The Fergus Falls Daily Journal

I typed most of the following information about 8 years ago and I felt I should submit this to the “Letter to the Editor” since that was my original plan. While working at the RTC I found framed articles from full pages of the Fergus Falls Weekly Journal sitting against a wall next to a [...]

No state in the union has provided more generously for its wards and unfortunates than Minnesota. Its splendid educational facilities are supplemented by institutions for caring for the deaf, the dumb, the blind, the defective, the indigent, the insane, and are all cared for in the most perfect institutions which money can secure. Of the [...]

The legislature of 1885 provided for a commission to locate a site for a new hospital for the insane. St Peter and Rochester both being in the southern portion of the state, the third hospital was sure to come north of the Twin Cities. The commission visited the various towns in northern Minnesota, but the [...]

I love the sight of those buildings. They are the product of people who took pride in their work and what they were doing when they built it, maintained it, performed their duties caring for and ministering to the many patients over the years. It was built in a time when we had higher standards [...]

As the possibility of demolition looms for the Fergus Falls Kirkbride, two state agencies are discussing whether proper procedures were taken by the Minnesota state government before the property was turned over to the city. On Monday, city officials announced that Fergus Falls had been copied on a letter from the State Historic Preservation Office [...]

If the Fergus Falls City Council decides to demolish all or part of the city’s Kirkbride building, its legal ducks appear to be in a row. The city has had some of its paperwork pre-filed by the state of Minnesota. When a building on the National Register of Historic Places is set to be demolished [...]

In recent city discussions about the Fergus Falls Kirkbride building, several advocates of its reuse have claimed that the property could be eligible for up to $40 million in historical tax credits if it was redeveloped. That is potentially true, but it depends on the cost and the nature of the project. A building redevelopment [...]

Though the Fergus Falls City Council members said at their last meeting that they were open to further development proposals for the Regional Treatment Center, not much discussion of the property on Monday night was dedicated to talking about possible proposal options. Instead, talk turned to the logistics of demolition, along with getting an extension [...]

On April 2, the Fergus Falls City Council rejected a proposal to redevelop the Regional Treatment Center property. However, it didn’t close the door on development plans altogether. Instead, several council members said they were open to other plans to save the property’s historic Kirkbride building, including the possible plans of the six other developers [...]

A conversation during the Monday night meeting of the Fergus Falls City Council raised some hackles over what is and isn’t appropriate communication in regards to redeveloping the Regional Treatment Center. The issue arose during a long discussion about the RTC. Atul Wahi, president and CEO of potential developer Geitso Export Management, mentioned that he [...]