Nestled within walking distance of St. Paul’s Como Park, the former St. Andrew’s Church building is home to the Twin Cities German Immersion School. For many it also has a compelling architectural history.

In fact, the church may be eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, at least according to state officials.

The Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office indicated it is willing to make the case before its own preservation review board and federal authorities, according to a recent letter from the office to a coalition of residents hoping to save the former church building from demolition.

“The Romanesque Revival architecture of St. Andrew’s Catholic Church continues to read very well,” said Denis Gardner, National Register Historian with the State Historic Preservation Office, in a recent letter to neighborhood advocates.

The growing K-8 charter school is seeking to raze the 1920s-era church structure and replace it with a new gym, cafeteria and learning space built from the ground up.

The prospect of taking down the deconsecrated former church building — once a gathering place for the city’s Hungarian community and other turn-of-the-century immigrant groups — has split neighborhood residents. Some note the building’s interior has already been gutted and converted to new uses.

“The National Registry isn’t an option,” said Kelly Laudon, Twin Cities German Immersion School board secretary and former board chair. “Nor do we think it’s warranted. What Save Historic St. Andrew’s is doing is prioritizing a building over the education of children, in order to preserve a church that the church itself didn’t want to save. … ‘It’s eligible’ doesn’t necessarily mean it’s worthy of preservation.”

‘AN UNUSUAL DESIGN VOCABULARY’

The exterior remains a striking example of an early 20th century American church building with southern European influences, according to Gardner.

In a letter dated March 21 to Anna Mosser and the Friends of Warrendale/Save Historic St. Andrew’s, Gardner wrote that the complexity of the Romanesque Revival design “is revealed in its many architectural embellishments, several of which make for an unusual design vocabulary. For example, the walls exhibit several brick bonds, including American, Flemish, running, basket weave and herringbone. The multi-sided towers feature shallow-roofed turrets with blind openings rather than the domes that often crown the towers of Romanesque Revival churches.”

Gardner goes on to describe the circular window patterns framing the cross within the rose window, the “octagonal belfry of the bell tower” and the “colorful polychromatic tile roof,” as well as several variations on the traditional revivalist style that sprang from southern France and northern Italy.

For historic preservationists, there’s at least one catch.

While anyone can write a nomination, private property owners can effectively block third parties from adding their buildings to the National Register without their consent by submitting notarized objections.

In 2005, a resident’s group attempted without success to get the entire Hamm’s Brewery on St. Paul’s Minnehaha Avenue added to the National Register, Gardner noted in an interview.

On the other hand, while owners of public properties such as city halls and libraries also can submit objections, that likely would not be enough to stop a nomination of public property, Gardner said.

The growing K-8 charter school walks an unusual line between public and private, where it receives state funding but is sponsored, or “authorized,” by the University of St. Thomas, a private college.

“It’s an interesting scenario,” said Gardner. “Does the state view it as a public entity with private oversight? I don’t know. There’s so many different scenarios.”

Laudon said building ownership is even more complicated than that.

The former church building “is not owned by the school itself. It’s owned by an affiliated building company — the Twin Cities German Immersion Company,” Laudon said. “Charter schools are not allowed to own their own buildings. It has its own bylaws, its own board, and it owns the property.”

HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION VS. PLANNING COMMISSION

Meanwhile, a National Register listing alone would not be enough to stop an owner from altering or demolishing a property, but it could slow the process down. It would trigger “a conversation” with the state office over demolition, Gardner said.

A listing also would make the building eligible for federal historic preservation grants, which would come with their own restrictions against demolition.

“While this does not limit interior alterations, which the owner is free to do, it may make the building eligible for grants and other sources of funding,” said Bonnie Youngquist, a member of Save Historic St. Andrew’s. “We have architects on the back burner who have offered to do a design charrette, like an intensive brainstorming session.”

The prospect of a National Register nomination is just the latest attempt by neighborhood residents and historic preservationists to block the school from tearing down its own building. The school has occupied the site since 2013. Related Articles Marchers shut down I-94 through St. Paul to protest Breonna Taylor decision

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In November, following more than three hours of split testimony, the city’s Heritage Preservation Commission voted 8-1 to support a local historic designation that would stop or slow demolition.

Taking the opposite tack, the St. Paul Planning Commission in December voted 12-1 against supporting a local historic designation, and later approved the school’s site plan and three zoning variances.

The fate of the school building likely will fall to the St. Paul City Council. The council is awaiting a decision from the city’s Planning Department on whether an environmental assessment is necessary.