If St. Cloud Would Build Around This Feature, Would You Use It?

You see this type of thing is several other cities that have a river running through it.  It is something that if you see that it's available, it's the first place that you want to go in the Summertime, or whenever the weather will permit.

I'm talking about bars, restaurants, shops, etc. building up around the Mississippi River.  We have this gorgeous body of water running through the center of town and we are not utilizing the opportunity that we have.

When we only get a few short weeks/months to enjoy the warmer months in this part of the country, it would be nice to spend as much time out in it as we can.  We drive to other parts of the state and neighboring states to hang out on a patio and watch the water, boats coming by, wildlife, and just enjoy some of what is good about being by the water.

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Years ago, there were a couple of places that did take advantage of that. One was the Pirate's Cove.  That was more of an upscale restaurant that also had the lower level that was a little more casual, where people would pull their boat up, go in and have a drink, a meal, sit on the patio, and get in their boat and continue on.  It was great.  Then there was Gilligan's.  That bar/restaurant was much more casual and still fun.  That's gone too.  And nothing like it has replaced either of those places.  I think it's a huge missed opportunity.

Do I think it would cost a lot of have something like that built up around the town, absolutely, 100% I do.  But, I think it would be worth it.  When it's nice out, people gravitate towards places that have outdoor seating.  Think how great it would be if you had that on the river, too.  And you could still enjoy it in the winter with huge windows. Winter is pretty, we're just tired of it at this point, but it would be a great option.

Sartell does have the Riverboat Depot, and we also have Anton's in Waite Park.  But I think it's a missed opportunity not to have some sort of a river walk type of option in the downtown area.  Just my opinion.  We're missing out compared to other cities who have the same sort of feature in their town.