The east side of St. Cloud has a strong identity: hardworking and blue-collar, industrial, and for the past several decades, overlooked.
Among the businesses that make up the neighborhood are East Side Glass and Mid-State Tile, Midway Iron and Metal and Gopher Bargain Center, companies built not so much on technological wizardry but on old-fashioned work ethic.
"We're scrappy, we're gritty," said Joan Jaye, director of the East Side Boosters.
"People have looked at us as a dumping ground. It's like, 'no, we're a scrapyard. We're a recycling center.' "
But now, St. Cloud's east side has become a bit of a blank canvas as the city mulls a plan to redevelop an area that's long been seeking a makeover.
The engineering services company Stantec recently unveiled a draft redevelopment plan for a complete reworking of the eastern banks of the Mississippi River adjacent to St. Cloud's thriving downtown.
The East End Small Area Plan proposes a half-dozen redevelopment opportunities in the area, from a riverfront hotel, restaurant and plaza to replace the Riverside Apartments, to a riverfront office complex with attached townhouses, to a small grocery and active retail corridor.
"It creates one downtown where the river is just flowing through it," said St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis. "That's the grand vision, to create that connection."
