The Heart of Owatonna: Downtown

Downtown Owatonna is the heart of our community! This is your ongoing source for staying up-to-date on downtown events and activities.

Upcoming Downtown Events

“Let’s Meet Downtown” for the ultimate summer evening! Grab your friends, family and neighbors and join us on the first Thursday of June, July, August, and September (added for 2023!) along the new streetscape in downtown Owatonna.

June 1, July 6, August 3, and September 7, 2023

Check out the Downtown Owatonna Facebook page, Chamber Community Calendar and the City of Owatonna Calendar for more Owatonna events.

Streetscape Ribbon Cutting

Following two years of construction, the community’s new ‘living room’ is ready to enjoy! A ribbon cutting event celebrating the new Downtown Streetscape was held on October 13.

With over 1,000 responses from our community members this spring, the Owatonna Restaurant Survey gather detailed information to share with developers who have taken an interest in building up Owatonna.

Drum roll please…! The results of that questionnaire have aided in bringing a new Italian restaurant to downtown Owatonna. Your input impacted the outcome. Thank you!

See the results of the New Restaurant Survey here.

Downtown Owatonna is the heart of our community! This is your ongoing source for staying up-to-date on downtown events and activities.

Upcoming Downtown Events

“Let’s Meet Downtown” for the ultimate summer evening! Grab your friends, family and neighbors and join us on the first Thursday of June, July, August, and September (added for 2023!) along the new streetscape in downtown Owatonna.

June 1, July 6, August 3, and September 7, 2023

Check out the Downtown Owatonna Facebook page, Chamber Community Calendar and the City of Owatonna Calendar for more Owatonna events.

Streetscape Ribbon Cutting

Following two years of construction, the community’s new ‘living room’ is ready to enjoy! A ribbon cutting event celebrating the new Downtown Streetscape was held on October 13.

With over 1,000 responses from our community members this spring, the Owatonna Restaurant Survey gather detailed information to share with developers who have taken an interest in building up Owatonna.

Drum roll please…! The results of that questionnaire have aided in bringing a new Italian restaurant to downtown Owatonna. Your input impacted the outcome. Thank you!

See the results of the New Restaurant Survey here.

Downtown - curious about something? Just ask.

Have you heard a rumor or curious about something going on downtown? We're here to help! Post your questions and we will reply with information or post a resource link.


You need to be signed in to add your question.

  • When will the Streetscape project extend beyond just 1 street? “Historic Downtown Owatonna” is defined as a larger footprint than just 1 Street. We’d like to see the City’s timetable for completing this project. It must be already scheduled - right?

    Matt Kottke asked about 2 months ago

    Thank you for your question. The city’s next investment downtown is a full renovation of the parking lot on Vine Street where the Monson Eye Clinic was formerly located.  This is planned for 2024.   

    Additional streetscape projects in downtown are anticipated, but no funding is associated with future projects at this time.

  • Seeing lots of, what appears to be, bicycle tire skid marks on the new sidewalks (in particular the 100 block of Cedar Ave) - isn’t bikes on sidewalks in downtown owatonna prohibited? Someone is going to get hurt. Not a safe environment for city trying to attract visitors

    Matt Kottke asked about 2 months ago

    Thank you for your question. Bikes are required to be on the street. However citizens don’t always comply and the sidewalks are not under 24 hour surveillance. There is also a note on the City of Owatonna's website noting that scooters are not allowed on the sidewalks in the downtown area.

  • Specifically, what is the OACCT & EDA doing to fill & market the empty buildings in the historic downtown district?

    Matt Kottke asked about 1 year ago

    Thank you for your question! 

    The Chamber, Main Street Program, and EDA are excited about the momentum downtown.  Several buildings are currently under renovation and several recently have completed upgrades to their facades using forgivable loans through the City’s Economic Development Authority (EDA).  The EDA recently voted to extend this forgivable loan program to demonstrate their support.

    Using this Engage Owatonna tool, MainStreet is asking for input from the community about several areas of downtown including ideas for new business, typical shopping hours and perceptions of downtown.  Please complete the survey if you have not – we would love to hear your ideas on what you would like to see in the MainStreet District! https://engageowatonna.com/downtown-owatonna 

    Marketing of vacant properties happens on OwatonnaDevelopment.com  Prior to the pandemic the MainStreet program held three retail challenge competitions and one restaurant challenge competition to attract new business to downtown.  This program also encouraged people to act on their entrepreneurial ideas. This may be a tool that we would use again in the future. Currently, the MainStreet Director has met with investment groups that have purchased several of our empty buildings to gain an understanding of their vision but more importantly to share MainStreet’s vision and the information gathered from the survey. The director is also planning on meeting with each one of the landlords/building owners of these available buildings in person to develop relationships, hear their plans and offer any assistance in leasing/selling their buildings. On a very bright note, we are below the standard of 5% vacancy rate downtown for a healthy market.

