St. Cloud City Council to Review Budget, Children’s Museum Progress, and SCSU’s Major Cuts and Campus Overhaul Plans

(KNSI) – On Monday, St. Cloud residents can get a firsthand look at and ask questions about the proposed 2025 city budget before council members hold a study session on the children’s museum and St. Cloud State University’s plans in the face of budget cuts.

The council, city administration and Mayor Dave Kleis will review next year’s proposed $87.8 million budget. The budget includes a 2.31% increase in spending, or $2 million more than in 2024. Public safety will see the largest jump in funding, with a 4.25% increase.

The meeting is tonight from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. at St. Cloud City Hall. If you can’t make it, the budget will be presented at a public hearing during the council meeting on September 9th.

Then, at 6:00 p.m., after the budget discussion wraps up, the city council will hold a study session to get an update on construction at the Great River Children’s Museum. The 31,000-square-foot facility will house eight core exhibits to get kids climbing, creating and learning. Plans for the facility started in 2012. Officials hope the building will serve as a catalyst for more downtown redevelopment. When complete, it will be the second-largest children’s musuem in the state. The museum plans to open to the public in early 2025. The building is expected to draw around 500,000 visitors a year, many from 60 school districts in 12 central Minnesota counties.

The council will also hear an update from St. Cloud State University administrators. In June, the campus announced it was cutting 42 degree programs and 50 minors and losing 54 professors. SCSU proposes reducing the number of majors it offers to 94, consisting of 62 bachelor’s degrees, 29 master’s degrees, and three doctoral degrees. SCSU says 92% of students are currently enrolled in the programs that will be kept. There will also be 35 minors offered.

The reductions were blamed on declining enrollment and a $14.4 million operating deficit. Enrollment has tumbled from 18,300 in 2010 to just over 10,000 in 2023.

SCSU is also in the beginning phases of an ambitious plan to overhaul the campus. In the next five years, the Institute of higher learning is considering removing several older, vacant or underused buildings. Bulldozing the structures will create more green space and a park-like environment, eliminating the cost of maintaining the unused space.

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