North St. Paul council directs manager to seek partners to preserve Friday-night car show

The North St. Paul City Council discussed the future of the downtown History Cruisers car show and directed City Manager Brian Randle to reach out to charities, regional car clubs and the downtown business association to explore groups that could take on alternate Friday events after the organizers said they would cut the schedule to every other week.

Council members, staff and downtown business owners told the council the car show brings substantial foot traffic and revenue to downtown businesses but has become harder to run as the History Cruisers’ core volunteers age. Council members said organizers told staff they would move the event to every other Friday and may be phasing the show out on their own terms.

Council members also relayed two complaints posted publicly by organizers: that city staff did not respond to multiple outreach attempts, and that the organizers were told to change their insurance. Council members and staff said the record showed limited direct contact in 2025 (a Veterans Park inquiry), that in-person and telephone interactions had occurred, and that the decision to alter the timing of the organizers’ insurance coverage followed an expiration that left coverage lapsing between May and the first June event.

Public-safety and operations were central to the discussion. Chief Rosales, who attended a prior meeting, presented enforcement options to reduce instances of people bypassing barricades and confrontations with volunteers; council members discussed camera options and using capture of plate numbers as one enforcement tool while trying to avoid negative impacts on residents and businesses.

City staff estimated the municipal costs associated with the event — police presence, public-works labor, cleanup, portable toilets and storage — at roughly $13,000 for the season, which the nonprofit historically reimburses. Council members noted the History Cruisers had reported donating about $15,000 to charity last year and suggested that local charities or nonprofits might be willing to inherit some Fridays and raise funds from the event.

Councilors discussed alternatives that would preserve Friday-night activity without the city directly underwriting vendor-driven programming. Staff said state statute limits what the city may sponsor outside of park-related events, but the city may host free music; vendors and market-style events should be run by an outside coordinator or nonprofit. Ideas discussed included a farmers market, arts-and-culture programming, or partnering with other nearby festivals that already operate successfully.

A council member told colleagues, “I don’t want to lose a car show. I think it’s part of the culture of North St. Paul,” and moved to give the city manager direction and authority to begin outreach to potential partner organizations. The council approved that direction. Council members asked staff to prioritize outreach to regional car clubs, local charities with car-club ties, and the business association, and to report back with options rather than committing city tax dollars to vendor-based events.

The council closed the discussion by asking staff to continue coordinating with the bars and downtown businesses to keep the events family friendly and minimize operational impacts. A motion to adjourn was approved and the council reconvened later for the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m.