"Ever since I was a little girl, this has been my dream, which sounds a little cliche actually, but it's truth," Erica Bordwell told the Brainerd Dispatch, sitting outside her new shop on Front Street. Books and Botanicals opened Aug. 8 at 816 Front St. It sells books, plants and gifts, and there's complimentary coffee and tea and a couch to sit on. In its second week, the Dispatch reported customers coming through at steady intervals, from teenagers to retirees.
The bookstore opened in an unusual season. Highway 210 is torn up east of downtown, and MnDOT's signed detours send that traffic through downtown on South Sixth Street, South Eighth Street and Oak Street. Next year the plan flips. The closures move onto Washington Street's downtown blocks and the Mississippi River bridge. Fall 2026 is the one stretch where downtown carries the detour traffic without being a work zone itself, and several of its historic storefronts are changing hands at the same time.
This year's detour runs down South Sixth and South Eighth
Right now Highway 210 is closed to all traffic from C Street/Highway 25 to North 10th Street while crews rebuild the railyard segment. MnDOT signs eastbound drivers onto South Sixth Street, which is also Business Highway 371, then Oak Street and Highway 25. Westbound drivers take Highway 25, Oak Street and South Eighth Street. Between Pine Shores Road and South Sixth Street, Highway 210 is down to one lane each way. The new roundabouts at C Street/Highway 25 and at County Road 3, Mill Avenue, are running one lane until all four lanes open this fall.
MnDOT's 2026 schedule runs from mid-April to late October. It covers the east, mall and railyard segments from Pine Shores Road to Kingwood Street. If time allows, the contractor will keep working west to Eighth Street. MnDOT says all lanes and accesses on Highway 210 will reopen over the 2026–2027 winter. Along the work zone, local access to businesses stays open. Expect gravel or grooved pavement, side and back entrances, and sidewalk detours. Work zones change week to week, so check 511mn.org and the MnDOT project page before you leave.
The detour adds less time than it might seem. At a July business update, the president of the Brainerd Lakes Area Chamber said his own drive from the Chamber office to the East Brainerd Mall took only one or two extra minutes.
South Sixth Street gets a new tenant
The eastbound detour runs along South Sixth Street, past the historic First National Bank building. Design Consign occupied that building from 2012 until this summer. Steve and Julie Foy opened the store there with their son Matt, and it closed after a retirement sale June 12–14.
The next tenant is The Iron Horse, a home decor, furniture and gift shop. On Facebook, the shop announced an Oct. 17 opening date in the same building. The name refers to the nickname for early train locomotives and to the Northern Pacific Railroad's role in Brainerd's founding. In its own post, the shop added a second meaning. "But behind every Iron Horse was an actual one. A living breathing animal, hauling the equipment and breaking the ground that made it all possible which is why we chose to honor both with our logo and name." That date comes from the business's own announcement, so check its Facebook page before you go.
The visitor desk moved to Baxter, and its shelves moved down the street
One block over, the Visit Brainerd Gift Store on South Seventh Street closed Aug. 22. A sign on the door thanked customers for "6.75 wonderful years in Downtown Brainerd." The marketing office and visitor information desk moved to 14410 Golf Course Drive in Baxter, in the building with Panache Salon and Day Spa.
The merchandise didn't leave downtown with the office. According to the Dispatch, some of the Minnesota-themed lines are going to The Old Open Window, The 218 Urban Nest and Little Threads Kidswear Boutique, all in downtown Brainerd, and to Christmas Point in Baxter. Brainerd History Group walks are now by appointment only. Save the Water Tower merchandise, which used to be sold in the gift store, will turn up at community events. Brainerd Warrior merchandise will announce its plans on Facebook.
The downtown storefront is closed, and some of its Minnesota-themed lines are headed to three downtown shops. The Visit Brainerd desk itself is now off Golf Course Drive in Baxter.
Overhead, two old structures got some work
Some of downtown's 2026 work happened above street level. Ten upstairs apartments in the 600 block of Front Street were damaged in a 2025 fire. They've been restored and were slated to reopen to renters Aug. 15, which puts the upper floors of that block back in use.
