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Sustaining Our Legacy.r- I <br />fhe Future of Ramsey Town Hall e <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 />4 MINNESOTA <br />HISTORICAL <br />SOCIETY <br />of Rq�s <br />F� <br />tl- 00 <br />Co <br />.�OWNSN`Q. <br />THE <br />�4# �i <br />C R <br />AT R AM S E Y <br />INACTION <br />The Old Town Hall was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in <br />1980. Fifteen years later, the city secured a grant from the Minnesota Historical <br />Society (MHS) for restoration, which it matched with local funds. Work got <br />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 />INERTIA <br />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 the <br />old building. <br />• The City was not interested in working with its citizens. <br />INDIFFERENCE <br />The arrival of the Northstar Commuter Rail and the COR initiative in 2012 saw <br />plans to move the building to this exciting transit -oriented development. This <br />was more problematic than it appeared, as posters 10 and 11 will show. <br />The City was not interested in including the building in its flagship <br />development. <br />Application for National Register, 1979 <br />Work sign for most recent restoration, 1996 <br />I • FYI +'•`M <br />4401 <br />Proposed siting in the COR, 2012 <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 />cZty 0 fry <br />RAMSEY <br />