Who are you taking to the (Anti) Wrecking Ball?
Since the purpose of the (Anti)Wrecking Ball is to kick-start the advocacy response for the sites on the list, the Alliance thought they might try to build a little excitement and anticipation for the formal announcement by announcing the names of all nineteen nominees to this year’s 10 Most Endangered program. You need to buy tickets and go to the (Anti)Wrecking Ball to find out which of these threatened sites makes the state’s ultimate top-ten list. Most sites to receive a $2,500 seed grant from the Alliance.
The nominees to the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places list for 2010 are…
Bessesen Building, Albert Lea
This historic opera house in the Albert Lea Commercial Historic District needs $100,000 in immediate repairs to its roof, windows, and masonry, and is hampered by an owner and a community group that don’t see eye-to-eye.
Cottage View Drive-In, Cottage Grove
One of two remaining metro-area drive-in theaters, the 44-year-old Cottage View on Highway 61 sits in the middle of 94 acres of land that are primed for large-scale commercial development.
Dairy Queen, 1720 Lexington Ave. N., Roseville
The owner of Minnesota’s oldest Dairy Queen, which was built in the early 1950s, is planning to demolish this iconic roadside stand and replace it with a modern DQ.
Dodd Ford Bridge, Amboy
Citizens in tiny Amboy have resisted Blue Earth County’s plans to replace this 1901 steel, camelback through-truss bridge with a modern, concrete span.
Garrison Concourse, Garrison
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built this unusual wayside rest during the Great Depression. The projecting stone overlook juts 180 feet into Lake Mille Lacs, and its stonework base is in structural jeopardy due to decades of wave and ice action.
Grain Belt Sign, Nicollet Island, Minneapolis
Listed for sale last fall, the Grain Belt sign might be altered by a large electronic billboard that will ruin the appearance of the sign and impact its island setting.
Great Northern Railway Depot, Princeton
This Queen Anne-style depot is owned by a county historical society with limited funds for restoration. Repairs to the building’s cedar shake roof, masonry exterior, and electrical and fire-suppression systems are urgently needed.
Jackson County Resource Center, Jackson
The county resource center occupies Jackson’s historic high school, built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938. Voters will decide May 25 if the school building should be demolished and a new resource center built in its place.
Historic John Olness House, rural Moorhead
The owners of this 1902 Classical Revival-style house just north of Moorhead have battled two major floods in the past four years, exhausting their resources and preventing them from doing other necessary repairs to the historic structure.
K. K. Berge Building, Granite Falls
This two-story commercial building, built in 1924, backs up to the Minnesota River and will be demolished if money cannot be found to raise it above the designated flood elevation.
Minnehaha Creek Mill Ruins, Minneapolis
The ruins of two historic mills are being impacted by projects now underway. The Minnehaha Falls and Glen area restoration, undertaken by the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District and the Army Corps of Engineers, may damage the ruins of the 1857 Godfrey Mill. The replacement of the Lyndale Avenue bridge will likely impact the Richfield Mill ruins, which date from 1855.
Old Cedar Avenue Bridge, Bloomington
The steel, five-span, camelback through-truss bridge across the Minnesota River and Long Meadow Lake was closed to vehicles in 1993 and to all traffic, including pedestrians and bicyclists, in 2002. $2 million for rehabilitation of the historic bridge was included in the state’s 2010 bonding appropriation.
Prospect Park Neighborhood, Minneapolis
This residential neighborhood, with houses and duplexes from the turn of the twentieth century, faces redevelopment pressures from the University of Minnesota and the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit line along University Avenue.
Historic Samuel J. Hewson House, 2008 Pillsbury Ave. S., Minneapolis
A victim of the foreclosure crisis, this bank-owned house in the Whittier neighborhood was nearly stripped of its unique interior finishes, including ornamental woodwork, murals, and light fixtures.
Southeast Saint Cloud Neighborhood, Saint Cloud
A proposed widening of University Drive will impact seven historic resources in this neighborhood, including Kilian Boulevard, Selke Field, Riverside and George W. Friedrich parks, and the historic quarry areas just west of Hwy. 10.
Todd County Courthouse, Long Prairie
The Todd County Courthouse, built in 1883 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, has been used only for storage since2006. The building’s condition and rehabilitation costs are being studied, and voters will decide in November whether to save it.
Victoria Theater, Saint Paul
An earlier plan to build a surface parking lot on the site of this historic music venue was withdrawn amid vocal community opposition, but as a Category 2 vacant building, the site remains attractive for historically insensitive developers.
Wayzata Post Office, Wayzata
The U.S. Postal Service has announced its intention to sell this local landmark, which was built in 1941 and features a mural painted during the waning days of the New Deal art program.
Wesley United Methodist Church, Minneapolis
This 1891 Romanesque Revival-style church is a designated Minneapolis landmark, but it currently has no permanent congregation and lacks a clear public or religious mission, putting its long-term use and preservation in question.
for more information visit www.mnpreservation.org
