"What do the proposed new Menard's store and the proposed new Decorah elementary school have in common?"

Stuck in a crater?

(The following is a comment by decorahnews.com's Paul Scott)

Here's a tough question for you: "What do the proposed new Menard's store and the proposed new Decorah elementary school have in common?"

The answer is that for both the store and for the school, the locations being proposed are closer to the center of town than the alternate possible locations for the store and school.

Think about it for a second—the Menard's store is being proposed for property in Freeport because it's close to Walmart.  Developers are putting a priority on that property despite the fact that the land flooded in the fall of 2016 and could very well flood again.  The alternate possible location for the Menard's is property across from the Decorah Airport—just two miles away, hardly an impossible distance to drive, but the priority is closeness, not flood prevention.

Meanwhile, the new elementary school is being proposed for the city-owned softball field right next to the tennis courts off Claiborne Drive.  The alternate possible location for the school is property off Highland Drive owned by Aase Haugen Senior Services.  The City of Decorah wants at least $700,000 for its property.  Aase Haugen has offered its property for $1.  The city property is roughly four or five acres.  The Aase Haugen property is 20 acres.  The Vennehjem/Aase Haugen property would allow for plenty of space for future expansion—maybe even a bus garage or a community rec center or an affordable housing development.  Again, the priority is closeness, not other factors.

I understand the appeal of walking kids to school.  And it's a legitimate choice to want to build an elementary school near downtown—so long as people understand that they're giving up a lot of other goals that have been discussed—such as plenty of room for kids to run around outdoors and plenty of room for future expansion.

The day has already arrived when Decorah has begun to "Leave the Crater."  Decorah has become a popular community which is drawing more and more people to live here.  That means we should begin to think long-range about how our community can expand in a thoughtful, logical way.  But we can't do that so long as our minds are stuck in a crater!