The Rochester City Council agreed on Monday to spend $100,000 to hire Sasaki and Associates to prepare a new master plan for downtown Rochester.

The total cost of the plan is nearly $350,000. Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota Rochester are each expected to pay $100,000, the Rochester Area Foundation has agreed to contribute $30,000, and the Rochester Downtown Alliance has been asked to contribute $20,000.

Hiring the consultant comes at an unprecedented juncture in downtown Rochester's history, with a UMR campus being planned downtown, the city planning "urban village" development to make downtown more inviting, Mayo Clinic going through its first major long-range master plan revision in 25 years, a downtown mobility study being planned, and Mayo hatching plans to tout Rochester as a "destination medical community."

Post-Bulletin by Matt Russell, 10/20/09

Tags: destination medical community, downtown, Mayo Clinic Rochester