Business View Magazine | February 2020

201 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2020 and movie nights,” says Hickok. “We plan to program it for all sorts of things, so it’s not just a civic campus for police, fire, and public works, but a place where people want to gather for fun. And right next to our Civic Campus, and right next to these 98 homes that are being built, is a beautiful forested area with trails for biking and walking, and a creek that meanders through it and ends up eventually in the Mississippi, just on the western edge of our city.” “And when we designed the building, we got rebates through the energy company here for designing an efficient building and we turned those rebates into public art,” he continues. “We created a public art fund and there are a number of different pieces inside that decorate the interior walls of the building, but there’s also a sculpture that’s being worked on, and some other public art elements that will be added as part of that funding. We’re proud of the fact that we turned those energy rebates into something that you can see and enjoy.” Regarding the city’s infrastructure, Hickok reports that a major project that has been on the drawing board for many years is an extension of 57th Avenue. “Because Fridley was built up along the central spine that was the railroad line, we lacked certain east/west connections, early on,” he explains. “The last east/west connection that we have yet to complete is what we call the 57th Avenue extension. It will include a bridge that will go over the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Railroad tracks and will link the western part of the city to the eastern part of the city. When people come up over the bridge, they will land right in our commercial area – Fridley Market.” Fridley Market is a 142,594-square-foot shopping center, anchored by Cub Foods that enjoys tremendous visibility from Interstate 694 (141,000 vehicles per day). When complete, the bridge will better connect residents on the western side of the bridge to Fridley Market on the eastern side. Currently, cars need to get on and off I-694 and Hickok believes that a new FR IDLEY , MINNESOTA