Bringing 75 years of History to Heritage Village Park

The building considered the birthplace of Inver Grove Heights has fallen on hard times.

Once the stomping ground of city leaders and the site of important public decisions, the old village hall in Inver Grove Heights is now an abandoned building with graffiti-scarred walls and boarded up windows.

But city leaders are looking to breathe new life into the village hall and another important historical building in Inver Grove Heights as part of the Heritage Village Park project. Under the proposed master plan for the park, the village hall and an old schoolhouse, both more than 75 years old, could be restored and relocated to the park so that they could continue to create more memories for the city.

 “They’re just buildings in Inver Grove Heights that were important and are important for education and government in the community,” said Parks and Recreation Director Eric Carlson.

 “Unfortunately we have no sense of tradition in this country,” said Al Eiden, the chair of the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission. “These buildings act as a link. We need to restore some of those links so we know where the town came from.”

 The village hall, currently located off River Road and 66th Street, was built in 1934 through the help of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), according to "History of Inver Grove Heights: Minnesota’s Treasure 1858-1990," by Lois Glewwe. Its location was once home to Inver Grove School, and some bricks from the old school were used to construct the new building. It served as the meeting place for the village of Inver Grove before the community merged with Inver Grove Township to create what is now known as Inver Grove Heights.

 The old schoolhouse, currently located off Rich Valley Boulevard and 105th St. E., is one of many that educated the students of Inver Grove Heights. In her book, Glewwe wrote that St. Patrick’s Parish opened a school in 1856. When the school burned down in 1871, a new building was built out near Rich Valley Park. It was replaced with the current schoolhouse through the WPA in 1936. That building, Glewwe wrote, served children of district #9 until the 1950s when the area joined the Rosemount school district. It is located off Rich Valley Boulevard and 105th St. E.

 Eiden said he was old enough to remember attending city meetings at the village hall. He said that the title of the park, Heritage Village Park, reflects the idea to move the buildings.

 “We’re constructing a park that’s trying to preserve original artifacts of the city itself,” Eiden said. “It’s in a unique location so that we can display attributes of the town you normally don’t see.”

 The fates of the village hall and the schoolhouse are yet to be determined, but Carlson said the city should have a better idea of the future of the buildings this fall. Earlier this spring, the Inver Grove Heights City Council hired an architectural firm to help the city design Heritage Village Park’s facilities. The firm is also expected to evaluate the village hall and schoolhouse to assess the integrity of the structures and determine what renovations the buildings may need. City officials are not yet sure how much restoring the buildings may cost.

 But the restoration of the buildings is not a sure thing, Carlson added.

“We’re not going to do it to do it,” Carlson said. “If we can’t find a purpose and it’s not feasible, then there’s nothing really to say.”

 Former Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission member Keith Joyce said the buildings were used for many purposes in the past, and could be utilized for picnics, meetings, and other gatherings at Heritage Village Park in the future.

 “Whatever happens, I’d like to see them in close proximity,” Joyce said. Both the buildings are very vulnerable to vandalism, Joyce said. Rehabilitating village hall and moving the schoolhouse to Heritage Village Park could protect the buildings and add historical value to the park, he said.

“A lot of people believe [the schoolhouse] is a neat old structure,” Joyce said. “To have that and the old town hall together would make a nice amenity.”

Carlson said the council will look at costs and current structural problems of the building, whether the buildings are easily movable and what potential purposes the buildings could serve.

“If the foundations are in more disarray than we thought, then moving [the buildings] could become more of a challenge,” said Eiden.

 With several decisions yet to be made, the restoration and relocation of the structures is still only a proposal.

 “The whole Heritage Village Park is a long term project,” Carlson said. “We’ve been working on it about 10 years and could still be working for 10 more years.”