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The 28 buildings at the Upper Post stand abandoned in various states of deterioration — the roof of the quartermaster shop has collapsed.
“The further it falls into disrepair, the less likely that it can be preserved at all,” said Patrick Connoy, who oversees Hennepin County’s interest in the Upper Post. “That would open up this historic treasure to other forms of redevelopment.”
The grant, from the U.S. National Park Service, will be used for emergency repairs, which include putting plywood on windows, fixing holes in the roof and sealing the buildings. A county crew of low-level offenders with carpentry skills stabilized three buildings last fall and will continue its work later this summer. A smaller federal grant has also been awarded for use in planning the renovation.
Sealing the buildings will buy up to 10 more years for the Upper Post, architect Chuck Liddy said.
Although the grant brings the county a step closer to saving the buildings, the funds fall short of the estimated $587,000 that will be needed to stabilize all of the buildings. Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed $500,000 the Legislature approved for that effort.
“The idea is to hold things in place so we can then move forward with a bigger rehabilitation program,” county commissioner Peter McLaughlin said. “It’s clear to me that if you don’t stabilize these buildings, stop the deterioration, that they’re going to be destroyed.”
The 141-acre Upper Post, near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, is west of the original portion, Historic Fort Snelling. The eastern portion was built in 1820 as a trading center and later used as a military base. In the late 1800s to early 1900s, new barracks, warehouses, headquarters and officers’ quarters were added to create the core of the Upper Post. It was abandoned after World War II.
The state Department of Natural Resources, in conjunction with the county, has commissioned studies to determine what can and should be done about the site.
Liddy, of Miller Dunwiddie Architecture, led the 1998 survey of the Upper Post and its 2006 update. He found that all buildings needed work. Holes in the roofs and open windows allowed moisture into the buildings, causing extensive damage to the floors.
