Déjà Vu

Last December, the Cass County Commission approved the sale of the former Head Start building at 57 11th Ave. N. to the Fargo Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) for $1 so the structure could be demolished and replaced with affordable housing units.

No one cared that the building—the original Fargo City Detention Hospital—had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since April 7, 1987.
Horace Mann Area Neighborhood Association (HMANA) representatives then toured the building in mid-January, sending out word via email Jan. 14 that “Our sense is county officials plan to move very quickly on the property transfer.” That letter, authored by Ann Arbor Miller, said, “anyone who is interested in seeing the building preserved or other alternatives explored needs to step forward immediately.”

By the next day, Jan. 15, HRA Executive Director Lynn Fundingsland, informed city and county officials and others via email that the “HRA wasn’t interested in pursuing a development there against the wishes of the neighborhood and that we would not be taking possession of the property.”

Last November, the Southeastern North Dakota Community Action Agency (SENDCAA), which leased the building for several years and used the space for Head Start classrooms, chose not to renew its lease with Cass County. By December, the very next month, a sweetheart deal of some sort was up for and met with approval by the County Commission.

Demolition costs were estimated to be $65,000 to $70,000, according to Cass County Commission minutes from Dec. 17. Another $86,000 liability would have been assumed by HRA upon the title transfer for $1.

No mention at all that the building was historic. Surprise, surprise.

The next month, Jan. 22, meeting minutes reported that “Mr. Montplaisir (Cass County Auditor) said the county will either advertise for bids or some other competitive process since the Fargo Housing Authority did not receive positive comments from residents of the surrounding neighborhood about possible low income housing in the area.”

HPR emailed Montplaisir Tuesday of this week asking his office to provide the background of how the Fargo City Detention Hospital was to be given to the Fargo Housing Authority for a dollar for demolition. HPR also asked the Auditor’s office to inform us of the County’s tracking of Historic properties it owns.

The next day, Montplaisir told HPR via email that Cass States Attorney Birch Burdick would respond to our request.

We are still waiting.

Meanwhile, our list of questions has grown, as well as our concerns.

Initially, are Cass County officials not aware of state law (NDCC55-10-08) which says, “The state or a political subdivision may not demolish or cause to alter the physical features or historic character of any site listed in the state historic sites registry as a state historic site without first obtaining the prior approval from the director of the state historical society upon authorization of the state historical board, unless section 55-02-07.2 (protection of public health and safety) applies to the site. The state and political subdivisions shall cooperate with the director of the state historical society in identifying and implementing any reasonable alternative to demolition or alteration of any state historic site before the board approves the demolition or alteration.”

Long story short, in laymen’s terms, Cass County needs to follow the law with this historic building, and, quite frankly, they more than any county in the state should know that by now.

Déjà vu.

It’s a historic structure. It’s owned by the people. Even though relatively weak state and federal laws protect it, it has some protections.
Cass needs to open the discussion to the public. They need to see how creative the people can be. They need to show a genuine interest in history and properties deemed historically significant.

And they need to be shamed for one more time attempting to deprive the people of any opportunity whatsoever to creatively re-vision new uses for historic old structures such as the Fargo City Detention Hospital.