Star Tribune
Years in the making, Rochester closing in on site for $65M regional sports complex
ROCHESTER – Voters here approved a $205 million local sales referendum last fall largely on the promise of a spectacular new regional sports complex that would add tons of recreational space to the city.
More than eight months later, that promise is closer to coming to fruition.
Rochester officials are close to choosing a site for the sports complex after years of discussions, offering the first real glimpse of the estimated $65 million facility. City staff have narrowed down three possible sites for the complex and will make recommendations to the Rochester City Council within the next few weeks.
“That would give us our direction to firm up that preferred site,” said Ben Boldt, Rochester’s head of recreation and sports.
The sites include part of the former IBM campus in the northwest part of town, as well as land owned by Seneca Foods near the Shoppes on Main commercial district by 45th Street SE. A third site just northwest of the city in Kalmar Township — off Valleyhigh Drive and the 60th Avenue roundabout — also is under consideration.
All three sites have space for the proposed 125,000-square foot complex, which would occupy up to 90 acres of land. Boldt said the sites were chosen above others closer to the downtown area because they’re easily accessible by highway and large enough to accommodate the city’s plans, as well as potential future expansions.
“We really envision this facility being both a great community resource but also having that regional impact in events,” Boldt said.
The complex has been in the works for several years, but city officials have faced hiccups along the project’s track.
It was included in Rochester’s 2022 local sales tax referendum proposal, but didn’t get lawmaker approval that year after the Minnesota Legislature adjourned without a tax bill. Around the same time, the Rochester City Council voted down a $60,000 proposal to hire LSE Architects out of Minneapolis for predesign work on the complex, citing concerns over spending money on a project that hadn’t received the necessary legislative approval to bring before voters.
The council rectified those concerns last year once lawmakers signed off on bringing a sales tax referendum before voters last fall. Consultant ISG surveyed residents for several months before issuing recommendations.
Under the proposal, the complex would have 12 multiuse outdoor turf fields for various sports as well as a dozen pickleball courts and a basketball court. Inside, the gymnasium would have enough space for eight full-sized basketball courts (or 16 volleyball courts), as well as play areas for children, changing rooms, rock climbing fixtures and room for future expansions among other features.
It also would be set up to host regional tournaments and could economically benefit the area by as much as $13 million to $46 million annually, according to ISG’s projections.
“With the limited facilities in Rochester … the city has the opportunity to develop a significant client base within the local and sub-regional market,” consultants wrote in a July 2023 report.
The complex is expected to run at a shortfall of a little more than $50,000 a year.
Rochester officials are partnering with outside group Oak View Group-Sports Academy to help design the complex and operate the complex once construction’s complete, likely in 2026.
Oak View Group-Sports Academy will conduct another market survey to tweak the current proposal before finalizing plans. If all goes well, construction will start in spring 2025.
While Timberwolves guard Mike Conley was in Minneapolis for Sunday’s Minnesota Vikings home game, where he fired up the crowd before kickoff, his west-metro home was targeted by burglars, police said Wednesday.
The break-in of Conley’s sprawling residence in Medina occurred mid-afternoon Sunday and was the second of three carried out that day by at least two suspects while the homes were unoccupied, said Police Chief Jason Nelson.
In each instance, the chief said, the thieves got away with a yet-to-be determined amount of jewelry.
The perpetrators “may have done some surveillance or figured out some patterns” of the people who lived at the homes before striking, Nelson said.
In each case, the suspects approached the houses from the rear, broke in through lower-level windows, entered primary bedrooms, scooped up what jewels they could and were out within five minutes, the chief said.
Video surveillance at the Conley home on the southwest side of the city captured the image of a vehicle driving off that might be tied to the suspects. Nelson said there have yet to be any arrests.
One of the other homes was down the street from Conley’s, while the third was on the southeast side of Medina, the chief said.
Conley’s multimillion-dollar residence sits along a road with few other homes within shouting distance.
If someone glues countless seeds and beans onto a board to create your likeness, the correct response is thank you.
Minnesota artist Christy Klancher bent over her canvas, manipulating tiny grains of millet and quinoa with a toothpick tipped with Elmer’s glue, nudging split peas into tidy rows. Around her in the sweltering Agriculture/Horticulture building at the Minnesota State Fair, crowds watched this crop art demonstration avidly. Millet face. Wild rice mullet. Poppy-seed eyes a-twinkle. A portrait of ex-teen idol John Stamos was coming together before their very eyes, a face familiar to any eyes that witnessed the 1990s firsthand.
What, you might ask, was the response from Stamos to this ultimate of Minnesota honors, being rendered in crop art?
“Crap art,” the small-screen star posted on X, with a photo of his seed-and-bean doppelganger.
Now there’s going to be weirdness between us, John Stamos.
There’s a story behind this incredibly niche crop art beef, so gather around, Minnesota, and learn the story of Riot Fest, an excellent Chicago music festival that has been trying to lure Stamos — best known for playing Uncle Jesse on saccharine ‘90s sitcom “Full House” — into its lineup for years.
Riot Fest — unofficial and irreverent motto: “Riot Fest Sucks” — has carved Stamos in butter, curated an exhibit of fine Stamos art and hired other celebrities to stand in for him and pledge never to set foot on the fest.
Riot Fest 2024 runs from Sept. 22-24 in Chicago’s Douglass Park with a lineup of more than 90 acts, from Beck to Public Enemy to St. Vincent to Rob Zombie to Waxahatchee. Stamos, once again, is a no-show.
Kevin Ulmer, head coach of the Bemidji State University women’s volleyball team for nine seasons, has died after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 41.
Ulmer died Tuesday afternoon surrounded by his family, according to an announcement from the school.
“We are heartbroken to lose our colleague, our coach, and our friend Kevin Ulmer,” Bemidji State Director of Athletics Britt Lauritsen said in a statement.
Friday’s match at University of Minnesota Crookston has been canceled, the school said.
Ulmer came to Bemidji State in 2016 after serving as head volleyball coach at Bethel College (Ind.) for four seasons and earlier as an assistant coach at Georgetown College (Ky.).
He graduated from Northwestern College (Iowa) in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health education, and earned his master’s degree in biomechanics and exercise physiology at the University of Kentucky.
Since taking over the program in 2016, 30 of his players have earned Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference All-Academic Team honors
He also coached two All-NSIC selections, Jessica Yost and Rylie Bjerklie, in one of the toughest volleyball conferences in NCAA Div. II.
