The Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission has moved to protect a Park Avenue property for historic and cultural purposes -- a week after it was torn down.

The Fjelde House, built by and named for the woman believed to have embroidered the first Minnesota state flag, was razed Christmas Eve on orders from the city's regulatory services division, which said a fire and construction accident at the site had made it unsafe.

Yet the commission at its meeting last week went ahead with plans to extend "interim protection" status to the property at 3009 Park Av., now a pile of shattered wood ringed by a chain link fence.

"It may seem illogical, but it basically allows the preservation staff to keep working on whatever they can on the house and the rubble," said Linda Mack, a commission member and a former Star Tribune architecture writer.

Any portion of the ruined house that merits historic significance could be salvaged, said city planner John Smoley.

The demolition was only the latest chapter in a development saga that pitted the home's owners, James and Kristin Schoffman of Eagan, against preservationists and some neighbors who wanted it preserved.

The vacant home's gas and electricity were shut off last year, but fire broke out in September, causing $100,000 in damage and leaving a hole in the roof. It was ruled arson by the Fire Department.

Last week, while attempting to repair the roof, construction crews damaged the house further while hoisting a heavy pile of construction materials into the building. That, along with an impending Christmas snowstorm, led city official Patrick Higgins to order the house torn down.

Attempts to reach James Schoffman for comment were not successful. He applied for a demolition permit in 2008 with intentions to convert the property into a parking lot to serve a business he owns nearby. The permit was denied in January 2009, and the Preservation Commission ordered a study of the house. Schoffman, meanwhile, argued that the home's rehabilitation would cost $600,000, more than he could afford or recoup from renters.

The interim protection order lasts until Feb. 28. Some type of marker to indicate the historical significance of the house could be installed.

A staff report from the Preservation Commission a year ago said Schoffman was willing to install a flagpole and plaque at the site to memorialize Pauline Fjelde, though nothing was agreed upon or signed.

Fjelde, whose state flag was used from 1893 to 1957, paid $7,500 to have the house built in 1907.

Matt McKinney • 612-673-7329