COUNTDOWN: THE YEAR’S MAJOR WINONA NEWS
No. 15. Downtown development  

The architecturally classic and Winona banking anchors Merchants and Winona National stood proud in 2020, although their once-vibrant downtown environs were dotted with vacant store fronts, struggling merchants and shabby walkup apartments. City Council candidates, notably mayoral hopefuls Michelle Alexander, Jovy Rockey and Scott Sherman, spoke firmly for downtown development, but no matter their sincerity we’ve heard all this before. Even so, there were promising steps to restoring downtown — the Mainstreet Square complex, the Fastenal office building, several dozen up-from-scratch rentals, and the imaginative Ben Strand to promote local commerce.

Strand. Challenges ahead.

Scroll down to No. 16: Shifting instructional modes