In about-face, St. Paul Council lops $50K off Justus Ramsey House removal, storage

Frederick Melo, Pioneer Press
Updated ·4 min read

The saga of the Justus Ramsey House took yet another turn on Wednesday when the St. Paul City Council voted to heavily reduce its $84,000 commitment toward relocating what’s believed to be St. Paul’s oldest residence still standing in its original location.

The city council — meeting as the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority — voted 6-1 to lower the amount of emergency business assistance funding for the historic structure to $34,000, lopping $50,000 off the total previously approved on Jan. 25.

“That’s what it actually costs,” said Council President Amy Brendmoen, pointing to updated disassembly and storage costs following the vote.

Council Member Rebecca Noecker, who represents the area in question, said a building permit was issued last week, but it’s taken a few days to sort the actual cost of disassembly and storage with a city loan agreement. The updated resolution also removes the West Seventh Street/Fort Road Federation’s liability if the house is not successfully reassembled.

Noecker said she remained committed to finding additional funding sources to help the buyers — Don Kohler and Rita Dalbec — relocate the house farther down West Seventh Street. Disassembly is expected to take place this week.

“This came together extremely quickly,” Noecker said. “It’s helpful for us to have the time to do a public process and figure out what some of these costs and funding sources would be.”

A historic property at a burger restaurant

The public debate around the still-uncertain future of the Justus Ramsey House — named for the brother of the first territorial governor, Alexander Ramsey — has underscored the competing commercial, political and civic interests at play in a city known for its commitment to historic preservation.

The cottage-like house, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, sits on the side patio of Burger Moe’s restaurant on West Seventh Street, its perch for 170 years, but restaurant owner Mojtaba Sharifkhani has sought permission from the city for months to demolish it as a result of damage to its limestone walls.

Historic preservationists and neighborhood advocates convinced a Ramsey County District Court judge to issue a temporary restraining order, putting a demolition order signed by St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter last month on hold. The next day, Kohler, proprietor of White Bear Lake-based Kohler Law, asked the city council for $115,000 to disassemble, store, relocate and rebuild the Justus Ramsey House on an empty lot Kohler owns down West Seventh Street, closer to the Schmidt Brewery.

“My original plan was that I’d have a house built there with a home-based office,” said Kohler, 68, in an interview last week.

He said he sold his Randolph Avenue home one and a half years ago and moved in with his daughter, then rented a townhouse in Woodbury while he scoped out a smaller, more permanent landing spot.

“I bought (the lot) because there’s a proposal to build a trolley line down Seventh Street that’s going to tie into the light rail,” Kohler said. “I’m getting up there in years. Rita’s a bit younger than me, but it would be great as we age to have public transport right out the front door, a real sense of community living in the city, and access to downtown and the airport, and Minneapolis, God forbid we should ever be tempted to go over there.”

He added: “I really enjoy living in the city and Rita’s been living in the city her entire life.”

Changing course

Instead of $115,000, the council on Jan. 25 approved $84,000, noting that the emergency business assistance funds could be put toward disassembly and storage, but should not be used to subsidize private housing for an attorney. Kohler estimated getting the home live-in ready would be a $400,000 project.

On Wednesday, the council changed course, recalling the spending item and then further reducing it to $34,000.

Council Member Mitra Jalali, who cast the sole dissenting vote Wednesday, said she was “uncomfortable at the speed at which we’re waiving guidelines. If you want to subsidize something … there’s a lot of transparency and process points I feel unsettled by, and unclear outcomes about what we will get out of it.

Jalali added: “They want to relocate it and turn it into something else? There’s more questions than answers.”

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