Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Eagan may move Town Hall to municipal campus - 1/1/2014TOWN HALL, from 1A
sue either the most or least
expensive option of taking
the building apart or sal-
vaging only portions.
Council members
agreed that not only are
the objects within the
Town Hall historically
valuable but so too is the
building itself.
"I believe the icon of
the old Town Hall is more
important than artifacts
on display somewhere else
in the city," Mayor Mike
Maguire said.
Officials said residents
have been adamant that
the building remain intact.
The council approved
on July 1 extending a con-
tract with Mohagen Han-
sen Architectural Group
to work on additional cost
estimates and design work
for restoring and relocat-
Lagan may move
Town Hall to
municipal campus
by Jessica Harper
SUN THISWEEK
DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Eagan officials are
looking to potentially re-
store and move the city's
century -old Town Hall,
which was damaged by
fire, to the city's municipal
campus.
There are no final plans
yet.
The historic building
served as Eagan's official
Town Hall until 1965. For
the past several decades,
it has functioned as a mu-
seum with displays and ar-
tifacts from the city's his-
tory.
Last September, the
building was severely dam-
aged by arson and with-
stood this year's winter
Ing the building.
The architects will cre-
ate two designs — one
with a basement and one
without.
Restoring the building
and making it a free-stand-
ing structure near city hall
is estimated to cost $1.5
million. If it moves for-
ward, the project will be
funded by about $86,000
of insurance funds from
the League of Minnesota
shrink-wrapped in plastic
while the city considered
preservation options.
Officials considered
renovating the Town Hall
in a way that would add
space for the Eagan His-
torical Society for addi-
tional displays, hosting
groups and events as well
as offices.
Upon reviewing their
options at a recent work-
shop with costs ranging
from $586,000 to $2.3 mil-
lion, the council decided
against attempting to fix
the building on its pres-
ent site or moving it to the
vacant fire administration
building.
It also chose not to pur-
See TOWN HALL, 21A
Cities after a $25,000 de-
ductible. The source of
the remaining funds has
not been determined but
officials are looking to
the Town Hall's 100th an-
niversary as a potential
fundraising opportunity.
The discussion of the
Town Hall's preservation
included a broader look at
the city's other space con-
cerns.
"We are getting chal-
lenged at city hall with
limited space," Maguire
said, adding that several
departments are in need
of additional space.
The city's former fire
administration building
has been up for sale for a
number of years but hasn't
drawn interest from buy-
lack of traditional office
layout and its location in
a residential area as poten-
tial challenges.
The fire administra-
tion building has been
used to store many of the
items that were saved and
cleaned after the Town
Hall fire.
ers.
An analysis by com- Jessica Harper is at jessica..,
mercial broker Cassidy harper@ecm-inc.com or
Turley noted the building's facebook.com/sunthisweek.