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Art and All That Jazz in Burnsville hits a high note. See Thisweekend Page 14A.
NEWS OPINION SPORTS
Thisweek Burnsville-Eagan AUGUST 26, 2011
VOLUME 32, NO. 26
www.thisweeklive.com
Announcements/4A
Real Estate/4A
Opinion/5A
Public Notices/6A & 9A
Sports/7A & 8A
Classifieds/10A
Retail office at Lockheed Martin site? by Jessica Harper THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
A Minneapolis-based developer is hoping to turn a huge chunk of the Lockheed Martin building in Eagan into retail space. “Given its proximately to Town Centre and Promenade (two major retail centers), we believe it is a strong, viable trade area site that lends itself to retail uses,� said Tom Palmquist, vice president of commercial development for CSM Corp. The city’s comprehensive guide currently designates the property as major office. “(But) filling a 623,000 square-foot office building that was built 40 years ago for a specific use could be
very difficult,� said City Administrator Tom Hedges. Subdividing the site could also be challenging, he said. CSM Equities LLC, an affiliate of CSM Corp., is asking city officials to amend their comprehensive guide plan to redesignate 41.2 acres of the 51-acre site as retail commercial. The plans also call for several freestanding restaurants and would keep the remaining 6.2 acres as office space. “We are looking at a variety of alternatives and are trying to put together the best mix,� Palmquist said. The site is at a prime location — the intersection of Pilot Knob and Yankee Doodle roads, Eagan’s busi-
File photo
CSM Equities LLC, a developer who in April purchased Lockheed Martin’s facility in Eagan, hopes to redevelop the land into a retail and office complex. Lockheed announced last winter it will close the Eagan site in 2013. est intersection — and is near its major retail centers, Promenade and Town Centre. Before making any final decisions, though, city of-
ficials would want to ensure another retail complex would compliment others in the area, Palmquist said. The project — which CSM calls Central Park
Commons — would do just that, he said. “Our hope is to bring retailers to the Eagan trade area that are new to the market and who offer something that the current retailers don’t,� he said, adding that CSM has been talking with several interested businesses. The developer purchased the property in April and closed on the sale in June, but Lockheed Martin will continue to occupy the space under a lease agreement until it officially closes its Eagan operation in the spring of 2013. The company announced last November it would close its Eagan facility by 2013, resulting in about 350 layoffs and 650 job transfers
to other Lockheed Martin facilities. CSM’s redevelopment plans are still in their infancy. Its proposal is expected to go before the Planning Commission in September. If it passes there, the proposal will move on to the City Council on Oct. 4. If it approves the comprehensive plan amendment, the council would also need Metropolitan Council approval. The property is presently zoned as research and development, so that, too, would need to be changed before a development could move forward, Hedges said. E-mail Jessica Harper at: jessica.harper@ecm-inc.com
Easter pastor follows road Sniffing for fun at Lac Lavon paved by aunt, mother Kristen Capel to be first female lead pastor at Easter Lutheran Church by Jessica Harper THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
For nearly two decades, the Rev. Kristen Capel has followed a road paved by women — including those in her family — who sidestepped the norm by becoming Lutheran pastors. Now Capel will be paving a road of her own by becoming the first woman to lead Easter Lutheran Church in Eagan. Capel, 38, will succeed the Rev. Jim Borgschatz, who formed the congregation the same year Capel was born. As one of the first few women to be ordained during the 1970s, Capel’s aunt, Connie Jensen, was among those who inspired her to become a Lutheran pastor. “When I heard she was going to seminary school, I realized for the first time it was possible for me,� Capel said. Her mother was also instrumental in Capel’s decision to join the church. As a young woman, Capel’s mother dreamed of becoming a pastor, but at the time, that wasn’t an option for women. At age 63 Capel’s mother finally fulfilled her dream and was ordained in 2004 into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Capel said she took an interest in the church’s
Photo by Rick Orndorf Photo by Jessica Harper
