St. Cloud State Plans To Tear Down The 107 Year Old Ervin House

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- One of the vacant buildings on the St. Cloud State University campus that is slated for demolition is a home that was built over 100 years ago. However, campus leaders say they don't have a timeline yet for when the house will be torn down.

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The Ervin House was finished in 1919 by Mary Ervin. The Ervin family owned the St. Cloud City Mills.

In 1936, the house at 425 1st Avenue South, which was then owned by the Wheelock Whitney family, was acquired by St. Cloud State University. The university dubbed it Carol Hall in the fall of 1940, and a student union opened in the home's basement in 1941. Carol Hall was used as a residence hall into the 1960s. In the fall of 1972, Carol Hall was converted into campus office space.

In September 2011, the university officially renamed the building Ervin House to honor the original owners. In March 2020, Residential Life moved from Ervin House to Hill Hall, and the house has been vacant since then.

The university says the Ervin House is still part of the long-term demolition plans in the Comprehensive Facilities Plan, but it is not one of its top four priorities that were part of Minnesota State's most recent request to the state legislature for demolition funding. The request included the Performing Arts Center, Engineering and Computing Center, Education Building, and Benton Halls.

Read More: SCSU Receives Funding For Building Demolition And Roof Repairs |

The university says it does not have any plans to repurpose the home due to the costs required for renovations and making the building ADA-compliant.

They do remain open to feedback from the community regarding the future use of the building.

The 107-year-old Ervin House is not on the National Register of Historic Places. Riverview is SCSU's only building on the Register.