There are some moments when you can see change happening in a city. On August 6, one of those moments happened in downtown St. Paul when the iconic 1st National Bank sign lit up again.
For generations, that sign was part of St. Paul’s skyline—a beacon above downtown and a familiar landmark for people coming into the city. Seeing it illuminated again is more than a nostalgic moment. It is a pretty good symbol of what we are working toward downtown: bringing places back to life, investing in what is already here and creating a downtown that people are excited about.
And it is encouraging that the sign isn’t lighting up in isolation.
Over the past couple of years, we have seen more than $1 billion in public and private investment begin to align around the future of downtown St. Paul through the path outlined by the Downtown Investment Strategy. Developers are making bets. Property owners and our largest businesses are reinvesting. More small businesses are holding grand openings. And major institutions and foundations are putting real capital behind the idea that downtown has a future worth investing in.
Entrepreneurs are making the decision to take a risk on our downtown. That matters.
Just look at the small business activity happening right now. Twenty-one new businesses have opened downtown recently, bringing new restaurants, retail, housing, services and energy to our streets. I wrote about this last month, and I don’t want to belabor the list—but I do want to emphasize what those businesses represent. It means bringing more jobs and interest to downtown. It means supporting their families and the families of their employees. These are real people with real dreams.
And so does what is happening on the investment side. The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation is committing up to $15 million to downtown redevelopment, joining Securian Financial and the Bush Foundation in backing the Saint Paul Downtown Investment Fund and the broader work underway. It is another significant vote of confidence and, perhaps more importantly, another set of civic leaders and institutions willing to put something behind that confidence.
That is how revitalization happens. Not with one project, one exciting event or one big investment, but with a growing number of people deciding that the future of downtown is worth building.
We should be encouraged by that. But we should also be clear-eyed: the work is far from finished.
There are still too many vacant buildings, offices, and storefronts. There are still properties that need significant investment and new uses. We need more residents, more businesses, more visitors and more reasons for people to spend time downtown. We need to continue addressing the challenges that have made some people question downtown’s future in the first place.
We understand that. No one involved in this work believes that a handful of announcements—or a newly illuminated sign—means the job is done.
In fact, the opposite is true.
Every sign of progress brings more people to the table. Every new business makes it a little easier for the next entrepreneur to imagine opening here. Every building that gets stabilized or redeveloped creates more confidence for the investment that follows. And every major institution that puts capital behind downtown sends a message that this is a place worth betting on.
The 1st National Bank sign is a fitting reminder of that.
A light that once defined our skyline is shining again.
Now we have to keep building toward a downtown worthy of that light.
Joe Spencer is the president of the Saint Paul Downtown Alliance
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