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• • <br /> Sust inin Our Le cy <br /> • <br /> The Future <br /> of Ramsey Town Hall <br /> PRESERVATION <br /> HISTORY <br /> PREVIOUS PRESERVATION IN RAMSEY <br /> In 1977, the newly incorporated City of Ramsey moved its municipal offices to a new <br /> building on Nowthen Boulevard.At that time, there was some interest in restoring the Old <br /> 73 Town Hall to its schoolhouse glory. Based on our archival research, however, it appears <br /> cm j that this preservation effort has produced very little success. <br /> TIMELINE OF PRESERVATION WORK: What went wrong? <br /> INACTION <br /> The Old Town Hall was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in \`' <br /> M I N N ESOTA 1980.Fifteen years later,the city secured a grant from the Minnesota Historical <br /> HISTORICAL Society(MHS)for restoration,which it matched with local funds.Work got <br /> SOCIETY underway in 1996,but was halted soon after.The matching funds were ; <br /> reallocated and some of the grant money was returned to MHS. <br /> • The City was not interested in spending grant money. <br /> Application for National Register,1979 <br /> INERTIA <br /> of R.4 During the 1980s and 1990s,historically minded residents regularly had their say <br /> in City Council meetings and letters to city hall.Despite this,there does not , <br /> seem to have been much political interest in doing anything significant with theCo <br /> old building. <br /> •�OWNSN`Q• The City was not interested in working with its citizens. <br /> Work sign for most recent restoration,1996 <br /> INDIFFERENCE_ <br /> THE The arrival of the Northstar Commuter Rail and the COR initiative in 2012 saw <br /> •FYI ,.+:w. - �� <br /> plans to move the building to this exciting transit-oriented development.This <br /> 4#0•�� <br /> was more problematic than it appeared,as posters 10 and 11 will show.0 R <br /> %,►� The City was not interested in including the building in its flagship '` .�w, <br /> development. <br /> A T R w m s E v Proposed siting in the COR,2012 �m.ryo Ra-,_h <br /> All of which leads us to the obvious, unasked question:WHY NOT JUST KNOCK IT DOWN? <br /> Over the years,as tepid preservation efforts have come and gone,the obvious question <br /> keeps coming back:Why not demolish the building and be done with it?Well... <br /> The building is an irreplaceable historical asset in a community that has precious few <br /> of <br /> This is perhaps the most iconic symbol of Ramsey's rural heritage,a heritage of which <br /> the city is very proud • • • • <br /> Although no preservation project is cheap,demolition costs money,too,and in the <br /> process destroys an asset that could be turned into a revenue generator as well as a <br /> source of • • pride. <br /> >>> Enthusiasm for restoring the Old Town Hall has been intermittent at best over the past forty <br /> years. How could things have gone differently? In the next poster,we look at one way to <br /> ensure that historic buildings are respected and preserved. <br />