Moorhead Open House to Revamp Downtown

Community members gathered at the Moorhead Center Mall to voice their opinions on possible changes to the area

MOORHEAD, Minn. — For one Concordia student, making the move from Nepal to Moorhead wasn’t an easy transition.

“Coming here, it was a whole new experience. For me, Moorhead is a very small city,” says Susham Bhujel.

He says coming from Kathmandu, a city with over a million people living in it, to the F-M area was a bit of a shock.

“Most of the time I spend here is on campus, but like, whenever I get out from college, it’s more, I prefer to go to Fargo downtown than Moorhead downtown.”

He says that’s because Fargo offers more coffee shops and places for students to hang out and study at.

But that may soon be changing.

The second public Moorhead Downtown Master Plan open house filled up quickly, as community members gathered to discuss enhancing the city’s downtown.

“Really getting the public’s feedback of our vision and future for downtown Moorhead. So, investment strategies, infrastructure, all sorts of different things to really plan for the next 10 to 15 years and see some really big change in our downtown for years to come,” says Downtown Moorhead Inc. President Derrick LaPoint.

The goal is to create a more vibrant and economically thriving downtown.

“The public, the community, really wants to see something move. We’ve seen 15 new businesses start in downtown Moorhead last year, multiple projects, about five projects are going to break ground in spring next year, so it’s just a general interest in it,” says LaPoint.

That means a mix of housing, businesses and entertainment to get Moorhead on the same playing field as towns surrounding it.

“I think the whole plan about developing the, you know, downtown is really awesome. Since Moorhead is a college town, it’s a really good idea what actions they are planning to take and everything,” says Bhujel.

Officials say the finalized Downtown Master Plan should represent all members of Moorhead’s community.

Derrick says they hope to have the Master Plan finalized by the end of July.