Union IOOF Building
Before my post on the Union Building Project, I must ask, Does anyone know why the building's name was changed from the International Order of Odd Fellows to the Union building?
The Story of the Lost Stained Glass
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
I cannot answer your question about the name. I, for a very short time after graduating high school, lived in the Union, what I called the Quist's Trading Post building. I actually wanted to give an idea on how some building or future building could be used/restored. City's such as Duluth, Minneapolis, Chicago, NY, and other places I am sure have restored old buildings/schools/etc, to build large living spaces/art studio spaces, specifically for active artists in the visual arts, music, theatre, etc. There built in buildings that have the space to include a common area that is used a a gallery, performance space, etc. They are given out after an application/resume/portfolio reviews. For more information on how some of these places work, here is a link to Duluth's website,http://www.wsacduluth.info/they are part of a larger org that developes spaces for the arts, ART Space, you may have mentioned them in the Cathedral post.
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