Rev. Kristen Capel will become the first female lead pastor of Easter Lutheran Church in Eagan. She will be succeeding Rev. Jim Borgschatz, who formed the church 38 years ago. Capel comes from a line of female church leaders. ence, she said. teachings as a young girl. After seminary school, Her faith stayed strong while she was a student at Capel took an internship in Wartburg College in Wa- Seattle, Wash. Her first full-time pasverly, Iowa, where she received a bachelor’s degree toral job was in Roanoke, Va., where she stayed for in music and religion. Capel initially hesi- a few years before moving tated to enroll in seminary to another congregation in Racine, Wis. school. About four years later, “I fought it at first, because I thought I’d be un- her husband, Dan, acceptder a microscope,� she said. ed a civil engineering job in Eventually, Capel de- the Twin Cities. The couple and their cided to take the plunge young daughters by enrolling in Wartburg’s two moved to Rosemount in seminary school. Becoming an ordained 2006, and Capel became an pastor turned out to be associate pastor at Easter – quite a rewarding experi- See Capel, 16A
VandenBoom named to 191 School Board Eagan resident hopes to use marketing skills to bolster communications by John Gessner THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Robert VandenBoom thinks that Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District 191 has good stories to tell about its schools. The newly appointed School Board member hopes to do his part. “That’s my profession.
My career’s been Boom was appointin marketing,� said ed to serve through VandenBoom, seDecember 2012. nior marketing In a series of hidmanager for comden ballots, board munications and members named customer intelliVandenBoom and gence at The Toro VandenBoom three other appliCo. in Bloomington. cants from a pool “And it’s also an of nine as their top area where I view the district choices. The other three needing some help.� were Sheryl Burkhardt of The six sitting board Burnsville, Seema Pothini members chose the 51-year- of Savage and Clynt Reddy old Eagan resident Aug. 18 of Burnsville. to replace Gail Morrison, On the fourth ballot, a longtime board member when board members were who resigned and moved asked to name only one apout of the district. Vanden- See VandenBoom, 16A
U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent Sheila Fry and her work dogs, Andy and Sunny, demonstrated dogs’ ability to sniff out explosives during the eighth annual Wag-N-Wheel walk Saturday, Aug. 20, at Lac Lavon Park in Burnsville. The walk was a benefit for Puppy Love Caring Canines. For more photos, go online to www.ThisweekLive.com.
Honors pile high for leader in field of developmental disability Wieck, of Burnsville, heads governor’s council by John Gessner THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Colleen Wieck was just starting her career when Minnesota began its long march toward deinstitutionalization of people with developmental disabilities. She was working at the Itasca Developmental Achievement Center in Coleraine when the Welsch case commenced in 1972. It was a class action on behalf of developmentally disabled people languishing in state hospitals. Case files revealed that “very minor things,� conditions such as epilepsy, could land you in a state hospital, said Wieck, a state and national leader in her field who recently won yet another prestigious award. “We had people who had lobotomies,� the Burnsville resident said. “And people who had experimental surgeries. We were able to assist people leaving institutions who had a variety of these injustices, whether it was medical experimentation, restraints, aversive treat-
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ments.� Wieck went on to write a series of 30 policy papers on the Welsch consent decree, which led to closing of state institutions for developmentally disabled people, the last of whom left the state hospital system in 2000. “And as they were coming out of the institutions and coming into the community programs, you could just see this dramatic difference in people’s lives,� Wieck said. Things have been look-
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Colleen Wieck
ing up for people with developmental disabilities for most of Wieck’s heralded career. She’s part of the reason. Wieck has worked the last 30 years as executive director of the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities. In June, she received a Policy Award at the Age and Disabilities Odyssey conference sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Human Services and the Minnesota Board on Aging. It’s but one of 55 awards for a scholar, researcher, administrator and advocate who volunteered as a Title 1 teacher’s aide while attending high school in Barnum, Minn., in the late 1960s. Wieck has served as president of national organizations and written extensively. She’s been a consultant, program evaluator and expert witness. She earned her doctorate in educational psychology at the University of Minnesota under university past See Wieck, 8A
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