  • I would like to see engageowatonna solicit the community for their input on what the parking term (time) limits should be along the streets within the Historic Downtown area. I understand the City Council hadn’t decided this prior to approving this Streetscape Project. This will help the Council become informed on what the community desires.

    Matt Kottke asked over 1 year ago

    After looking into this question about parking times, we have confirmed that the Owatonna City Council has already approved 2-hour parking on Cedar Avenue following Streetscape construction.  They plan to see how it works and will take specific requests for things such as 30 minute parking on a case by case basis.  The signs have already been ordered for this 2-hour parking.  Any additional steps for this parking topic will be discussed with the Engage Owatonna committee.

    parking,downtown
    parking downtown

  • Who makes the final determination of what restaurant goes into the old Jerry's location?

    nerrad asked over 1 year ago

    Thank you for your question! The developer will have the final decision on the restaurant. That developer is aware that we are doing this survey and is very interested in the results.  

  • Where is all the people going to park for downtown

    Roxanne asked over 1 year ago

    Hi Roxanne! In addition to the parking spots that will be available right on Cedar Avenue, lighting is being added to the alleyways to make them walkways direct to parking lots behind the buildings.  No vehicles will be able to travel in these alleys.  Additional parking will also slated to come on line in the next couple years in that same parking lot after Monson Eyecare moves from their location on Vine Street. 

  • I want to know if the new hotel will have a pool and if, for a fee, people in Owatonna might be able to use it.

    MEGAN ROGERS asked almost 2 years ago

    A representative from Marriot has shared that there will be a pool, you must be a hotel guest to utilize the pool and fitness center at this time.  At some point they may create local staycation rates once they get going.  Definitely would be nice to hop in a pool on a day like today!

  • With the Cedar St construction projects underway - just curious if City has begun working with the High School relative to a route thru Downtown for the Homecoming Parade (October 8th). The students weren’t able to have one last year (Covid) - I’m hopeful City is working on a plan to help restore normalcy for these young adults. This brought a lot of people to downtown also which was good for businesses. Along that same thought - has City begun working with Chamber on our Annual Holiday Parade (typically first Thursday following Thanksgiving) It would be interesting to see if these important events are still being planned - and what the routes are.

    Matt Kottke asked over 2 years ago

    Thank you for this question! These are very important community events for Owatonna. The homecoming parade is organized by the Owatonna High School student council. We have learned from that entity that the OHS Homecoming parade is currently on as scheduled! They plan to build floats at the Radel Pavilion on the Steele County Free Fair grounds on Wednesday, October 6th from 1-6 pm and have the parade along ELM ST. Staging and deconstruction area will be along Leisure Lane and Elm St. They are very excited to continue the tradition and look forward to bringing the parade back to Cedar once construction is completed. Secondly, the Lighted Holiday Parade will be on Thursday, December 2nd, 2021, and at this time the route is yet to be determined.

  • I continue to hear questions about the old Gerry‘s restaurant building on the corner of Cedar and Vine. While I know that the building is not going to be raised but rather repurposed there are many that believe the building is coming down. I strongly encourage those involved to somehow make it clear to people about this very iconic structure. I recommend articles in the Owatonna paper and most importantly in the Steele County Times, as many of the people who have raised these questions/concerns are not “social-media savvy”. I believe SCT has become a better source for these announcement as it reaches a broader audience. It’s free to submit so might as well send press releases to both OPP & SCT. Along that idea - Steele Waseca Coop & OPU send out monthly newsletters to a broad audience as well

    Matt Kottke asked over 2 years ago

    Thank you so much for your question! We have reached out to both the Steele County Times and to the Owatonna People's Press and it sounds like they each may publish a story, to ensure the facts are fully fleshed out.

  • Are all the buildings downtown going to be painted white like it shows in the video?

    Owatonna Transplant asked over 2 years ago

    Thank you for your question! The reasoning behind the building color (or lack thereof) was to highlight the streetscape improvements and/or ensure the updates were not lost within the building facades. The goal was to ensure the presentation not get bogged down with the intricacies of each building and rather focus on the project specifics instead.

Page last updated: 13 Oct 2023, 12:42 PM