urbanMSP

I didn't see a thread for Austin, so I figured I'd start one.

Rochester's PostBulletin reports that Austin's Oak Park Mall is set for demolition starting on Thursday. I may be wrong, but I think I've also read online that the movie theater is going to stay as well?

The long-troubled property was sold to the Hy-Vee grocery store chain, which will build a 60,000- to 90,000-square-foot store on the site once the mall is demolished. . .

Photo from the Rochester PostBulletin of the demolition

Dead or troubled malls in big small towns / small regional centers fascinate me. Worthington has a dead mall, New Ulm has a dead downtown-above-parking-garage mall (!!!), Willmar's has always struggled, Brainerd, Albert Lea, Faribault, etc. I've always had a fascination with these malls and their struggles. Before I get too far into the weeds in an Austin-specific thread, maybe I should make a Small Malls of Outstate thread.

It was more focused on the metro, but I do miss the old Dumpy Strip Malls blog.

I still remember Brookdale and its slow decline.

Not sure if you know of this site, but it's a good one!
http://www.deadmalls.com/index.html

Austin is getting closer toward building a new Recreation Center.

http://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/ ... bb068.html

So that article isn't clear on the current status of the preservation effort to maintain the historic power station structure on the site. It would be a shame to lose that.

Can we change the title of this topic to "Austin, MN"? I get confused and excited to hear news from Austin, TX.

Yeah, I'm uncertain of what will happen with that power station. I'm sure more will become clear in the future as we come closer to the project starting.


What's really great about this thread is that it's in the "Greater Minnesota" umbrella. Now, I don't know of any other Austin's in Greater MINNESOTA than the one in Southern Minnesota lol. By the logic of confusing Minnesota and Texas, shouldn't we change the name of all city threads (Rochester, New Ulm, Brainerd) to end with ",MN" as some of them share names with cities in other states?

Can we change the title of this topic to "Austin, MN"? I get confused and excited to hear news from Austin, TX.

In the Greater Minnesota forum?

I had the same reaction, since Austin TX comes up waaay more than Austin MN. I hadn't heard of Austin MN until this thread.

The city of Austin's plans to build a $35 million recreation center are apparently dead after the YMCA tabled a proposed lease agreement to operate the center.

http://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/ ... 81877.html

Hy-Vee is looking to build a distribution center in Austin.

“The site in Austin is being considered for the project due to its centralized location in the company’s eight-state territory and interstate access as well as the community’s ample workforce,” said Tina Potthoff, vice president of communications for Hy-Vee, Inc.

Hy-Vee is looking at a 150-acre site on the western edge of the community north of Interstate 90 by the Oakland Avenue exit. Hy-Vee does not own the property at this time, but anticipates construction could begin as early as 2019

http://www.austindailyherald.com/2017/0 ... ter-plans/

U of M proposing $220M ag research campus in Austin.

https://www.startribune.com/university- ... 600145357/