UPDATE: Waite Park Legion Open After Building Sale Falls Through

WAITE PARK – The American Legion in Waite Park will remain open – for now.

The aging building, located at 17 2^nd Avenue North, was until recently being considered for demolition to make way for a car wash.

The deal fell through last week and the building is back on the market, according to Post 428 Commander Dennis Schiffler.

Schiffler says post members held a zoom meeting last Thursday and voted to keep the legion open in order to cover expenses like taxes and utilities.

“Nobody wanted to give up that building because there’s so much history there,” Schiffler said in an interview with WJON earlier in November. “Hundreds of steak and fish fries, corn feeds, and we were involved in the community. It’s been a very active building over the years. Waite Park has used it for a lot of community things. We’re not blaming it on COVID. Things were happening before that. It’s an aging building with expenses above what we were able to handle.”

The property has been on the market for about a year. Schiffler says he isn't aware of why the most recent deal to sell the building fell through.

The Waite Park American Legion was built in 1955. The asking price of the 13,000 sq. ft. building and two-acre lot is currently listed at $1.5 million. The sale is being handled by Coldwell-Banker Commercial.