoods, from the prairies and lakes and farm fields of western Minnesota, and from the far corners of the world: Germany, Mexico, Norway, Somalia, Sweden.

Downtown Willmar is a commons--a public commons that draws people together. A commons should be festive, clean, and well-maintained. It should have places to sit, places to have lunch outdoors, places to stroll and run and bike. It should have room for parks and artworks. It should be easy to get to and easy to navigate by car, by bike, or on foot. It should contribute to the whole region’s bottom line by bringing in new businesses, bringing people to existing businesses, and bringing residents to homes and apartments. It should build on what we have but give us even more. The Willmar Design Center is working on all these things. We’re making progress, but we have a ways to go. We need your help.

Your gracious assistance will help us improve downtown Willmar as a public commons. Here are some specific things we are doing:

• Becker Avenue could become a “complete street”. With public and city input, a preliminary design was created that would transform five blocks of Willmar’s market and festival street.
• Cars and parking would still be allowed, but there would also be public plazas and parks; new gardens for helping manage runoff from rainstorms; improved space for the Becker Market, Holidaze, and other festivals; and room for the possible extension of the Glacial Lakes State Trail into downtown.
• The next step, just taken this month, is working with the city to hire an expert consultant to take the design to the next level of detail and help us find out what construction will cost.
• A Minneapolis firm has been chosen: Hoisington Koegler Inc. Design work will begin this summer.
• The Willmar Design Center was also a successful grant applicant to the Willmar Area Community Foundation in the amount of $4,500. for permanent street furniture for the proposed Becker Avenue Project.
• Selvig Park has just been refreshed--a joint effort between the Willmar Design Center and the city. More color, more flowers and a new bright green hedge.
  
• You can support our efforts by becoming a sponsor and participant in our annual
  fundraising event--Willmar Blend.
• We welcome dollars and in-kind donations, volunteer help!
  

WILLMAR BLEND history....WB began in 2008 as a fundraising effort to improve Becker Avenue from First Street to Sixth Street. In our first fundraising attempt, we raised enough money to place much-needed outlets on both sides of Becker between 4th & 5th. Becker Market, Holidaze, Willmar Blend, Willmar Fests Block Party and Celebrate Art Celebrate Coffee can all access these plugins.

The mission of the Willmar Design Center is to bring community activities to downtown Willmar, blending our heritage, our cultures, our diversity. The State Demographer’s office says that the diversity in Willmar is the look of all Minnesota towns in the year 2020.
Other Willmar Design Center projects:

1. Successful applicant for Transportation funds to connect downtown Willmar
   to Robbins Island--over the 1st Street Bridge with a safe crossing at Ella Avenue--
   with prairie plantings, too! $135,000.
2. Successful applicant for a Minnesota Department of Employment and
   Economic Development (DEED) grant in 2009. Money will be used for
   upgrading storefronts and improving buildings. $820,000.
3. Successful applicant to Willmar Community Foundation for to expand
   Becker Market. $4,500.
4. Successful fundraising to pay consultant fees for Becker Avenue Project.
   $25,000.
5. Successful Valspar Paint Grants: 1) The Barn Theatre Shed, 2) Mural facing
   Rice Hospital front door, 3) Paint on hand to eradicate graffiti. Paint at no
   cost, volunteer labor.
6. Lamppost Basket Flowers. Volunteers fundraise for this annual planting each
   year. Average cost per year: $9,000.
7. Becker Market, June through September. This is our 4th year. Staffed by
   WDC volunteers and supported by minimal vendor fees and sales at Becker
   Market Cafe.
8. Holidaze Parade and Festivities in November each year. Staffed by volunteers
   and funded by WDC.
   

Stay tuned! More projects in the works! Thank you for your continued support to make downtown Willmar the best it can be! Willmar Design Center, 333 Litchfield Avenue SW, Suite One, Willmar, MN 56201