Mark and Amy Van Essen have purchased the former Creeger building on East Main Street where they’ll move their business, Tyana’s Boutique, from its current location in the new Mall on Main.
The couple will renovate the building’s façade with help from the city’s Historic Façade Improvement Program.
Luverne Economic Development Authority members approved the Van Essen application for funds at their Monday morning meeting.
The scope of work includes demolition and removal of the wooden shingle awning and old facade, construction of new facade, signage, three new awnings, exterior light fixtures, electrical wiring, painting, removal and replacement of concrete, and addition of trim.
Sanford Luverne Hospice will remain a tenant, and the boutique will occupy the rest of the building space.
Construction will begin this fall.
The total project cost is estimated at $33,200, and the Van Essens are applying for a grant for 35 percent of project costs in the amount of $11,620. They are choosing to forgo the loan portion.
City addresses lack
of wayfinding signs
Tourism expert Roger Brooks told Luverne leaders this summer that visitors to Luverne have difficulty locating the town’s best assets and amenities.
He recommended the city make wayfinding signs a priority, and LEDA members are working on it.
At Monday’s meeting EDA Director Holly Sammons shared information from Axia Creative, a professional consulting firm that specializes in wayfinding system plans.
“It’s a pretty complex system,” she said about tourism-based wayfinding, which takes into account message size, placement, distance between signs and other factors.
She said the Axia consultants offer expertise that the city’s current branding professionals don’t.
Axia will do an on-site assessment, develop a location and placement plan, prepare a comprehensive message schedule, and create technical design specifications.
Axia will develop a comprehensive plan that will ultimately bring the wayfinding system plan to be “bid ready” for fabrication and installation.
A sub-committee will work directly with the wayfinding specialist over the next few months.
Berkley Information Systems building loan paid
LEDA will make a final debt payment of $75,311 to the city of Luverne for the Berkley Information Systems building on Roundwind Road.
In 1995 the city loaned $350,000 to LEDA for the Berkley Information Systems (BIS) project to the LEDA with a maturity date of Nov. 1, 2019.
The LEDA’s monthly payment due to the city is $3,178.32.
Paying off the principal balance due on this loan would save an estimated $4,147 in interest cost and remove the liability from the LEDA’s balance sheet.
“It only makes sense to get this off the books,” Sammons said.