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The Minnesota DNR on Monday released three possible designs for the former state park interpretive center site that was once home to Luverne author Fred Manfred.
According to the DNR all three designs call for the house to be “deconstructed.”
Members of the public have until April 5 to comment on the trailhead development now called Eagle Rock Vista.
The building, constructed in 1961, is structurally damaged by moisture, and state engineers say there’s no way to rehabilitate it without water continuing to seep through the north wall of Sioux quartzite.
While community members advocated for its historical importance, facilities experts determined in 2019 it’s neither safe nor prudent to repair or reconstruct the building.
The state approved funding for a landscape architect to develop a plan that focuses instead on showcasing the location in honor of Manfred’s legacy “while better utilizing the resources in the area.”
The three design concepts released Monday provide a range of amenities from a basic trailhead structure to a picnic shelter and outdoor event space. However, none of the options include saving or rehabilitating the building.
“We understand the attachment that some people feel toward Frederick Manfred’s former home,” said Blue Mounds State Park supervisor Chris Ingebretsen.
“However, its very unique design made it susceptible to water intrusion, which severely compromised the building’s structural integrity over many years, to the point that restoration isn’t feasible.”
‘Save the Manfred House Inc.’ wants more time
Meanwhile, a small group with ties to Luverne has organized over the past 15 months to seek grant funding to save the building as a historically significant site.
“We’re concerned the DNR isn’t interested in preserving the house under any circumstance,” said former Luverne resident Tom Brakke, who is vice president of Save the Manfred House Inc.
“We feel that because of the historical significance of the house, the decision should have been more publicly vetted.”
Freya Manfred and her husband, Tom Pope, are president and secretary/treasurer of the group respectively. Several members are from Luverne or formerly lived there and have an interest in saving the former Manfred home.
Brakke said they question the process that determined the building can’t be saved, and he said it appears the state rushed to a conclusion “in order to get what it wanted — to get rid of the building.”
He laments that a public comment period of four weeks isn’t long enough to hear all voices.
“It seems like a very rushed job for such a significant project … once it’s gone it’s gone. This is too important,” Brakke said. “We don’t feel that [the process] has been open.”
The “Save the Manfred House” group reached out to Rolf Anderson, Minneapolis, who has an architecture degree and studies buildings to see if they’re eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
His evaluation concludes that it is eligible for the register under both literary and architectural criteria.
Anderson hasn’t been inside the building since before it closed, but he said it deserves a closer look.
“I would want to know, was the proper expertise brought to the table, like a historical architect?” he said Monday. “We feel that would really be key to knowing if it can be preserved.”
In his assessment he said the Manfred house architecture is on par with Frank Lloyd Wright, and he called it an “organic, site-responsive design, integrated into the surrounding landscape” with “unprecedented use of living stone.”
Brakke said regardless of its historic designation, he encourages people to get online and comment on the state’s form. He also encourages people to reach him at tom@tjbllc.com.
To read more about the project, review the conceptual designs, and learn how to share feedback with the DNR, visit the project webpage found at the park’s webpage mndnr.gov/bluemounds. The plans can be viewed in paper form at the Rock County Library.