Riverplace
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—the new home of Evergreen Press (EP)—publishers of LAKE COUNTRY JOURNAL MAGAZINE. Our office is centrally located near downtown Brainerd, but being tucked away along the Mississippi River below the Laurel Street bridge makes this a natural oasis for birds and wildlife. Four-footed visitors have even strolled through our front door, as if taking us up on our invitation to tour the premises. The natural, outdoor setting keeps us grounded, sparks creativity, and reminds us why we love to live and work in Lake Country. “Creative energies are part of producing the magazine,” says Chip Borkenhagen, co-publisher with his wife, Jean. “Creative people work better in a space that has character.” Many of you have stopped in to tour Riverplace—countless others have expressed interest in our new digs. We thought we’d take a few pages to show you around, let you in on how we got started, and share the joys of bringing Lake Country into your homes, whether near or far away. LCJM began in 1996 with five full-time employees (including the publish-ers) and was based in a nondescript Baxter office building. The Borkenhagens tapped the talents of graphic designer Aaron Hautala, editor Tracey Finck, and Penny Nelsen for advertising. Chip’s daughter, Erin Lewis, also assisted with myriad office details.
“In 1995, while teaching graphic design and marketing,” says Chip, “it occurred to me that now was the time to turn a twenty-five-year-old dream into reality. The computer now had the production capabilities—color scanning, typesetting, prepress preparation, and film work could be accomplished with a small staff of creative and technical artists.” “When we finally made the decision,” Jean is fond of saying, “it was either going to be a magazine or a buffalo ranch.”
The twinkle in her eye leads one to wonder whether or not she is teasing. The staff quickly outgrew its original five-office space and expanded into the adjoining office next door. Soon that, too, was filled to capacity, and the hunt for EP’s permanent home was underway. |
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| Staff meeting in session . . . the conference room overlooking the river. | |||||||||
Meanwhile, in 1962, Richard and Carla Dean and their six children moved into the home Richard was constructing along the Mississippi River near downtown Brainerd. The Deans filled the two-level, five-bed-room walkout with faith, love, and laughter—enjoying it for many years—and then the children grew up and moved away. The Deans put their home, zoned commercial, up for sale. Many prospective buyers toured the site and found that, for one reason or another, it didn’t fit their needs. It was almost as if it were being held in reserve for the day Evergreen Press would outgrow its office building and finally be ready to move to its Riverplace home. Then one day, the Borkenhagens walked through the doors and began envisioning the property’s creative potential. “We were struck by the peaceful setting,” says Chip. “One potential drawback we considered was that most of us are fisherpeople—could we work in a setting that seemed to constantly beg us to ‘come out and play’?” “I feel more of a connection to the river,” says Jean. “Even though I grew up here and have driven across this river thousands of times, I haven’t felt that connection until now. I’ve even had a recent desire to visit New Orleans!” The most attractive feature of the property, besides the stunning view of the river, was the space to house the entire staff. There is even room to expand into the vacant, attached garage. The publishers are located on the main floor, along with editorial and project manager offices. A full kitchen makes it easy to prepare coffee or pop in a pizza for lunch. It also provides space for staff to entertain clients informally at the kitchen table. The long living room with its vaulted ceiling became a spacious conference room that affords an excellent view of the river. The downstairs bedrooms house advertising offices, and the large, open family room was easily partitioned into private spaces for the graphic design staff and the art director’s office. All the offices throughout Riverplace have large, spacious windows and nearly all frame restful vistas of the river as it meanders through Brainerd.
In the manner of other homes built in the sixties, there is also a former bomb shelter—a below-ground room entirely encased in two to three feet of concrete. This has been outfitted as archive storage as well as excellent studio space to shoot in-house photography. A Nancy Drew-like mystery lingers in the lore of the shelter—a tunnel leading to the surface was once accessible from a manhole in the bomb shelter’s floor. It provides one more fascinating tale when guests stop in. EP art director, Aaron Hautala, has poured his heart and soul into LCJM’s pages from day one. He recalls a time when he was out driving with Chip. “We passed the Deans’ house,” recalls Aaron, “back when we were scouting locations for our first office. Chip said, ‘Wouldn’t that be a cool office?’ Of course, at the time, it was out of the question, but here we are today. I’ve never forgotten that day.”
Our daily routine hasn’t changed too much since the move. We often tell people that we work in a time warp—nearly six months ahead of the current season—which means we’re working on LCJM’s Christmas issue in July and August while wearing shorts, taking fishing trips, or going to the beach. Six months lead time is the industry standard, in order to allow sufficient time for editing, design, and printing. And since we publish bimonthly, we often shoot or solicit seasonal photography a year in advance for stories we plan to publish the following year. We’ve now expanded our publication schedule to include Initiative Quarterly (IQ)—a quarterly publication for the Initiative Foundation, and also the annual Brainerd Lakes Area Relocation and Buyer’s Guide, as well as other design projects. Like any new home, settling into our space is an ongoing process—finding just the right picture to hang on the wall or adding a few more books to the shelves. In our former building, the editorial office was located in an inner room with only a window to the adjoining room. Here, in the space formerly known as the dining room, I can rest my gaze on geese swimming upstream, while at the same time my ears are attuned to a fast-talking writer making his pitch on the phone. It feels like home—even more so now that a few of you have dropped in to welcome us to the neighborhood and give Riverplace your blessing. But though we work at Riverplace, we have no plans to change our name. We’ll always remain LAKE COUNTRY JOURNAL MAGAZINE. |
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The seeds for the regional, lifestyle magazine, however, were planted long before the advent of the computer technology that could make it possible to produce a magazine with such a small core staff. When Chip first began thinking about starting a magazine, the Macintosh computer, now the industry favorite for design worldwide, hadn’t been invented.
Welcome to Riverplace