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On Monday, Mayor Michael Brown will deliver his most recent installment of the annual "State of the City" address. Read Tu-Uyen Tran's Herald article here.
Brown usually uses the speech to brag about several accomplishments of the past year and to introduce a couple of new proposals. I'm very interested to hear more about two of the proposals that Tran hints at in his article.
Both projects seem to involve the Alerus Center and its surroundings. One proposal is to develop 42nd Street into a "Destination Corridor." Nothing too new here, but I will be interested to see if Brown has any specific ideas that haven't been brought up before. This is something that the Alerus Center's new director Steven Hyman is pushing for. I'll be excited to see what Brown and Hyman can dream up over time.
The other proposal is a "transportation-related project" that would apparently link the Alerus Center to the Ralph Engelstad Arena. WHAT? ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THAT MONORAIL? That would be uber-cool!
Maybe that whole "New Horizons" plan didn't vanish into thin air like I thought it had...
Reba and Kelly in Grand Forks. No, I don't mean next month's concert at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Yes, country superstar Reba McEntire and American Idol season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson are coming to the Ralph on October 23, but the two singers have already become rather familiar with the Grand Cities. That's because, according to the word on the street, Reba and Kelly spent a couple of days in Grand Forks last week.
The second leg of the 2 Worlds 2 Voices tour kicked off on September 25th in Winnipeg at the MTS Centre. Rumor has it that - for whatever reason - Reba and Kelly stayed in Grand Forks last week before their Winnipeg concert. Apparently, numerous reports around Grand Forks had the two performers staying at the Canad Inn, eating at downtown restaurants, and even catching a movie at East Grand Forks' River Cinema 12.
Kind of cool, huh?
Another "Idol" is coming to the Ralph. American Idol alum Carrie Underwood and Little Big Town have scheduled a concert at Ralph Engelstad Arena for September 27.
According to pollstar.com, country superstar Reba McEntire and the original American Idol Kelly Clarkson will bring their "2 Worlds 2 Voices" joint concert tour to Grand Forks this fall. The two will perform at the Ralph Engelstad Arena on October 23.
I recently came across several images of plans for University Village. All of the plans and renderings are from Icon Architects and they appear to be from a few years back. Click here to view a video of these plans.
Some of the plans seem to have changed from when these proposals were drawn up. For instance, the plans show a new UND Alumni Center just west of Suite 49. Recently, the Alumni Association announced plans for a new center, but the proposed location is now near the President's House on campus.
Still, I think the plans are interesting. For instance, they show a potential location for the University Village hotel: just north of the Ralph Engelstad Arena. In the past, the location I had heard mentioned was just north of Suite 49.
One rendering also shows a proposed student housing complex. This has been mentioned before, but this is the first time I've seen any possible designs.
-All images Icon Architects
It appears as though a new construction project of some sort will soon start in the University Village neighborhood north of UND. The bike path that follows the English Coulee is being rerouted in an area just south of Gateway Drive. Also, all trees within this area have been spray painted with big X's so it appears as though they will soon be removed as well. The area I'm referring to is bounded on the north by Gateway Drive, on the east by Ralph Engelstad Drive, on the west by the now-rerouted bike path, and on the south by the existing condo development. Perhaps I’m jumping the gun here, but these things do lead me to believe that something is planned for the property.
So, what can we expect to see constructed on this property in question? Maybe even more condos? What about that University Village hotel project which the University has been working on lately? Perhaps something we haven't even heard about yet? I'll be interested to find out.
Even if the proposed hotel isn't built on the piece of property I referred to earlier, I think we should expect to hear something about the hotel in the near future. I've heard various hotel chains mentioned, including Marriott. A logical location seems to be directly north of Suite 49. I'm sure developers would like to have a physical link to The Ralph, but I'm not sure if that's possible.
Construction on the second University Village strip mall is winding down. One spot in the mall will be a chiropractic office. None of the other spots appear to be taken yet. Any word on future tenants? I have heard that the University has also been working on a plan to build a larger mixed use complex on the northeast corner of University Village. It would be nice to see at least a 3 to 4 story building in that area.
According to Pollstar.com, Brad Paisley is coming to the Ralph Engelstad Arena on October 11. Paisley was last in Grand Forks back in 2005 when he played the Alerus Center.
These country shows do seem to do well. I still wish we could get a larger variety of concerts in town. Oh well...I guess we'll take whatever we can get...
I can't help but notice that UND's "hostile and abusive" logo seems to be a little harder to find these days. Have you been in the new Wellness Center yet? There isn't a logo to be seen. That's right...while The Ralph is plastered with thousands of logos, UND's newest building doesn't appear to have even one logo. I thought that was very interesting.
Another noticeable absence...the Fighting Sioux Sports Network. The joint venture between UND and WDAZ has seemingly ditched artist Bennet Brien's logo for a much less "controversial" one.
