Erin and Tammey Gatchell epitomize the spirit of hope, potential and sweat equity permeating Old Town Mankato.

When they eyed a deteriorating old corner building four years ago, they decided to take the entrepreneurial plunge. Their vision: a quaint business offering soups, sandwiches, coffee and ice cream.

“I think Old Town is fantastic,” Tammey says. “I think people see a lot of potential and have a real desire to improve the area and make it a place to go.”

Before opening a business, the North Mankato couple had a monumental task in renovating — much of it themselves — an old building.

“We knew it would be a monstrous project with an 1850s building — and it has been,” Erin says. “It’s been almost four years. But we want to do it right and do it as we can afford it.”

Old Town, part of the original commercial strip of the city, has some of the best preserved examples of turn-of-the-century buildings. The North Riverfront Drive area has been the target of revitalization efforts dating back to the 1970s — efforts that brought limited success.

This time, property owners and city leaders believe a convergence of public and private investment and a unified plan is transforming Old Town into a unique and vital business district.

Public investment
Paul Vogel, community development director for Mankato, says past revitalization plans were good but lacked cohesion.

“The current effort has buy-in from all sectors. With Envision 20/20 and the City Center Partnership, the private sector and public sector are working in partnership on this. I think that will be the key to success,” Vogel says.

“It was a broad-based planning initiative. Business owners and property owners in the area participated. That’s the key.”

Cathy Brennan, of Brennan Construction, is a City Center Partnership member and says the group’s goal is to support private businesses in a variety of ways. The city center encompasses all of downtown. The partnership has produced city center maps, placed banners around the city center, and is working on an economic profile of the city center’s strengths and weaknesses.

“The businesses in Old Town are uniting themselves like the businesses over on Belgrade (Avenue) are. There’s some active people in Old Town, and they’re getting things going. It’s a neat area.”

Steve Meyer, who has invested nearly $400,000 in a new building for his Corporate 4 Insurance Agency, gives high marks to the city.

“Overall, the city has done a fine job on planning and putting incentives up. You can look at all of the remodels down here because of those incentives.”

Lots of activity
Those public investments, say Old Town entrepreneurs, have spurred private investments. Indeed, up and down the several-block stretch of Old Town, buildings are being renovated and new businesses opening.