Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Old Town Hall - 3/9/2014Sunday 3-9-2014 D 3113
PIONEER PRESS FILE PHOTO
The century -old town hall in Eagan was heavily damaged by
arson in September. Six months later, city officials continue
to consider what to do with the building.
CONTINUED FROM 11
> Town hall
building, she added, "was
full to the gills."
One option before the coun-
cil is rebuilding at the munic-
ipal campus with a mix of
new and salvaged materials,
such as the facade. The idea
is that the site would capture
more walk-up traffic and
offer better security and
amenities.
The cost, however, is not
known, the city says.
Rebuilding on its current
site with only new materials
would cost about $131,000,
while using all vintage mate-
rials would be two to three
times higher, according to
city estimates.
The city would receive
about $86,000 from the
League of Minnesota Cities
Insurance Trust after paying
its $25,000 deductible.
Bob Herskovitz of the Min-
nesota Historical Society
told the city council the
building is not eligible for
certain federal funds because
it was not on the National
Register of Historic Places.
"Unfortunately, with this
process we've learned a lot
more about what the bene-
fits would have been had we
been on the National Regis-
ter, as far as grants and as
far as those sorts of eligibili-
ties," Foote told the council.
Tom Garrison, communica-
tions director for Eagan,
later explained that the city
did not pursue the historic
designation for the building
before the fire because the
thought was that it was ineli-
gible because it had been
modified.
Meanwhile, council mem-
ber Paul Bakken suggested
the city look into reusing the
former fire administration
building in partnership with
arts, culture and/or history
groups. The building, located
kitty-corner from City Hall,
has been vacant and for sale
for several years.
"I'm just becoming less
confident about the pros-
pects of turning that facility
on the private market at a
price that makes sense for
our taxpayers," Bakken said.
"And if we have a need for
program space and there are
other partners who might
come in and use some of that
space and pay rent to the
city, it might be easier to
reuse a facility we already
have than to build a brand-
new one."
Nick Ferraro can be reached at
651-228-2173. Follow him at
twitter. com/NFerraroPiPress.