Now we will never know...

Now we will never know if the Wayne/Palace Hotel's supporting walls were structurally sound.  In the above floor plan of the fourth floor, areas shown in red are the wooden structures that let light in to all three floors.  These are not made like the exterior walls  that are six bricks thick.

Now we will never know if some falling brick on the south side meant do some masonry repair, or loss of structural integrity.

Now we will never know if Metro Plains would have been successful if they had tried a third time with the new state historic tax credits and/or different funding sources.

Why?   Because Polk County turned down an offer of a free structural assessment from a structural engineer from the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota.

When we drive by on US Highways 2 and 75 and look at that ugly corner, let's remember:

What if the County had replace the roof and cleaned out the building, and put up a for sale sign 10 years ago?

What if the County had forgiven back taxes owed by Marthaler to allow the building to be donated to Prairie Skyline Foundation?

What if the County had set up some housing incentives in 2004 or used our 2010 offer of free grantwriting services?

What if the City of Crookston had tried harder in 1995 to replace the funding gap sought from Minnesota Housing Finance Agency with another source?

What if the City actually had implemented the past downtown development plans?

What if the County had not fear mongered over the last 10 years?

What if the County had patched the roof instead of putting on blue tarp to gather heavy water?

What if Judge Kraker had access to a structural engineers report rather than the opinions of paid employees and demolition contractor?

What if we all could have done it, an artspace for downtown?



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