Things started looking up for the St. Louis County Jail last week, as reported in the Duluth News Tribune, when the County Commissioners had a mostly favorable response to the purchase proposal, which was received in January.

The News Tribune editorial board calls this “a jail sale for all the right reasons,” despite earlier editorials which were less supportive of preservation and cited the ongoing “burden” to taxpayers.

The buyer of the historic jail, which is part of the National Register-listed Civic Center Historic District, is a father-son team from the Twin Cities who have successfully rehabbed historic buildings in Plymouth, Minneapolis, and Fargo.

Preservationists in Duluth fought hard for this success—congratulations!

Stories of Women in Saint Paul History
Friday March 26 12:00 – 1:30
317 Landmark Center | 75 West 5th Street | Saint Paul, MN

League of Women Voters Leadership facilitates presentations by:
Steve Trimble discussing Patsy Sherman (of 3M fame)
Nellie Francis (Suffragist, Anti-Lynching Activist) and others
Mary Wingerd discussing Early Saint Paul Women’s History

For more information, visit Historic Saint Paul’s website.

Join Preserve Minneapolis for a visit to the Meditation Room, part of the Mayo Memorial Building on the University of Minnesota’s campus. Built in 1965 as a place for “people of all faiths to commune, to give thanks and to renew their spirits,” the room sat unused for several decades. The university restored the meditation room to its Modern splendor in 2008. The room is accessed through the Mayo Memorial Building. Signs will guide visitors to the space. Public parking is available in nearby parking ramps. Click here for a map of the East Bank of the University of Minnesota campus: campusmaps.umn.edu/tc/map.php?extent=east.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., at Garden of Gethsemane Ministries – 2054 James Avenue North

Thatcher Imboden of the Ackerberg Group will lead a tour of this 1908 church, which was recently renovated and has won local and state preservation awards. We will learn about the many companies and groups that worked together to restore the vacant and dilapidated church into a dynamic space for the Garden of Gethsemane Ministries. This event is free! Parking is available in a lot near the church. Click here for a map.

The three logos are below.  To vote, send an email to wokeefe@mnpreservation.org with the logo you like best.

OR vote via Facebook by: log onto Facebook –> Find Minnesota Main Street –> Albums –> Logo Design Submittals. Once you have chosen the one you like best, click “Like” and your vote will be tallied.

Tell your friends to vote as well – the more votes, the better!  For questions about the Minnesota Main Street Program, contact Will O’Keefe at wokeefe@mnpreservation.org.

Richard Moe, the president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, announced his retirement in November. This recent article in Architect magazine is not only a great retrospective of Moe’s career and the changes he brought about at the National Trust, but also a great primer on the many and varied tenets of historic preservation. A great read—and positive reinforcement for those of us in the trenches. Enjoy!

An unsuspecting young salesman from The Window Store just had the misfortune of ringing my doorbell. My “Not interested,” which I delivered as soon as he introduced himself, was not enough to deter him. So, instead of getting a quick and easy brush-off, he got a30-second diatribe as to why I am adamantly opposed to what he does—market replacement windows so aggressively that salesmen go door-to-door in the dead of winter. I threw a few window rehab facts at him—that there’s no good reason to replace historic wood windows, that replacement contributes to the landfill and wastes resources through intensive manufacturing processes—and his eyes grew wider with every word. Hoping that he is young and impressionable—and maybe even a little uniformed, himself—I referred him to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has pages of information about window rehabilitation as an alternative to replacement. (I was a little reluctant to divulge my association with the Preservation Alliance, lest he come back later and egg my house, or something. Admittedly, I could have been nicer to him, but he rang when I was in the middle of cleaning the litter box and my kids were upstairs alone, so I had to rush up from the basement. Why can’t the door-to-door sales types understand that there is almost never a good time to interrupt somebody at home?)

Do you have facts at the ready to deliver a 30-second defense for historic windows, for those times when the window salespeople come knocking at your door? If you need some refreshing, read my earlier Window Talk post in the Field Notes blog, peruse the resources listed with the 10 Most Endangered listing of Historic Wood Windows, read the March/April 2008 issue of the Minnesota Preservationist, or go in-depth at PreservationNation.org

I know I’d catch more bees with honey, and all, but I was a little unprepared myself. This visit served as a bit of a wake-up call—and definitely an opportunity. Maybe if all of us could be a little more prepared, we’d make inroads with the salespeople themselves—who would see the light and turn to window restoration instead.  Zach-the-salesguy, if you’re reading this, I hope you’ve learned something. (And I’ll try to be nicer the next time you ring my doorbell—I promise.)

The other day, I was having idle conversation with a friend about White Castle, and she said something about the “White Castle accordion shop.” What?!? (I wonder if those four words had ever before been strung together in the English language.) I was familiar with the White Castle on Lyndale Ave. S. in Minneapolis that had been turned into a jewelry store—apparently lots of people took pride in saying that they bought their wedding rings at White Castle—but was confused by the reference to an accordion. Turns out the jewelry store has closed, and the accordion shop has moved in. What a great new business for something as off-beat as an original White Castle!

The first—and only—time I’ve ever eaten a White Castle was last spring, when the Ramsey County Historical Society hosted a lecture by a long-time White Castle employee who is the corporation’s Twin Cities historian. He pointed out the ever-evolving designs of White Castle restaurants, which raises some interesting issues for historic preservation. Given that fast-food restaurants are such a significant part of our modern culture, it seems that the most historically intact of them should be identified and preserved. But most fast-food corporations have a policy of planned replacement. Relatively few of them retain the original characteristics that would allow them to be considered historically significant.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has done some research on this topic, and the LA Conservancy’s successful campaign to save the world’s oldest remaining McDonalds is well known, at least in preservation circles. Here in the Twin Cities, I know of an old Dairy Queen in Roseville, and am starting to think that the Taco Bell on Snelling Ave. N. in the Midway area of St. Paul might be considered vintage. (Back in the ’70s, it was a Zantigos.)

As for me, I get a little teary-eyed thinking about the McDonald playland of my youth, located on Robert Street in West St. Paul. I recently drove my kids by it to make sure it is still there—it is, but a sign says it is closed and obviously inaccessible. My fellow neighbor kids and I loved our occasional excursions to this McDonalds across town, because the playground was elevated on a bluff above the restaurant. To get there, we had to walk up a steep path, or take a little train. I’m sure the moms loved it because we were worn out before we even started playing. The playground itself had all the usual equipment—the Grimace cage, a fiberglass tree filled with Fry Guys, and a fairly ominous Hamburglar slide looming over the entire park. On my recent drive-by, I think I caught a glimpse of Grimace through the snow, but can’t be sure. I’ll have to case it out again, come spring.

(This post is proof positive that even professional preservationists aren’t immune to nostalgia.)

As always, I’m open to your comments—and examples of fast food places worth preserving. Contact me at PAMfieldnotes@gmail.com

The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, with the full support of the Walker Art Center, is pursuing state bonding to repair and renovate this unique state asset. Preservation efforts will help improve the Sculpture Garden’s long-term energy conservation, safety and accessibility.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Click on the link below to get involved.

Your legislators and Governor Pawlenty need to hear that you support the legislative bonding request to preserve the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, one of Minnesota’s most beloved parks. Just three minutes of your time will make all the difference!

Legislative Action Center