Work is continuing this summer on the “four corners” project at Main Street and Highway 75 in Luverne.
The flag park on the southeast corner was completed late in 2015; the northeast corner and its lighted sign at the W-2 Quality Meats corner wrapped up last fall.
Now work is underway on the northwest corner in the Laundry Room parking lot and boulevards. It will follow the “four corners” theme of red brick, Sioux quartzite boulders and grass and shrubs.
The final of the four corners — Remmedez on the southwest corner — will be completed next year. It will be the most modest of the four, because the business uses most of the space for parking.
It will have the same red brick cutout and some Sioux quartzite boulders.
City Council members approved the four corners plan in September 2015 after members of LIFT (Luverne Initiatives For Tomorrow) and the Luverne Economic Development Authority worked out details and presented drawings.
“The goal is to grab the attention of drivers,” EDA Director Holly Sammons told the council Sept. 15, 2015. “This is a major intersection — Go east to Main Street.”
The sign is mainly directed at northbound traffic coming from I-90, to direct motorists toward the retail business district downtown.
So far the city has spent $121,000 on the four corners — $50,000 for the flag park, $44,000 for the W-2 corner and the lighted sign, and $27,000 for the Laundromat corner.
The four corners facelift is part of a citywide goal to update its brand and improve urban landscape design.
For example, $124,000 has been spent on urban landscaping at The Lake and $115,000 at Rotary Park, plus boulevard improvements and signage around town.
City Administrator John Call said the work ties in with other long-term goals, such as blight removal and business façade improvements.
“I think the community, LIFT, council and the Chamber have really been on a beautification movement,” Call said, adding the Public Works department often provides labor for the projects.
The cleaning and decorating spree was kicked off in 2013 by the new city logo, which hadn’t been updated in over 20 years.
The new brand, “Luverne — Love the Life,” has been carried through on signage, light pole banners, websites, street signs, advertising, stationery and more.
The city paid Henken Schultz Communication Arts, Sioux Falls, $20,000 to develop the new brand and logo.
Since then, significant investments have gone into implementing the new image. For example, the new banners on South 75 and Main Street cost $34,000.
Some of the updates have been implemented along with regular maintenance. For example, the water tower now has the new logo since it was painted this summer, and new streetlights and poles ($50,000) replaced those that were due for replacement.
“I think that our community is proud of the work that has been done,” Call said last week. “We really do have a unique and special community.”
Community Consultant Roger Brooks, who “secret shopped” Luverne in June, said he was impressed by the city’s efforts.
“Yours are some of the best gateways I’ve seen in the country,” Brooks said. “It probably wasn’t cheap, but it creates a good first impression of Luverne.”