The historic water tower is 107 years old. Over the last few years it has gotten a new roof to stop water intrusion, restored windows, and updated electrical and lighting. The Dispatch photographed the new lights shining inside the tower on Sept. 10. The last phase is the stucco, which started falling off in 2018. On Sept. 8, the Brainerd City Council unanimously accepted two National Park Service grants of $500,000 each, awarded in 2024 and 2026, on behalf of the tower committee. Committee chair Paul Skogan is working with architects on whether the stucco job, originally estimated at $3 million, can be scaled down to $1 million. He said a 2028 construction date would leave time to raise more money. The committee posts updates at brainerdwatertower.com.
What's on downtown's October calendar
Most of downtown's fall dates fall in October, before MnDOT's 2026 season ends in late October.
- Fridays, Oct. 2, 9 and 16: Main Street Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the City Hall lot at 501 Laurel St. The listing gives the market's season as May through October, so these are its last Fridays of the year.
- Saturday, Oct. 3: An acrylic painting workshop at the Crossing Arts Alliance, 711 Laurel St., noon to 3 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 17: The Iron Horse's announced opening day on South Sixth Street.
- Saturday, Oct. 24: Downtown Brainerd Spooktacular. Trick-or-treating at participating businesses runs 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Carnival games, vendors and food run noon to 3 p.m. on Laurel Street between Seventh and Eighth streets.
The Spooktacular is on Laurel Street, not Washington Street, so this year's highway work doesn't touch it. The event listing ends with "Discover what's different in Downtown Brainerd!"
In 2027, the closures move onto downtown's blocks
MnDOT plans to work from west to east in 2027, from west of Baxter Drive to Kingwood Street. That covers the west segment, the Mississippi River bridge and the downtown segment. The work includes new signals, city underground utilities and sidewalks, plus wider sidewalks on the bridge. Here's how the closures compare between the two years:
| Fall 2026 | 2027 plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Washington St./Hwy 210 closure | C St./Hwy 25 to N 10th St., the railyard segment | NW 4th St. to E River Rd., including the Mississippi River bridge. E River Rd. to S 6th St. S 6th St./Hwy 371B to Kingwood St. |
| Through-traffic detour | Eastbound S Sixth St., Oak St., Hwy 25. Westbound Hwy 25, Oak St., S Eighth St. | Cypress Dr., College Dr., 4th St. to Hwy 371B/S 6th St. East of S 6th: Hwy 371B, S 6th St., Oak St., SE 13th St./CR 45 |
| Laurel St. bridge | Open | Local traffic only, emergency services included |
| Lanes reopen | Over the 2026–27 winter | Over the 2027–28 winter, with any wrap-up work in 2028 |
MnDOT labels the 2027 schedule tentative until a contractor is on board, and notes that materials, weather and unexpected finds under the road can change it. Even so, the change is clear. This year the detour sends drivers along South Sixth Street, Oak Street and South Eighth Street. In 2027, Washington Street itself closes from East River Road through South Sixth Street and on to Kingwood Street. MnDOT's own map labels that stretch the downtown segment.
The Brainerd Lakes Chamber reported in May that businesses along the Highway 210 corridor had already felt early construction impacts. It started a program called Drive 210 to promote access, business offers and free mascot appearances. The program's site, drive210.com, posts weekly access updates, including directions to businesses by way of the new Nelson Drive connection near 10th Avenue Northeast. The 2027 phases and the downtown closures haven't started yet. Until then, downtown is open from all directions, Books and Botanicals is open on Front Street, The Iron Horse has announced its opening in the First National Bank building, and the October calendar has events nearly every weekend.
If you're thinking about how next year's work on Washington Street could affect a home downtown or on the east side of Brainerd, Polovitz Group follows MnDOT's Brainerd plans block by block and is glad to talk through what the 2027 schedule could mean for a sale or purchase timeline.
