Prairie Skyline Foundation

. Watch for the Artspace Report on www.prairieskyline.com!  Here is an excerpt: "...the citizens of Crookston should make it clear to their elected leaders that they want the building (Palace/Wayne) preserved. While we are sympathetic to the County Commissioners who see the building chiefly as drain on scarce resources, we cannot state too strongly our view that tearing it down would be akin to burning a Rembrandt because you can’t afford to have it cleaned. Every effort should be made to find the money needed to stabilize the building until a suitable reuse can be found. Once gone, it can never be replaced.

This is the original home of Felix Fournet, who built the outstanding Fournet Block (Four Seasons Clothing, Munn's Jewelry, etc.  He was a builder of the highest quality and he built his home on Houston Avenue.  I've been inside when it was owned by Dr. and Mrs. Mitchell and the woodwork has remained untouched and is beyond belief stunning. 

Care and Share got the former cathedral church when they purchased the former rectory and adjacent land. The plans were to expand the Care and Share Homeless Shelter and they did that. They never wanted the former Cathedral, but it was part of the package. Minnesota Housing Finance Agency funded part of the project, said Jan Delage. Sister Justina was in charge of the Care and Share Board at that time. People constantly approached Care and Share about the cathedral. People were very interested in its future. Of course, the non-profit homeless shelter did not have funding to tear it down (estimated at that time $35,000) nor did they have a use for the building. The board was concerned about preserving the stained glass. There were problems with the high school kids smoking and lounging behind the church. Stones were thrown and some of the storm window glass was broken. In an effort to preserve the glass, Care and Share gave the ventilator windows with family names on them to

You just never know when history comes alive!  I was delighted to meet the Rigg's family as they toured historic Crookston searching for sites their great grandfather, G. Oliver Riggs, the City Bandmaster before T.W. Thorson took over, may have performed in.  Be sure to check out their great blog at http://bit.ly/9mNco2. It is full of pictures and information and SONGS played by G. Oliver Riggs.  Watch this blog for song lyrics sung at the old Winter Shows Building, the former Crookston Armory.  Who knows, perhaps G. Oliver performed on that stage as well. Former owner, Arnold Lahd, removed the eagle emblem from the stage for safekeeping.  Did you know the original Winter Shows consisted of three buildings?  Yes, the former Crookston Armory is just one, the current Crookston School Bus garages are the others.   Anyone who knows more about the great Winter Shows and our former great Crookston band master, G. Oliver Rigss, please comment! free web hit counter