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6.1. SR 02-22-1993 ITEM 6. 1. TO: FROM: MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL WILLIAM RUBIN, ED COORDINATO~~ FEBRUARY 17, 1993 GRANT SPONSORSHIP/OLD COURTHOUSE PROJECT DATE: SUBJECT: INTRODUCTION At its February 22, 1993 meeting, the Elk River City Council will be asked by a group comprised of Rolf Anderson, Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, Britta Bloomberg, Minnesota Historical Society, and John Kuester, Sherburne County Historical Society, to sponsor a grant request to purchase and rehabilitate the old courthouse and adjacent County Administration building in downtown Elk River. BACKGROUND . The City Council may recall that the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota successfully obtained an injunction which prevented the Sherburne County Board from demolishing the old courthouse. During the injunction period, the Preservation Alliance and other groups (i.e., State Historical Society, County Society, Concerned Citizens, etc.), have attempted to identify funding sources to acquire and rehabilitate this structure. The latest potential funding source may come from Federal funds that are available through the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). The Federal funds are available as a result of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA, pronounced "Ice Tea"). Of the three Ice Tea funding categories, it is lik~ly that the courthouse would qualify as an "historic preservation project". The linkage of MnDOT-Ice Tea funds is that of converting the rehabilitated building into a transportation museum in honor of Charles Babcock, who is credited with designing the State's highway system. So that it is clear, ownership of this project by the City of Elk River is not suggested or proposed. Rather, requests for the Ice Tea funds must be submitted by: - Cities with a population of 5,000 or greater - Counties - State agencies . Because it is proposed that the old courthouse and the adjacent administrative building would be acquired through Ice Tea funds, it is not practical to suggest that the County submit the request for the funds. Further, it is not likely that a 720 Dodge Avenue N.W., Elk River, Minnesota 55330 (612) 441-7420 . . . State agency desires to submit a request for funds. leaves the City of Elk River as the likely applicant. That In addition, volunteers from the courthouse "Task Force" have agreed to prepare the application for the City. As such, the City becomes the conduit or pass through agency in order for this group to receive Ice Tea funds. A concern, however, rests with the courthouse group securing an owner-operator for the rehabilitated structure. Unless such an operator is identified at the time the grant is submitted, the project may not warrant funding consideration. Additional information on the old courthouse and potential funding source can be found in the attached articles from the Star News. ACTION REQUESTED Following a presentation on the potential availability of Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act funds, the City of Elk River will be asked to sponsor a grant to enable a citizens group to acquire and rehabilitate the old county courthouse. Staff understands that the deadline for submitting an application is mid April, 1993. v{ I Elk River Star News I Wednesday, December 2, 1992 This is how the Sherburne County Courthouse looked when it wasn't stuccoed and still had the bell tower on it. Rev. Greg Pagh 'f Eleventh-hour meeting set to save county courthouse A meeting to discuss plans to Commissioners that federal A3k federal funding to restore funds have been identified and -..re Sherburne County Court- 10 percent of the money can be house in downtown Elk River used to enhance historic build- will be Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. in the Elk ings. If approved the federal River Public Library. project would cover 80 percent The Preservation Alliance and of the cost. the Minnesota Historical Soci- One idea for the use of the A crowd attended the annual ety with cooperation from courthouseandadjoiningcounty - ecumenical Thanks~iving ser- Sherburne County are sponsor- administration building is to vice Wednesday night at St. ing the meeting. turn it into a transportation Andrew's Church. RolfT. Anderson, president of museum, in honor of Charles They prayed and sang together the alliance, said, "It is very Babcock of Elk River who de- in the service, which was spon- important that all individuals signed the modern highway sys- sored by the Elk River Ministe- interested in the preservation of tern in Minnesota. rial Association. the courthouse attend. Meanwhile the deadline set by Those who attended also con- "We are truly at the eleventh the court is approaching when tributed $700, split evenly to hour and public support is criti- the court will decide if the county the Rivers of Hope, the commu- cal to the success of the project." will be allowed to tear down the nity Christmas dinner and A task force tl) seek the fund- courthouse or move it. World Hunger, through the ing and determine the appropri- The county board has wanted church world service. ate reuse for the building will be to tearit down, sell the property The Rev. Greg Pagh of Christ organized. and use the proceeds