Year End Message from Ward 7 Council Member Lisa Goodman, Including Video of the Dayton's Project

We have made it to the end of a very active year and as we say goodbye to 2020, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all the outreach, correspondence and interaction that we’ve had this year.  Our office has most definitely received and responded to a record number of emails and phone calls in the past twelve months. Due to COVID-19 our entire way of interacting has changed, including communication with constituents, how we conduct city council meetings, public meetings, neighborhood meetings and our Lunch with Lisa program. A highlight for me that we missed this year is the summer tour we do as a Lunch with Lisa topic that we call the Lunch with Lisa Field Trip. 

I have shared many times that it was my hope to host a tour of the new Dayton’s Project in downtown Minneapolis so you could see what was hiding behind the papered windows and the temporary walls on the skyway level. COVID has prevented this from happening in person, however, I am happy to let you know that in partnership with the ownership and marketing folks we just finalized a video tour that I am going to share. The link at the bottom of this page will take you to a 30 minute tour that shows all the amazing work they have accomplished to date including the new food court area, the old J.B. Hudson space, the former Skyroom and Oak Grill restaurant spaces, along with a couple of model office spaces and shared common areas for the office users and the historically maintained 4th floor art deco woman's bathroom.

This video is a way to show you what the future will look like after COVID, what the new normal might be as it pertains to downtown development, commercial space and historic preservation projects.  While we as a city have challenges, we have had success stories too and during the long dark days of winter we thought this might be a little ray of hope and a special remembrance of the Dayton’s Store that has meant so much to so many people.

As is customary, my staff and I will be taking some much-needed time off the last two weeks of the year so we will have sporadic and limited office hours and availability.  Should you need to report a city related item that needs to be addressed I encourage you to contact 311 and I will be responding to email during this time.  We look forward to coming back refreshed and recharged in 2021 to continue representing you, our constituents.  We wish you all a healthy and safe holiday season.

Lisa