Editorial: Team up to fill empty lot

Talk about it

This is no doubt some taxpayers are pleased with the work of the Nobles County Board of Commissioners, yet not so with the Worthington City Council; the reverse is probably also true. Yet, in today’s economic climate, it’s a near certainty that both entities will need to work together to get significant projects — such as a new library, a new senior center or both — accomplished.

On Monday morning, county commissioners and city council members met jointly to visit the possibility of collaborating on a combined library and senior center facility. Both boards agreed the library/senior center tandem would be a good one and result in savings to both the city and county. Two county commissioners made additional good points: Vern Leistico said the joint facility would give seniors greater opportunity to volunteer at the library, and David Benson suggested the building could also be home for the county’s RSVP office.

Much of the meeting Monday was devoted to consideration of the former Campbell Soup Co. property as the development site for the facility. There are a host of reasons why this is ideal, with probably the biggest being the city having a 2010 deadline of designating the former Campbell’s land for public purpose (a contingency of the $800,000 the city received from the state for the site’s redevelopment). And here’s another key consideration: any kind of multi-purpose facility downtown would be a benefit to all those who work and live in that corridor.

A joint county-city library and senior center, possibly with additional amenities, would be a winner of a project.

Tags: worthington city council, nobles county commissioners, opinion, editorials