Lisbon’s Downtown

“You’ve got to create a sense of place and the best place to do that is in your downtown area”, is what I often preach when I’m on the road. The transformation that is taking place in Lisbon, ND (population 2,300) has that town’s downtown on the right track.

Al and Betty Michels have spent four years redoing the old theater on Main Street, making Lisbon one of only 27 towns in ND with its own theater. It costs $5 for adults and $3.50 for children for the one show per night that they do on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. They also are redoing a three story downtown building into retail on the ground floor with four apartments on the upper floors that they will rent for $550 to $600/month.

Sheryl Kelly has a wonderful love for her home town. She bought a shuttered 120 year old hardware store and recently opened Ho-Den-Attes, which stands for Home, Garden and Antiques. She’s also started a coffee bar/deli in the back. She told me, “I just couldn’t stand to see another empty building in our downtown. We’ve tried to keep the charm of the old hardware store in our décor. I want to make this a destination stop for people.”

Judy Larson, President of the Opera House Restoration Board, showed me around their 10 year project to restore the three story landmark. They’ve spent $300,000 to date on the $1 million project. The opera house was built in 1889 in a four month period for $20,000 when Lisbon was the fastest growing city in the state. It was last used as a J. C. Penney store from 1929 to 1988.

Lisbon also has a new baseball diamond, skate park and wonderful outdoor pool. They have 75 acres of parks, not bad for a town of 2,300.

One big asset for the community is the town of Gwinner (population 717) that lies 25 miles south of Lisbon. It is home to Bobcat Equipment (www.bobcat.com), a company that was started by a local farmer in 1950 and is now owned by Ingersoll-Rand. They have 1,200 employees in town and many live in places like Lisbon. Bobcat is a key driver of economic prosperity for much of the region.