Give Input on Historic St. Cloud Districts During Open House

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- As St. Cloud continues to maintain the character of its most historic buildings and neighborhoods, city leaders are looking for feedback from residents.

There is a Historic Preservation Public Open House Thursday from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at City Hall.

Community Development Director Matt Glaesman says they have two documents the Downtown Preservation Design Manual and the Residential Historic District Manual. They haven't been updated in 20 years.

He says the open house will help educate residents.

Number one just to let folks know what the historic districts are both on the residential side and the downtown side.  And get them familiar with the requirements and some of the information that's available.

The Historic Downtown District is along West St. Germain Street, and the Historic Residential Districts are the Pantown, Southside, and Barden Park neighborhoods.

He says they want the updated document for downtown to address both renovations and new buildings that keep the character of the area.

Secondly, to ask them as we talk about LED signage for instance how much is appropriate along West St. Germain Street and the core Main Street area.  What about rooftops should there be rooftop bars or a seating area and what should that look like to maintain the character of the main street?

Historic Preservation Standards were first adopted in St. Cloud in the mid-1990s. Glaeseman says they haven't added a historic district on the residential side in over a decade.

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Glaesman says there are three purposes for the documents to inform, to inspire, and to be used as a guide for regulations.

After the feedback from the open house, the revised manuals will be brought to the city council for their approval.

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