Here's the old logo...
And here's the new logo...
I wonder if we will continue to see a decline in the logo's use by the University and by other entities? I'm thinking that if UND wins the lawsuit against the NCAA (I know...probably unlikely), there might be some sense of vindication there and we might see a little bit more of the logo than what we've become accustomed to. Who knows...
I've heard rumors lately of a development eyeing a location on Gateway Drive near University Village. The rumors have some sort of "large entertainment center" being constructed near the former site of the Westward Ho complex. What I've been hearing is that the site that is being looked at for this development is the land where the derelict Transport Incorporated and Weekley's Auto buildings currently stand. You may remember that these buildings are slated for demolition in the near future. It seems that the owners of those buildings may want to tear down their properties so they can sell them to the developers of this new complex.
As far as what a "large entertainment center" is, I'll let you be the judge. Maybe some re-incarnation of the Westward Ho? The old Westward Ho motel recently changed hands and the new owners may be in on the plans for the new development. Perhaps the complex might include a brand new hotel? There does seem to be a desire to have a hotel closer to Engelstad Arena, but would anyone really want to build a new hotel just east of the Simplot factory?
I would love to see this area redeveloped. The buildings on this site are ugly and have long outlived their usefulness. A new commercial development of this potential magnitude might be just the ticket for starting the cleanup of Gateway Drive once and for all.
Remember, this is still just a rumor as far as I'm concerned. Still, I've heard plenty of talk of this and I've even heard that there has been some discussion of this amongst city staff. I guess time will tell.
According to the Grand Forks Herald, country music stars Billy Currington, Jason Aldean, and Trace Adkins will have a concert at the Ralph Engelstad Arena on December 2.
With the Alerus Center's upcoming Cirque du Soleil and Black Eyed Peas concerts, it's good to see The Ralph get something like this on their schedule. I'm always curious if both arenas have bid on events like this and what made one get it over the other.
Update - 8/4/2006
Speaking of the local concert scene, The Dixie Chicks just canceled their upcoming Fargodome concert. I suppose I should feel bad for the Dome. This was supposed to be their big summer concert...
As an incurable fan of Grand Forks and its (in my mind) incomparable event centers, I have been maintaining a list of concerts that have played in our arenas and auditoriums in the past five years or so. Yes, I probably could find something better to do with my time, but don't count on it anytime soon. I don't mind being a bit of a weirdo.
Why do I maintain this list? For one thing, sometimes its hard to remember what went on last week - much less five years ago - so this helps me out.
Secondly, doing this is some sort of twisted indulgence in my effort to promote Grand Forks. What other city of comparable size in the region can present a list of entertainers like this? It just proves (to me, at least) that Grand Forks is becoming more of a "destination city" than what many of us give it credit for.
The List:
•3 Doors Down
•Aerosmith (twice)
•Alabama
•Alan Jackson
•Anne Murray
•Avalon
•B.B. King
•Backstreet Boys
•Barenaked Ladies
•Bette Midler
•Big and Rich
•Bill Cosby
•Black Eyed Peas
•Blue County
•Blue Man Group
•Blues Traveler
•Boston
•Brad Paisley
•Cats the Musical
•Cheap Trick
•Cher
•Chicago
•Clay Aiken
•Cyndi Lauper
•Daniel O’Donnell
•Daryl Worley
•Dashboard Confessional
•David Copperfield
•Donny Osmond
•Everclear
•Full Monty the Musical
•Garrison Keillor (twice)
•Gin Blossoms
•Goo Goo Dolls
•Good Charlotte
•Jars of Clay
•Jason Mraz
•Jewel
•Keith Urban
•Kenny Chesney
•Kiss
•Lori Line
•Mannheim Steamroller
•Martin Short
•Martina McBride
•Michael W. Smith
•Montgomery Gentry
•Moscow Ballet
•Motley Crue
•N*Sync
•Neal McCoy
•New Found Glory
•O.A.R
•Ozzy Osbourne
•Point of Grace
•Poison
•Rascal Flatts
•Reba McEntire
•Rent the Musical
•Rich Little
•Rob Zombie
•Rod Stewart
•Sawyer Brown
•Seinfeld (twice)
•Seussical the Musical
•Smash Mouth
•Steven Curtis Chapman
•Sugar Ray
•Tanya Tucker
•Thoroughly Modern Millie the Musical
•Tim McGraw
•Titanic the Musical
•Toby Keith (twice)
•Tori Amos
•Trace Adkins
•Will Rogers Follies the Musical
Not so bad for an outpost on the hinterlands, huh?
I may be forgetting an act or two. Please mention any others that you remember from recent times. Remember that the list only contains entertainers that have come to town in the past five years or so (2001: opening of the Alerus). After all, it isn't like there were very many major concerts in town before then...
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