St. Cloud Council Updates Historic Preservation Manual, Honors Local Stewards

(KNSI) — On Monday night, The St. Cloud City Council approved updates and new language for the city’s Historic Preservation Manual. The council also honored home and business owners for their dedication to historic preservation.

For the first time in almost 20 years, the city is revamping the manual to preserve downtown’s historic feel and character while supporting its goal of 1,000 new residential units in the next five years. The manual will consider new technology, materials, and standards for renovating and maintaining the character of its historic buildings.

Two commercial properties were also presented with awards at the meeting. Iron Street Distillery and Harvester Square at 539 East St. Germain Street received the 2024 Heritage Preservation Award.

KNSI News caught up with property co-owners Julie and Kevin Johnson afterward. Kevin remarked he was happy they could save the building, which was constructed in 1928, from the scrap yard. Kevin fell in love with it on day one. “We’re just ecstatic for this whole property. Since we started working on this building, three years ago when we bought it, from the get go, we didn’t know what to expect. We first started remodeling, but then as we got into it, we really knew that we had something special with the building.”

They were more than pleased with how it turned out in the end. “Buildings like this just don’t come available very often. And this for us this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. So, we made the best of it.”

This is the third award the couple has been given for the project.

The other building being honored was the Foley Mansion, redone by Carmen and Allen Arvig.

Two homes were also recognized for hitting the century mark. Jake and Jill Wahman’s four square style home at 727 13th Avenue South and Jason and Michelle Melby’s prairie style home at 341 7th Avenue South have both been standing for 100 years.

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