On Friday morning, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman joined the co-chairs of a business task force to unveil ambitious concept drawings for the vacant Macy’s department store, the empty Kellogg Boulevard government buildings, and two other downtown sites.
The unveiling irked some members of the city council, who said they did not learn of the event until Thursday. By then, it was too late for them to cancel their Friday morning appointments.
Nevertheless, St. Paul City Council Member Dave Thune, who represents downtown, said the city is on the right track by pitching bold plans. He attended Coleman’s annual State of the City address on Monday and was pretty cheery about what he heard.
“Chris has been a real trooper in not only hanging in there and being patient, but also being bold when he needed to be,” Thune said. “It’s great to get it all laid out like a road map. We really do have (developers) calling now about development. I think Chris has done a great job.”
How about another one of the Coleman administration’s big ideas — moving the St. Patrick’s Day parade to Saturdays? Thune is less impressed with that one. He thinks bars currently get a two-for (two-fer?) when there’s a parade on St. Patrick’s Day and then weekend festivities to boot.
“Chris is way more Irish than I am, so I’m sure he has a better handle on things. But mark me down as a traditionalist,” Thune said.
The big news around town these days is hotels, hotels, hotels, Thune said, and not just in a government concept drawing kind of way. Developers (yes, the private sector!) are kicking the tires on possible hotel ideas at the Seven Corners hardware site, as well as a convention center hotel at or near the Xcel Center’s Kellogg Boulevard parking ramp.
Terry Mattson, the new president and CEO of Visit St. Paul, said last week that no one downtown hotel meets the needs of modern large conventions, and convention-goers are forced to spread out across sites. While hotel occupancy rates lag that of Minneapolis, adding rooms could actually boost occupancy by drawing bigger conventions.
Thune agrees. He figures visitors will park and stay at one site, and then explore their surroundings from there, a boost to area restaurants and attractions.
“We could really use a convention center hotel,” Thune said.