Jake Spitzack
Staff Writer
Despite the stylish look and modern amenities of the newly opened Kaposia Library, South St. Paul city staff haven’t forgotten about the city-owned American Legion library down the street that served the community well for nearly 100 years. Following the grand opening of the new county-owned library, city staff were planning to launch a robust public engagement initiative to garner feedback about how the community prefers to repurpose the building. Unfortunately, an unforeseen speed bump has forced the city to make a decision about the building’s future sooner than expected.
A year ago, city staff worked with state legislators to apply for a $175,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to study options for repurposing the building. The funding came through in July 2023 but it was discovered that the grant’s language doesn’t allow the funds to be used for a study. Rather, it must be used on “hard costs” such as repairing critical infrastructure. There’s no timeline for when the funds must be used and staff considered a few different plans, including completing the study using city funds. Since the grant couldn’t be used for public engagement, it was ultimately decided to put the building and property up for proposals from the private and nonprofit market, which means the historic building could eventually be demolished or transformed into something entirely new. Staff will review proposals in the coming months and the City Council will ultimately decide the building’s fate.
It should be noted that a previous study found it would cost $4.42 million to address deferred maintenance items at the property through 2032, including $1.82 million in critical deferred maintenance items that are recommended for replacement by 2026. Big ticket items include boiler and roof replacement, and significant exterior brick restoration.
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