Prep Bowl kicks off in downtown Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS - The Prep Bowl kicked off Friday morning at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Thousands of high school football fans will be downtown to watch the state finals over the next two days.
"I played in it long ago when I was young, so it's an awesome event," said Jeremy Oakland of Mountain Lake.
From former state tournament players to current ones, the Prep Bowl is the pinnacle of the high school football season.
"It was crazy. Lots of fans. We come from a pretty small town so to see that many fans was pretty sweet," said Jack Fishbaugher, whose Fillmore Central team made it to the state semi-finals.
It's pretty sweet for downtown businesses too, as many are looking for a boost. Earlier this week, TIES Lounge and Rooftop on Nicollet Mall became the latest downtown establishment to close its doors.
"It's been a process of two steps forward and one step back. But if you do that over the course of a year, you are making progress," said Steve Cramer.
Cramer is President and CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council. He said more people returning to work, along with law enforcement's Operation Endeavor have helped make the city safer and busier.
During the summer of 2020, the number of restaurants and retailers in downtown Minneapolis sunk to just 200. Now, that number has increased to 400, though it's still below the peak of 700 that downtown experienced in 2019.
"It's safe and it's vibrant, becoming increasingly vibrant, and that's the message we need to spread and it's only going to spread by people coming here and having their own experiences," said Cramer.
Prep Bowl fans, who haven't been here for a few years, have mixed expectations.
"The last couple years with all the turmoil in the cities, I don't know, it's just something people try to avoid nowadays," said Landon Skalet from Rushford.
"No, we weren't nervous. No, it seems about the same. I'm sure, like every place, there's good thing and bad things," said Oakland.
"We are kind of from a small town so it's nice to get out of town," said Jessica Oakland fromMountain Lake.
Cramer also credits police visibility, community outreach groups and even private security groups for working to make downtown safer.
