At the start of the year, Minneapolis preservationists made what seemed like a futile move: The city's historic commission voted to protect a building at 3009 Park Av. for historic and cultural purposes.
The problem: The 103-year-old home had been torn down a week earlier, a victim of time, fire, heavy snow, a construction accident and a protracted debate between its owner and those who wanted it restored.
What was left of the Fjelde House, which had been built by and named for Pauline Fjelde, the woman believed to have embroidered the first Minnesota state flag, was shattered wood and rubble.
A crew of preservationists spent 90 minutes searching the rubble but never found anything of value, according to a city report. The rubble was removed.
Today, months after the public hubbub died down, the lot is little more than grass ringed off by yellow caution tape. Owner James Schoffman, who also owns the commercial buildings along East Lake Street that stand immediately to the north of 3009 Park Av., had wanted to tear down the house since November 2008, when he submitted an application to the city for demolition.
His lawyer argued renovation would cost too much. He intended at the time to replace the building and garage with a parking lot. The garage still stands.
After the building's demolition, the city gamely went through the process of considering it for landmark status, eventually making a recommendation to the City Council in March that because the house was gone, it wouldn't mean much to call it a landmark.
Deborah Morse-Kahn, who was a member of the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission during the Fjelde House demolition but has since resigned, said she doubts the house would have won historic status even if it had not been knocked down.
