Nokomis Square Cooperative: Community within a neighborhood

Nokomis Square Cooperative, a senior community, has been happily situated in the Nokomis East Neighborhood since 1984. The residents there are celebrating their 40th anniversary on Sept. 28. There will be an open house from 2 to 4 p.m. Refreshments will be available along with live music and time to visit with residents who will reminisce and extoll the wonders of their community. And a warm and inviting community it is.
Stroll inside Nokomis Square and you’ll be in for a surprise. On the outside the “Square” looks like a big old apartment building. On the inside, you’ll find an airy and inviting seven-story atrium, complete with a fountain and beautiful orb lights hanging from a large skylight. Apartments wrap around the atrium off long balconies where you can see active residents enjoying their home.
The story of Nokomis Square Cooperative is one of kindness and care. The idea for the co-operative originated with Mildred Starr, the president of Lake Nokomis Lutheran Church. She and other members of the church noticed that, sadly, they were losing senior members who needed to move out of their homes to live simpler lives. They wanted to stay in the neighborhood, but there was nowhere for them to go. And so, the idea for an affordable senior living facility was born.
The neighborhood rallied around the idea and the work began.
In 1978, a site was found. It is located where Nokomis Junior High once stood on the corner of 35th Avenue and 50th Street. When the junior high was torn down, the process of building the community that would become Nokomis Square Cooperative began. It was completed in just five years. Such was the enthusiasm for the idea. For an initial marketing celebration in 1982, before ground was broken, 800 interested people showed up. Three hundred people, including local dignitaries, attended the ground-breaking in October of 1983. The north wing was completed in October of 1984 and the first residents moved in. The south wing was completed in 1985, and the community began thriving. And 40 years later, it still is.
According to residents, Nokomis Square Cooperative is a wonderful place to live. Folks are very happy. They are involved in community activities, have many friends, and feel safe and supported. The Nokomis East Neighborhood where the “Square” is located is situated between Minnehaha Falls and Lake Nokomis. It is a wonderful place to walk and enjoy the outdoors. There are many businesses nearby… a grocery store, a tailor, a bank, a hardware store, a post office, and many restaurants.
As a cooperative, Nokomis Square is not simply a group of apartments or a condominium complex. According to Elizabeth Mullen, marketing director, a co-op is “a living community where everyone cooperates to get things done and where members are building a community together.” Residents purchase memberships, not their apartments, and are responsible for running and caring for the community. They have been involved in major renovations and redecoration projects. One resident says she appreciates being part of a community where she has skin in the game financially and can be involved in governance and community projects.
Omega Property Management Company oversees finances and hires staff, but a resident board operates the community in all other ways. Board members, many of whom have extensive experience on other community boards, are volunteers as are the members of numerous committees that create opportunities for residents to be involved in a plethora of activities from a food service committee to a social justice group.
Most Nokomis Square apartments are small, but when residents walk outside their doors, they walk into a rich community. Down the halls they find dear friends available for socializing or for support. After hip surgery, a resident might be invited to shower in a friend’s apartment because they have an accessible tub. Another resident might walk a dog for a friend who has mobility problems. Maybe they’ll share a glass of wine and enjoy a good conversation afterward.
Residents design and maintain the garden and do much of the work maintaining the landscape. There are garden boxes where residents grow vegetables and flowers and where there is a community garden from which vegetables and herbs are available for residents to harvest.
The cooperative is filled with interesting characters and accomplished people. One resident loves recognizing folks by their voices and unique ways of walking. An accomplished writer lives at Nokomis Square. She wrote for The New Yorker and has published numerous books of short stories. There is a wonderful fiddler in the building who can be heard playing at the Swedish American Institute. One resident knows everybody’s name. An old timer knows the history of the “Square” inside and out. He lived through a lot of it. And then there are the lovely residents who simply inhabit the atrium, bringing folks together with kindness and good humor.