In the 2023 legislative session, the University of Minnesota received $5 million in state funding in support of various infrastructure projects in jurisdictions with fewer than 15,000 people.

The university's Empowering Small Communities Program is helping to jumpstart those projects now, something for which smaller cities and townships needed tactical support, said Kyle Shelton, the director of the university's Center for Transportation Studies, which runs the program.

The program's first cycle includes funding for 35 projects selected in partnership with university entities like the College of Design, Extension, the Center for Transportation Studies and the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs.

"The funding that we have is not funding that goes directly to the community to, say, like, 'Build the project.' It is supporting the time of the university teams who are doing the work that the community is looking for the support," Shelton said.

One of them is a project to transform what used to be a Congregational church in Pelican Rapids into a community center with a youth center, food shelf, rentable commercial kitchen and LGBTQ+ welcoming space, among other uses.

Alexander Ohman, a pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Pelican Rapids, said the city doesn't currently have such a community center.

A few weeks ago, Richard Graves, the director of the Center for Sustainable Building Research and an associate professor in the College of Design, conducted a code review of the former church building to help come up with an initial conceptual design for the space.

The team has decided to dedicate the basement as a youth center since a local youth-led organization thought it would be a good space for spurring welcoming and belonging for LGBTQ+ people.

The building's upstairs will become an event space that will have a commercial kitchen.

"That'll be available to community members who maybe have a small business they're running out of their homes, so they can prepare food for retail sale," Ohman said. "It can also be used as a catering space for the facility."

A Fergus Falls-based nonprofit, West Central Initiative, has also been involved in the process, connecting the community center project -- called The Bridge Center -- with a group in Pelican Rapids that was interested in a community kitchen but couldn't find a space for it.

The project has received some funding from the city that requires the building to be operational by January 2028. Ohman said he thinks the building will open in different phases, though, and may be ready before then.

Something on Grave's mind is how a space that used to be a church could become a place where people from all religions and backgrounds could feel comfortable. "The population served by the building in the future is quite diverse, and so [we're] figuring out how to make a former church not feel like a former church and be welcoming to a wide variety of populations," Graves said.

Graves estimates the cost could be between $750,000 and $1.5 million, for which the Pelican Rapids group will need to tap other funding sources. The University of Minnesota doesn't have the funding for the projects but is offering support like design consultation to assist communities in the process.

Other projects in the program include things like efforts to get broadband coverage in Mahnomen and a research project looking at what a solar energy facility in Mountain Iron would bring to the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe.

"The goal, really, with all of them is, 'How can the university partners learn from what the community needs and then bring them some resources and time and expertise to support them in that?'" Shelton said. "Once the deliverables from our program are done, we're hoping that we can continue to work with folks (and) make warm handoffs to perhaps agencies or to their legislators, or to local philanthropy or foundations or to federal agencies."

Shelton estimated that by the time the projects in the first cycle are finished, the university will have used about 35%-40% of the legislative funds. The 35 projects selected in the first round were chosen from 104 applicants.

The remaining funds will be used for more projects in the second round, which is currently open for applications. Whatever is left over could go toward a third round of funding. Shelton said the program has been a success so far and wants to see if the university's legislative partners will advocate for it again in coming sessions.