park rapids enterprise | Wednesday, March 31, 2021
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PROGRESS Essentia Health opens clinic on State Hwy. 34 Enterprise file photo
The former Pamida store was remodeled into a 23,0000-square-foot Essentia Health clinic, which opened in August 2020.
By Shannon Geisen sgeisen@ parkrapidsenterprise.com
and more. The remodeled space was formerly the Pamida store, located at 1103 Essentia Health offiFirst Street E. cially opened a second The 23,0000-squareclinic in Park Rapids on foot clinic contains 18 Aug. 17, 2020 to provide exam rooms as well as walk-in care, therapy procedure space, a large services, primary care physical, occupation-
al and speech therapy department with 2,900 square feet of space and over 3,000 square feet of radiology space, which includes a state-of-theart MRI room. Additional services are planned in the future. In August, Dr. Michelle
Thieman said, “Since we have hired a number of new physicians and clinicians in the past few years, our need for additional clinic space to adequately serve our patients has grown. The new space on Hwy. 34 will provide everyone a
little breathing room to better do what we do – care for patients.” “This additional clinic is going to be a real asset to our community. Keeping care local and close to home is important and with this additional space, Essentia
will be able to offer additional services and conveniences to patients,” said Kim May, clinic operations director, at the time of the opening. Call 732-6300 or visit essentiahealth.org to schedule an appointment.
Meadow’s Edge Red Barn to house several ventures workforce housing fully booked By Lorie Skarpness lskarpness@ parkrapidsenterprise.com
ness will open April 1. New electrical wiring, heating and insulation A familiar landmark will allow year-round on Hwy. 34 east of Park use. Rough sawn lumber Rapids has a new owner. is going on the walls, Carter’s Red Wagon along with new lighting. Farm Market also has While they plan to keep a new name: The Red the look of the building much as it has been, they Barn. The property sold the are also planning to add same day it went on a fresh coat of paint and the market. Grethe and a new roof. Grethe is originally Montie Beyer of Osage closed on the property from Denmark. She met March 1. The new busi- Montie five years ago
Robin Fish/Enterprise
Feb. 26 was move-in day for 26 households at the newly opened Meadow’s Edge Apartments at 315 Career Path in Park Rapids. All 28 apartments are already booked, as are the Meadow View Apartments at 317 Career Path. By Robin Fish rfish@ parkrapidsenterprise.com
the tenants slated to move in on April 1. “I love it,” Pfeifer said of the new building, whose management office also moved over from Meadow View. She said everyone seems pleased with it, and since the building was finished, people have been “coming out of the woodwork” to get applications. “I have three that are already turned in – applications that’ll wait for the next available apartment – and I hand out three to four applications a day,” she said.
The 28-unit Meadow’s Edge Apartments had 26 households moving in the day it opened for occupation, Feb. 26 at 315 Career Path. According to Carolyn Pfeifer, who manages the facility along with the Meadow View Apartments at 317 Career Path, both buildings are fully booked and there’s a waiting list for units that become available. Pfeifer added that leases were signed on the remaining two units at Meadow’s Edge, with MEADOW’S EDGE: Page B8
and they were married last year. “I’ve been selling insurance in the area for about 15 years and am going to be running my business, High Plains Insurance, out of the Red Barn now,” she said. “Montie and I run five businesses together. Our core business is the Snirt Stopper. This rubberized material seals garage doors from snirt (a mixture of
snow and dirt), rodents, snow and rain. It also keeps garage doors from freezing down. We ship it all over the world from Osage. We’ll be selling Snirt Stoppers and a line of gloves and glasses, windows and firewood at the Red Barn. We are also planning on putting a parking lot in so we can have a flea market. We’ve got the best location in town.”
RED BARN: Page B2
Simonson project will soon expand downtown area By Robin Fish rfish@ parkrapidsenterprise.com Construction continues this spring on the Simonson Station Store, soon to command the north side of State Hwy. 34 opposite downtown Park Rapids. The project, developed by Arch Simonson with Bemidji Management Co., LLC, has been underway since at least 2017, when Simonson began buying up properties on the first block north of the highway between Main Avenue and U.S. Hwy. 71. During the intervening years, Simonson bought and demolished several existing houses and businesses and asked the city to vacate an alley, replat the properties as a single parcel and rezone
Robin Fish/Enterprise
A Simonson Station Store is under construction on the north side of State Hwy. 34 between Main Ave. and U.S. Hwy. 71 in Park Rapids. them as B-1 highway business. According to former City Planner Andrew Mack, Simonson has expressed interest in installing one or two Level 3, high-speed electric vehicle charging
stations on the lot, if the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency funds a grant sought by charging equipment supplier ZEF Energy. “We’re excited to bring our store and our products to Park Rapids,”
said Simonson, while attending a time capsule burying ceremony on the lot in November 2020. “We hope that the community will embrace us and that we’ll find success here.”