Red Wing Downtown Main Street expanding borders

Red Wing Downtown Main Street is getting a little bigger. The business organization recently approved changes to its bylaws that will expand its borders to include Old West Main Street.

“We realized that the historical parts of Red Wing are very important, and that includes the Pottery District,” Vice President Dawn Bennett said.

Previously, DTMS’s borders covered all of downtown Red Wing. But the agency’s westernmost territory stopped at about Cedar Street, leaving the town’s historical pottery area left out.

Beginning in February, the borders will stretch down Old West Main Street, stopping at Withers Harbor Drive and covering the area between Highway 61 and Levee Road. The area where Pottery Place and Red Wing Pottery Sales are located will now be included.

Scott Gillmer, owner of Red Wing Pottery Sales, said he’s pleased with the expansion.

“I think that, first and foremost, it is sort of defining Old West Main Street as being part of downtown,” he said. “I’ve always maintained that the most important area for our community to focus on is (from) the historic Pottery District all the way down to Barn Bluff.”

Bennett said the DTMS board had been talking about expanding its borders on and off for the past several years. The topic was brought up again last summer, and the board officially approved the changes to the DTMS bylaws in the fall, Bennett said.

“It opens up the organization to collaborate better with a larger number of businesses. It gives us a wider range of places to hold (events),” she said.

Currently, all of DTMS’s events — such as the Holiday Stroll, Trunk or Treat and the Passport to Downtown Dining — take place exclusively downtown. Including Old West Main Street in its territory will give DTMS a whole new area in which to hold activities.

That’s something Gillmer is looking forward to, he said.

“For any independent business, having events is key. That really helps us build traffic to our area,” he said.

One thing that won’t change with the new borders going into effect is which businesses can be DTMS members. Any business, regardless of its location, has always been able to join DTMS as a member, and that will continue, Bennett said.

Still, the more inclusive territory might just draw in a few more businesses. Gillmer said though Red Wing Pottery isn’t currently a member, he is “strongly considering” it now.

“We hadn’t been a member in the past because they defined their borders as being downtown,” he said. “Now that we’re included, I’m probably going to be a member.”

Tags: red wing, downtown main street, business, social