Richfield Municipal Liquor Store remodeling 6444 Lyndale Av. South, Richfield
Type: Retail Year built: 1963
Cost: $800,000
Architect: Wold Architects & Engineers
Details: The 49-year-old Richfield Municipal Liquor Store No.1 at Lyndale Avenue South and 65th Street is in the middle of a quickly redeveloping commercial and housing node, and city officials have moved to take advantage of the new activity there to carry out some significant upgrades.
With such new projects as the Lyndale Plaza apartment complex and the redevelopment of the former Lyndale Garden Center into a mixed-use housing-retail area close by, the sprucing up of the aging liquor store is well-timed, they say.
The effort, designed by Wold Architects & Engineers, landed a contractor Jan. 22 when the City Council approved a bid by Ebert Construction of Corcoran to revamp the dowdy facility into an attractive asset for the changing neighborhood.
No major improvements have been made to the store in 30 years, but that will change with the replacement of lighting fixtures, entryway doors, coolers, flooring and check-out counters.
Windows on the south and west sides will be retrofitted with energy-efficient glass and a new, open ceiling will replace the current one, while on the exterior, bricks will be replaced and repaired.
"It's going to be a dramatically different-looking store and it's going to be beautiful," Richfield City Manager Steve Devich said.
Don Jacobson is a freelance writer in St. Paul. He can be contacted at hotproperty.startribune@gmail.com.
