July 9th, 2010
No Chinese School for Fergus Falls
As has long been suspected, the Chinese language immersion school that was supposed to take over the Fergus Falls Kirkbride is just not going to happen. Redevelopment of other buildings on the property is moving forward, but there are no plans in the works for the Kirkbride. Demolition is the only option on the table. Although it’s not a done deal just yet, things are not looking good for the preservation of Minnesota’s last intact Kirkbride building. You can read a little more about this here: RTC Development to Move Forward; Chinese School Nixed.
Oh no :(
This is not good news at all. I hope fate turns in a different direction for FF.
It would be a shame to tear such a beautiful and historic building down. I do understand that renovating it or restoring it is likely not financially feasible, but as a former employee, I would truly be very sad to see it destroyed. Even in disrepair, the beauty of that campus shines through.
Please do not tear it down it would be a huge mistake let people enjoy this beautiful building and its history please
Unfortunately, the Fergus Falls city council is antsy to use state grant money in the tune of 7 million dollars to be used for the demolition of the buildings, which expires sometime in 2013. Granted, there was another grant for demolition that expired a couple of years ago. And now there is another? Thanks to deferred maintenance and lack of any heat in the winter, the building is rapidly deteriorating. I was in there for an auction last summer and the buildings still have quite a bit of potential and are salvageable. The city just doesn’t want to pay for the upkeep or maintenance. That and Fergus Falls really isn’t a destination for much of anything, so it’s difficult to re-use such a large, vast building. Hopefully in the end, they’ll at least save the tower on the main building. That building has been a landmark on the skyline for the last 120 years or so. Then they can fill up the grounds with beige vinyl sided townhomes to their heart’s content.
Not looking good: http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/news/2010/aug/05/demolition-option-some-rtc-buildings/
Are they still going to do tours there?