Groundbreaking held for new MnDOT facility

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

June 10, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

Work on the site of the future Minnesota Department of Transportation's Northwest District headquarters halted for about 45 minutes Monday as politicians and MnDOT employees ritually tossed dirt with golden-colored shovels, celebrating the breaking of the ground for the project.

About 30 people, including state, county and city legislators and current and past MnDOT employees attended the ceremony -- the second major groundbreaking to be held that day. Earlier, officials celebrated the beginning of construction on the Beltrami County Family Services Center.

"I'm really glad to see this day materialize," said Karen Bedeau, a project manager and local MnDOT public affairs officer. "A lot of work has gone into this project in 2 1/2 years."

MnDOT awarded the $9 million project to Christiansen Construction Co. of Bemidji in April, and clearing and grubbing work on the site by MnDOT employees began last fall. Construction is expected to be completed next June.

The 110,000-square-foot, one-story building will be situated on about 30 acres of land and will house MnDOT's district staff for the Bemidji area in administration, construction planning and engineering and maintenance operations. State troopers for the district will also have offices in the new building, and a maintenance yard, salt storage shed and equipment will be on the site.

MnDOT's district engineer Steve Baker told the crowd the project was not something that happened overnight. Discussions about building a new headquarters to replace the current district headquarters, located near the junction of Highways 2 and 71, had already been percolating in 1979 when he began work for the district.

He said the project would never have come about were it not for the many partnerships involved in the planning stages. The land purchased was held in trust by the state; Bemidji agreed to annex the property and provide utilities to the site; and residents and non-profit groups with environmental concerns about the project participated on a site development management team.

"Recognition must also be given to the local legislators who provided finances for the project," he said.

Bemidji Mayor Doug Peterson said the partnership between the city and MnDOT goes back many years, and this was the "mother of all partnerships" between the entities.

"Seventeen years ago, when I cut the ribbon on the bypass," he said, "I looked over here and thought, 'What a nice place for a district office.' We're tremendously pleased the DOT has decided to reinvest in our community, and we are looking forward to working with them."

State Reps. Edgar Olson, DFL-Fosston, and Bernie Lieder, DFL-Crookston, and state Sen. Dave Ten Eyck, DFL-East Gull Lake, also attended the event. Rep. Gail Skare, DFL-Bemidji, was out of town.

"Someone told be between the services center downtown and the MnDOT headquarters there are $13 million in projects being celebrated today," Ten Eyck said. "That is no small piece to the local economy."