Fremad building now faces the final option

Bring up the Fremad building in Glenwood and prepare for any number of opinions on the matter.

Some think it should be preserved, some think it should’ve been demolished years ago.  Others blame the state and its policy requiring county responsibility for tax-forfeited property.  Still others blame the city for not joining the county in dealing with the building long ago.

Whatever your opinion, criticizing the county commission or the county HRA/EDA is unreasonable.

Pope County, which was “blessed” with ownership of the tax-forfeited building by state statute, has left no stone unturned in trying to get the building back on the tax rolls. It spent years trying to sell the building, only to be unsuccessful over and over.  It held public auctions and offered the building for $10,000, plus some expenses.  That too failed.

It sold the building to the Pope County HRA/EDA with the idea of working with a local business to expand into the building.  That failed because of the cost and a change in plans.

Meanwhile, the Fremad continued to deteriorate.

The building has deteriorated considerably since it was first forfeited for taxes back in 2014. With each passing year, preparing the building for possible use has become more daunting and even more expensive.  There were a few interested, but in the end, most considered it a fool’s errand to purchase the building and try to restore it to its former glory.  Remodeling it into something that works in today’s economy was just too expensive for a private developer.  As the latest engineer’s report on the building states: “any use of the structure due to widespread damage would have to be brought up to today’s code requirements and would require nearly a complete rebuild.”

The Fremad building remains on the Minnesota State Historical Registry, although the county HRA-EDA are in communication about the process with the State Historic Preservation Officers (SHPO), and will likely reach an agreement about demolition.   

The county and the HRA/EDA are not interested in providing the space for a city parking lot.

The county is interested in demolishing the buildings that occupy that property and offering the land to private enterprise for development.  There are those interested in building something on that property once it is vacated and prepared for development.

Meanwhile,  the Fremad building has become an urban home to hundreds of pigeons.  Sidewalks are covered in pigeon poop and the building has become an eyesore that speaks more about the challenge of small rural communities than it does to historical preservation.   If there was value in the building, it would have been purchased long ago by someone with deep pockets who could make it pay in the long term.  That bird has flown.

So as much as we would love to see this historic building preserved and reused, demolition is the final option being pursued.  It is an option that will  put this property on the path to a more productive use, get it back on the tax rolls and clean up a blight in downtown Glenwood.  The community can  find other ways to preserve the historic story that is “Fremad” in Glenwood.  –TJD