North Mankato displays its changes

On Monday night, Mayor Gary Zellmer held his annual tour to show several areas of recent construction and "other sites of interest" to a bus load of community businesspeople, civic leaders and the curious.
He had a lot to show off.
There were 36 areas in the 11/2-hour tour some of the highlights of which I'd like to touch on:

View Mayor's tour in a larger map
A. Gold Cross Ambulance will be siting at the #2 Fire Station on Howard & Lor Ray cutting down the response time for upper North Mankato.
B. Energy efficient lights will be replaced at Caswell Park and the old ones donated to Loyola.
C. Capstone, corner of Howard & Lookout Drive, is adding 24,000 sq ft to its present 45,000 sq ft facility
D. New construction underway on Howard Drive West (expansion of the industrial park area) includes Timpte Inc with five acres for sales & service, and Minnesota Truck & Tractor, both for sales and service.
E. They are butting up against the future expansion of the Highway 14 intersection and extension of County 41 that will cover over 14 and link north with County 6 (Timms Road)
F. The new Beans Plus Daycare on Carlson Drive & Rolling Green Lane has a capacity of 197 children and it is hoped will serve the growing industrial base on that side of town.
G. Mike Drummer has two subdivisions being constructed on Timms Road and Rolling Green Lane. On the Rolling Green side, is Cottages at Benson which butts up against Benson Park. It will have 40 single townhomes and three will be constructed first.
H. Across Timms on the same corner will be Parks Edge Subdivision. These 70 acres will have 173 "tight" lots (meaning no variances) and construction will feature the first 21 lots.
I. Benson Park will be undergoing extensive work to bring its 70 acres to a natural park and play setting. The city commissioned Hoisington Koegler Group to draft a five-year plan. The first step will be some underground piping and infrastructure work. Also, Mike Drummer has donated 25 "good-sized" oak trees for the savannah of this project.
J. The 40-acre site of the future elementary school on Carlson Drive and Lor Ray Drive will include eight soccer fields. These will complement the four soccer fields on the north end of Dakota Meadows Middle School and will be tournament quality.
K. That new construction underway at Commerce is the new Commerce Drive Dental Clinic. Still to come to the west of that is a 3-acre site for Mankato Mortuary.
L. The Thompson Fishing Pier was detailed in a recent Free Press article here.
M. The Taylor Library expansion project is adding about 60% more space including a basement for seasonal storage. They hope to complete it by the end of the year.
N. A loan program whereby up to 2-for-1 grants are available for local businesses have helped improve the Bonito Guadalajara Mexican restaurant and Circle Inn on Belgrade Avenue. There is hope that other businesses will take advantage in an effort to revitalize the 200 block.
O. The west side of Lee Boulevard Hill will feature a bike path to relieve some of the high-speed conflicts with walkers on the east side sidewalk.