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Restoration of Two Harbors roundhouse

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  • Member since
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Restoration of Two Harbors roundhouse
Posted by 1888roundhouse on Wednesday, March 27, 2013 9:58 PM

Hi folks,  last ditch effort to restore the Two Harbors roundhouse.  I have the resources to restore the buildings and operate my manufacturing business there.  This will also create some good paying jobs.  Unfortunately the city owns the buildings and just voted to demo them this spring with the hope they can attract some manufacturing company to move to town and .....create jobs.   I think a restoration of the 1888 buildings are far more in keeping with the history of Two Harbors than some tilt up concrete industrial park building.

I could sure use some political help on this one.  Please pass the word, and definitely contact the mayor, council and let them know what you think about this.

This is a no-brainer.  Historic preservation, jobs, new business for the city, and save the $600,000 in tax dollars that would go for the demolition.

www.twoharborsroundhouse.org

thanks,

John

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  • From: St. Paul, Minnesota
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Posted by Boyd on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 11:51 PM

1888roundhouse

Hi folks,  last ditch effort to restore the Two Harbors roundhouse.  I have the resources to restore the buildings and operate my manufacturing business there.  This will also create some good paying jobs.  Unfortunately the city owns the buildings and just voted to demo them this spring with the hope they can attract some manufacturing company to move to town and .....create jobs.   I think a restoration of the 1888 buildings are far more in keeping with the history of Two Harbors than some tilt up concrete industrial park building.

I could sure use some political help on this one.  Please pass the word, and definitely contact the mayor, council and let them know what you think about this.

This is a no-brainer.  Historic preservation, jobs, new business for the city, and save the $600,000 in tax dollars that would go for the demolition.

www.twoharborsroundhouse.org

thanks,

John

I hope my reply activates the link.

Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.

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Posted by Overmod on Thursday, April 11, 2013 10:18 AM

Boyd

This is a no-brainer.  Historic preservation, jobs, new business for the city, and save the $600,000 in tax dollars that would go for the demolition.

www.twoharborsroundhouse.org

thanks,

John

I hope my reply activates the link.

It did not, but here is a link that is activated.

Or, to put it in immediately recognizable form:

http://www.twoharborsroundhouse.org/

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Posted by 1888roundhouse on Thursday, April 11, 2013 6:57 PM

Hello all,

The effort to preserve, restore, and reuse the 1888 Two Harbors, Minnesota roundhouse just got a lot more interesting.  I have been pushing for some time now to acquire the roundhouse, restore it, and put my manufacturing business in it. (I know, it should be a museum but there is no way to make it work financially way up North here.  We just don't have the traffic necessary to make a go of it as a museum)

Two Harbors also is apparently home to the last remaining steam tugboat on the Great Lakes.  The Edna G was built in 1896 and retired in 1981 and is on the National Historic Register.  She is now the historical and tourism centerpiece of the City of Two harbors.  She is still in the water however, and there has been an effort for the last 20 years to haul her out and preserve her on a dry land mounting.  This was put to a bid roughly 18 years ago and the price was astronomical.

This last Monday, April 8, I made an offer to the city.  I would move and mount the tug (this is the kind of work I do) in even exchange for the roundhouse. 

This does several things:

1. Preserves the 1896 steam tugboat

2. Restores the 1888 roundhouse

3. Saves roughly $1.1M in taxpayer dollars that would have been spent on demo and a move.

4. Brings a new manufacturing company to town and creates jobs.

They are considering it now.  I'll keep you up to date.

John

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Posted by Deirius on Thursday, April 11, 2013 10:32 PM
That sounds like a good trade off to me
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Posted by BastaTim on Saturday, April 13, 2013 11:33 PM
Sounds fair to me two, hope the city takes you up on it.
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Posted by Mntrain on Sunday, April 21, 2013 8:06 AM

Is there any new developments with the  with the Two harbors round House?

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Posted by 1888roundhouse on Sunday, April 21, 2013 9:57 AM

It has been a very interesting few weeks.  There have been a few meetings, some yelling, lots of sitting on hands, but I think progress is being made.  The biggest thing is that folks are getting to know the issues better and also getting to know one another better. 

It's sat empty for 30 years.  Several on the council were toddlers when it was last occupied.  Nothing has been done to preserve or maintain the building in all these years and to the casual observer it is a rather sorry sight.  Many folks in town have really given up hope that anything can be done with it, probably because until now, nothing has been done with it.   I look at the building differently though, through an engineer's eyes.  Structurally it is in fine shape.  The roofs need replacement, some brick (2% of total) needs repair, and all the usual windows, utilities etc need upgrade, but it is basically a prime candidate for restoration.

It's down to politics now and, like everything, it depends on the vote.  Four votes is all it takes.  Slowly, through a lot of face to face time, hopefully the city will come to appreciate what an innovative project this is and what a PR feather in the hat it could be for Two Harbors, Minnesota.  Rather than handing out all kinds of incentives to attract manufacturing and jobs, it is turned the other way and the manufacturer offers the city a huge incentive to make the project happen.  Two major historical items are saved, the city gains a new manufacturer, and there is a $1.1M savings to taxpayers to boot!

I hope to meet briefly with Governor Dayton in St. Paul this coming Monday, not to lobby for financial handouts, but to simply ask for his political backing for this project.

Stay tuned.

John

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    March 2002
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Posted by locojacket on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 2:25 PM

Isn't this a no-brainer on all levels? Preserve history, create new industry, and jobs. Create a unique environment that saves $600,000 tax payer dollars and turns that equation around.

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Posted by bing&kathy on Monday, May 6, 2013 11:00 PM

The city council of Two Harbors has always shot first and looked later. As a former T.H.orite and business man in TH I can't name all the dumb things the city has done over the years and look the gift horse in the mouth. Elections just changed the faces of the council but not any ideas.

I hope they come to their senses and take a good long look at this offer before they shoot another gift horse.

 

God's Best & Happy Rails to You!

Bing  (RIPRR The Route of the Buzzards)

The future: Dead Rail Society

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Posted by thomas81z on Thursday, May 16, 2013 1:11 PM

so do they have a deal yet or not ?????? whats the update ??Confused

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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 19, 2013 8:42 PM

1888roundhouse

Hello all,

The effort to preserve, restore, and reuse the 1888 Two Harbors, Minnesota roundhouse just got a lot more interesting.  I have been pushing for some time now to acquire the roundhouse, restore it, and put my manufacturing business in it. (I know, it should be a museum but there is no way to make it work financially way up North here.  We just don't have the traffic necessary to make a go of it as a museum)

 

John

What type of manufacturing business would you put into the roundhouse?

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Posted by wjstix on Friday, May 24, 2013 8:35 AM

Bucyrus

What type of manufacturing business would you put into the roundhouse?

Seems to me here in MN there was a roundhouse that was converted to use as a warehouse for a paint wholesaler / distributor, but I can't think right now where it was. I guess if NP's old Como Shops could be converted to a shopping mall, anything's possible.

Stix
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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 25, 2013 10:42 PM

I am not questioning the concept of putting a manufacturing business into the roundhouse.  It seems entirely appropriate for that kind of business.  And it would save a lot of history, especially if it saves the tugboat as part of the deal.  I was just wondering what he manufactures. 

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Posted by thomas81z on Wednesday, May 29, 2013 2:00 PM

the boston & maine roundhouse in dover new hampshire is housing  this

 

http://salmonfalls.com/cgi-bin/perlshop.cgi?ACTION=enter+shop&thispage=directions.html&ORDER_ID=!ORDERID! funny thing is the parking lot slope to the center where the turntable pit used to be

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