Eden Prairie doesn't want to own old barn, so it may become history

Neither Eden Prairie nor Hennepin County wants to own the historic arch-roof barn on Pioneer Trail in Eden Prairie, and that may make it difficult to save the 1942 Wisconsin-style barn.

A majority of the Eden Prairie City Council said last week that they would oppose the city's taking ownership of the barn -- even as a gift from Hennepin County.

"The county is the proud owner of a million-dollar barn," said Eden Prairie Mayor Phil Young. "I don't think the city of Eden Prairie has any interest in the barn. I have no interest in the barn."

The picturesque barn had been slated to be torn down as part of the county's widening of Pioneer Trail when the Minnesota Department of Transportation determined last spring that it was historically significant.

This week, Eden Prairie completed a study of the prospects for re-using the barn. It recommended that the structure be preserved and used for commercial storage after Hennepin County rebuilds Pioneer Trail next year. Now MnDOT must make a final decision on whether to save it.

The county paid $1.13 million to buy the farm where the barn stands to use it as a place to drain storm water from the expanded road.

Chris Sagsveen, manager of the road project for Hennepin County, said the county also does not want to own or maintain the barn. "If nobody wants to own it, then what happens to it, I don't know," Sagsveen said. "This is an area where we need MnDOT's guidance."

Only City Council Member Kathy Nelson said she would consider accepting the barn as a gift to Eden Prairie if it needed no restoration and came with county money to maintain it.

Council members Jon Duckstad and Brad Aho sided with the mayor.

In the report for the state, the city studied potential future uses for the barn and concluded that the "preferred strategy is to preserve the barn in its present location and reuse it for a commercial storage facility after the Pioneer Trail reconstruction is completed," said Robert Vogel, an architectural historian who has advised the city on the fate of the barn.

As a result of the study, "The word is going out that you can talk to the county if you are interested in leasing that space or moving [the barn]," said Betsy Adams, chair of Eden Prairie's Heritage Preservation Commission.

"There was never any expectation that the City Council would say, 'Oh, we would like to buy that.' But nobody -- the city, the Heritage Preservation Commission, the Historical Society -- nobody wants that building to disappear," Adams said.

Hennepin County plans to start widening Pioneer Trail between Shetland Road and old Hwy. 212 next year. It has said construction plans must be in place by September to avoid losing $3 million in federal funds for the $17 million project.

The work was pushed back a year last spring when MnDOT found the barn historically significant.

Laurie Blake • 612-673-1711