I hadn’t realized this when I was going over NDSU’s PML Building expansion: the Y-shaped section of 9th St North directly behind the building will be adsorbed into the NDSU Downtown campus. The wedge of green houses six mailboxes (due to one-ways it allows drivers to drop their mail off out the car window), several trees and a flower garden, and the Statue of Rollo. It appears that Rollo will stay on the grounds, and an accommodation for the mail drop will exist on 3rd Avenue (a one-way going East). I’m pleased with two things: an increase in downtown green area, and a reduction in downtown parking lots. Even when the PML building was completely occupied, the lot was rarely full – remember, the lot across the street to the west also belongs to the PML building as well. If there’s one thing I hate about downtown Fargo, it’s too many parking lots, not enough buildings. I don’t like the loss of a downtown street, though; several other north-south streets have been closed off in the past few years due to building expansion and train safety.
