Q: Could you print a picture of what the new Walmart distribution center will look like? As the largest building in Mankato I’m sure it would be of interest to many of your readers.
It also would be nice to see a picture of what the new Mankato Airport control tower will look like, both location and size.
A: The Free Press reported in April about Walmart’s plans to grow its already mammoth distribution center from 425,000 square feet to 1.025 million square feet in a construction project now in its early stages on Mankato’s east side. The expansion will add nonrefrigerated food products to the distribution center, which serves Walmart stores throughout Minnesota and other parts of the Upper Midwest. The existing facility has been supplying frozen and refrigerated groceries to stores since 2015.
Ask Us Guy is guessing the new center will look a lot like the old one, just bigger. But efforts to verify that were not successful. Lindsey Coulter, Walmart’s senior communications manager, didn’t respond to questions. And the city of Mankato doesn’t have any say in the appearance of the building, according to Community Development Director Mark Konz.
The Mankato city code requires some businesses — notably ones at major entrances to the community — to meet certain standards in an effort to provide a strong first-impression for people arriving in Mankato. When new construction comes to those gateway areas, a certificate of design compliance is required. That process results in architectural renderings being submitted for review by staff and approval (or rejection) by the City Council.
“That doesn’t apply to industrial districts,” Konz said. “So the city staff and council would not review the (Walmart) project for exterior design.”
As for the air traffic control tower, the city is nearing the design stage but it’s not quite there yet, said Shawn Schloesser, associate director for transportation planning services.
The focus has been on picking a site for the control tower, and the facility’s design — particularly the height — is directly impacted by the location because it’s imperative that air traffic controllers have clear sightlines of all the areas where aircraft might be operating.
If a terminal building or a hangar is between the tower and a runway, for instance, the tower would have to be taller so controllers can see over the building.
The location for the Mankato Regional Airport’s first control tower has now been picked (near the northeast corner of the airport terminal’s parking lot). That site selection is nearing final approval, at which point attention can turn to the tower’s features and appearance. In fact, the designer has already been hired.
“We have selected a vendor to help engineer and design the control tower,” Schloesser said.
So people will need to wait a bit longer to see renderings of the tower, which is still about two and a half years from completion.
Q: Hi,
The intersection of Pohl Road and Glenwood Avenue, now that it is part of the Victory Drive detour, is now an orderly low-stress intersection. Can the stop signs be left after the detour is over? The way it was is quite stressful, with cars flying around the curve from the east on Glenwood, and not knowing if they are going to turn on Pohl or continuing down Glenwood. Just my opinion — life is better with the stop signs — taking turns.
Thanks for listening,
A: This question arrived before the first phase of the two-year Victory Drive project was completed last month, putting an end to the detouring of traffic to adjacent streets such as Pohl Road. That also put an end to the stop signs on Glenwood that were temporary put in place to deal with all of the extra traffic flowing through the Pohl-Glenwood intersection.
Public Works Director Jeff Johnson said the reader wasn’t the only one who liked the extra stop signs and hoped they would become permanent.
“City staff received the same request while the detour for Victory Drive was in place,” Johnson said.
Adding stop signs (other than for short-term purposes to assist with detours) is actually a more complicated process than just hearing a request and deeming it a good idea.
“In order to place an all-way stop at the intersection of Glenwood Avenue and Pohl Road, an engineering study and field evaluation would have to take place,” Johnson said, adding that city staff are not planning to pursue that option at this time.
“We do not believe the volume of side street traffic on Pohl Road would support an all-way stop at this intersection as adequate gaps exist to make movements off of Pohl Road onto Glenwood Avenue.”
Contact Ask Us at The Free Press, 418 S. Second St., Mankato, MN 56001. Call Mark Fischenich at 344-6321 or email your question to mfischenich@mankatofreepress.com; put Ask Us in the subject line.