Mayor: Shakopee Should Be a Retail-Entertainment Destination

Last Thursday, Mayor Brad Tabke painted a glittering picture of Shakopee-to-be: He envisions an entertainment and retail corridor running all the way from Valley Fair to Mystic Lake.

In his annual State of the City Address, Tabke boasted of the city's increasing economic might. According to him, the city has seen over $100 million in new investment as of late, with more to come: A deal with the global company Emerson is close to fruition and the council recently approved an incentive package for Compass, a technology company that hopes to build a data center in Shakopee. 

"In the five months since January 15 we've seen more economic development than we've had in the last five to seven years," Tabke said. "Word is getting out and it is amazing."

Though the city is host to the state's Renaissance Festival, Canterbury Park and Valleyfair, thus far the city has not made the most of its already robust reputation as a entertainment destination, Tabke said. Tabke believes that Shakopee could become a regional powerhouse, with an entertainment/retail corridor stretching all the way from Valleyfair to Mystic Lake Casino.

"We have a huge opportunity that we haven't really embraced. We haven't capitalized on it," Tabke said, adding that both Scott County and the Mdewakanton community are already on board with such a plan.

Tabke added that the entertainment developments should merely be the first stop in a visitor's experience of Shakopee.

"Right now they come to Valleyfair, and they come to Canterbury but they don't come into the town. We aren't capturing them hen they're here," Tabke said. "We're missing that opportunity."

To that end, Tabke recommended better signage, some aesthetic improvements to make the town feel welcoming and stepped up efforts to increase the downtown's economic vitality, perhaps by small business laons or by using a single brokerage to market commercial spaces in old Shakopee.