Preservationists were left stunned Monday night after the Duluth City Council voted 5-4 to allow them to issue a demolition permit for the former St. Louis County Jail if no new use for the building is found by Nov 15.
That gives preservationists just six months to find a developer to adapt the neoclassical building -- part of Duluth's historic Civic Center complex -- for a new use. It's a timeline that many see as doomed to failure in today's economy.
The resolution came two weeks after the council voted down the demolition permit, saying the county hadn't tried hard enough to sell the building. The resolution was proposed by Councilor Todd Fedora with a deadline of "after Nov. 15" and passed with a slight amendment. Fedora agrees with county officials that adapting the building to other uses is too expensive.
After noting some cost calculations, Fedora said: "This building does not make sense."
There was talk of possible lawsuits ahead -- St. Louis County if they don't get their demolition permit and preservationists who say an official local landmark is protected and can not be razed-- so Councilor Gary Eckenberg argued for the November deadline.
ADVERTISEMENT
"The courts are going to settle this, we are not," he said. "Why do you want to drag this out?"
Apparently some were swayed and the measure narrowly passed, with councilors Jeff Cuneo, Greg Gilbert, Sharla Gardner and Garry Krause opposing it.
Earlier, Krause proposed extending the deadline, giving preservationists 1½ years, then 1 year to find a developer.
"A building like this should not be torn down," he had said. "To offer anything less, I think, is unreasonable."
Both his attempts to extend the timeline failed.
"I tried," he said later. He added that Eckenberg, who is deputy county administrator, should not have voted due to a conflict of interest.
Without Eckenberg's vote, the Nov. 15 deadline wouldn't have passed, he said.
