The National Norwegian Center in America broke ground Friday on a $19.5 million expansion that will be home to the Norwegian Consulate, Concordia Language Villages, the Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce and several other organizations.
The Innovation and Culture Center will include a 270-seat event-and-dining center and business accelerator for Nordic companies seeking to expand. It will be part of Norway House's National Norwegian Center in America, which is recognized by the governments of Minnesota and Norway.
"These are exciting times," said Christina Carleton, who became executive director of Norway House in 2017 after nearly a decade at the Norwegian Consulate. "This will complete our campus. We are a welcoming place for all ages and backgrounds."
Carleton and her allies acquired and refurbished an abandoned building at 913 E. Franklin Av. for about $3 million in 2014 and 2015.
The thriving Norway House is a small cultural and business center that includes cooking and language classes, the Edvard Grieg music festival, Minnesota Peace Initiative and the inimitable Gingerbread Wonderland winter exhibit that attracts 15,000. It also contains a small café along with several small businesses, including a couple with African roots.
"But we can only seat 70 for events," Carleton said of Norway House. "Seating 270 will be great for groups that otherwise would meet at a suburban golf club or a church basement."
The striking innovation center, which will connect to Norway House, was seeded several years ago with a $5 million state challenge grant, at the urging of former Gov. Al Quie and the late Vice President Walter Mondale. Those funds will soon be tripled by hundreds of individuals, business and foundations, including the government of Norway.
The soon-to-be Norwegian-American block includes the century-old Mindekirken Church, one of the few Lutheran churches in America where services are still in Norwegian. It's a Norway-American focus, but open to all. In fact, local collaborations will grow as a result of the expansion in space and programs, Carleton said.