to finish Lutheran Church in Otsego Anderson has informed the the empty shell at the govern- preached a sermon in which he Sherburne County Board of ment center. entreated people "to come home to Jesus Christ." Pagh, using a baseball anal- ogy, called on the people to come to home base in their lives, which is Jesus Christ. "When you have Christ in your heart," he said, "you are at home. " Referring to the feast of Thanksgiving, Pagh said the basis of thanksgiving is the re- lationship Christ offers with him. Sherburne County Briefs Youth sought for committee Two youth positions are open on the Sherburne County Extension Committee.' Applications are now being accepted. Youth grades seven through 12 are encouraged to contact the Sherburne County Extension Office, Government Center, PO Box 311, Elk River, or hone 241-2720 or 1-800-433-5236 fi r r' . Many hear call to return to Christ at . Ecumenical service FiNe Winners of to a destine the LatinAr River Senic Sponsored by E! will go to Elk Ri\! 192 JEEP Cherokee. 4 DR, 4x4, I 12,000 mi. COMPARE. THIS PRICE. I SAVE $16,900 ~ 189 ELEBRITY 4 v rs from Stacy's Dance Unlimited whirled irlec:f to the songs of liThe Nutcracker , during the community Christmas pro- lZ.. /to .qt- ~-1m NWS Eligibility for ~ grant to aid . courthouse may be its last chance Nineteen people discussed a plan to save the Sherburne County Courthouse last week. The courthouse, a wooden structure builtin 1877, appears to be doomed because the county Board of Commissioners has decided to sell it and the admin- istration building downtown. One possibility for saving it is renovating it with new money from the federal government, which could be used to enhance historic places. Efforts are under way to deter- mine if buying and renovating the courthouse and turning it into a transportation museum is eligible for the federal funds, available to the Minnesota De- . partment of Transportation (MnDOT). The tie-in with MnDOT would be building the museum in honor of Charles Babcock of Elk River, who is credited with designing the state's highway system. The federal funds provide an 80 percent match if the local community can raise the other 20 percent. John Kuester, chair of the Sherburne County Historical Society, said the meeting was "upbeat and positive." He said the project hinges on the eligibility for the federal funds. Kuester acknowledged time is running out. "It's one minute to midnight. Yvealways felt the courthouse is a valuable re- source . . . Our landscape is changing so much that it would be ashame to lose a landmark that's been around since 1877. Ym cautiously optimistIC." gram at VandenBerge Junior High School Sun- day night. (Photo by Don Heinzman) ists served up musical treats t from the community d.ristmas musical es along with a "Cup tmas Tea" Sunday night. . well known "Cup of as Tea," written by Tom as read expressively by rtis during the program, 'th a variety of holiday d dances. Warneke, the direc- led the show a "tasty" tion from the artists to munity. all of the artists were 'ning, several stood out. mmunity choir, directed e Draxler and the band, by Warneke, were out- g with "Friendly Beasts," try Carol" and "Good enceslas" all arranged tenson. g the "Coventry Carol," ience savored the qual- performed by Barbara tist Craig Rauen, who is aCi of music at B Junior High thr d the audience expert playing during . ng W enceslas." e quartet, comprised of Marge Barth, Pat Dusbabek, Marilyn Olson and Warneke,' brilliantly played the "Dance of the Reed Pipes" arranged by James Christenson. Jerri Schulz, who has a rich soprano voice, sang a very mov- ing "0 Holy Night." The choir was in good voice . with its performance of the popu- lar "'Twas the Night Before Christmas. " A talented four from Big Lake, John Kiffmeyer, Nathan Estenson, Matt Kringel and Tom Haley, brought a big round of applause with their four-part harmony. There was something for ev- eryone. Wearing white costumes, youngpeople from Stacy's Dance Unlimited, danced to the "music of "Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy, ""the Arabian Dance" and the "Waltz of the Flowers." The dancers were: Maureen Hovre, Angela DeMarre, Heidi Curry, Nancy Beck, Katrina Weber, Tara Crooker, Sidra Krupicka, Sonja Caswell, Eliza- beth Johnson, Angela Mohs, Lea Dahlheimer, Amber Walz, Alayna Krupicka, Mandi Jo S~ienicka, Amanda Cragoe, Tina Denzer, Amanda Nathe, Jessica Albert, Kari Valerius, Katie Storie and Katie Fisher. Choristers from Union Church, directed by Janelle Johnson, sang "A Star, A Song" and "Go Tell It on the Mountain." Cho- risters from Union Church are Josh Eastman, Lindsay Salo, Eric Kopperod, Katie Fenton, Tracy Eggert, Gretchen Gamm, Katie Fisher, Carol Schumacher, Trevor Vossen, Drew Hartley, Ryan Stricker, Chris Rule, Heather Zerwas, Amanda Henneman, Karla Schuldt, Alissa Nogle, Amy Wick and Denise Hartley. The audience heartily ap- plauded the Strings for Youth, taught by Cindy Soltis. They played "Shortnin' Bread," "Cripple Creek" and "Jingle Bells." Nicole, Chad and Erika sang "Mary's Boy Child." Debbie Wilson and her art stu- dents at Lincoln Elementary School prepared the backdrop quilts. Warneke already is planning next year's Christmas commu- nity concert menu for next year. ! .f t -\. .. _.: -, selection begins this week in Hoogenboom trial 1 .