GRANGE HALL

The historic Minnehaha Grange Hall, 4918 Eden Ave. in Tupa Park, was previously included in the City’s heritage preservation overlay district when it and the historic Cahill School were designated as a historic district in 1977. The Heritage Preservation Board (HPB) recommended re-designation of the Grange hall as an Edina Heritage Landmark pursuant to the 2002 amendments to the city’s historic preservation code.

The historic property recommended for designation as an Edina Heritage Landmark is described in detail in a Minnesota Historical Society historic site survey form prepared by Foster W. Dunwiddie in 1970, which forms the basis of the National Register of Historic Places nomination form approved on 9 October 1970. The Minnehaha Grange is also featured in William W. Scott and Jeffrey A. Hess' History and Architecture of Edina, Minnesota (City of Edina, 1981) and Deborah Morse-Kahn's Chapters in the City History: Edina (City of Edina, 1998).

DESCRIPTION
The Minnehaha Grange No. 398 Hall is a one-story, frame, vernacular meeting hall with a rectangular plan, a gable roof, and limestone foundation walls. The exterior walls are finished with horizontal lap siding and the original wood shingle roof is covered with asphalt shingles. The front gable is embellished with decorative stickwork and brackets and there is an open entry portico with a gable roof supported by two square posts. The interior walls are unfinished car siding and there is a small balcony and an elevated stage. The hall was moved to its present location in 1969 and shares Frank Tupa Park (formerly known as Edina Historical Park) with the historic Cahill schoolhouse. The building has been altered from its historic appearance but is in a good state of preservation. It currently functions as an historical interpretation site and is occasionally used for meetings.

HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Patrons of Husbandry Grange No. 398 was organized on Dec. 12, 1873, and its meeting hall was originally located at what is now the corner of 50th Street and Wooddale Avenue. After the incorporation of Edina in 1888, the village council held its meetings at the Grange Hall, which also functioned as a polling place and community room. The building was moved to a new location on Normandale Road in 1935 and was moved to its present site in 1969. Major rehabilitation work was undertaken in 1979-80 and 1986.

EVALUATION OF LANDMARK ELIGIBILITY
On Sept. 24, 2002, the Edina HPB determined that the Minnehaha Grange Hall met the Edina Heritage Landmark eligibility criteria as set forth in City Code §850.20 subd.2, on the basis of its association with important events that reflect significant broad patterns in local history and its distinctive architectural character. The HPB evaluated the significance of the historic property within the local historic contexts “The Agricultural Landscape (1851 to 1959)” and “Edina Mills: Agriculture and Rural Life (1857 to 1923),” as outlined in the Edina Historic Context Study adopted in 1999, and found that it retained historic integrity of those features necessary to convey its historical and architectural preservation values.

PLAN OF TREATMENT
1. The recommended treatment concept for the Minnehaha Grange Hall is preservation in place, applying measures necessary to sustain the existing form, integrity and material of the building. The most important architectural features to be preserved are its one-room rectangular plan, one-story wall height, gable roof, decorative stickwork, entry portico, wood lap siding, symmetrical fenestration, floor plan, and interior finishes.

2. The property should be maintained in a state of utility through repairs or minor alterations which make possible an efficient contemporary use while preserving those features which are significant to its historical and architectural values. Deteriorated architectural features should be repaired rather than replaced, and if replacement of missing features is necessary, the new work should be based on accurate duplications of original features, substantiated by historical or pictorial evidence.

3. As the property owner, the City should provide a compatible use for the hall that requires minimal alteration of the building and its site. Future uses may be accomplished through partnerships with other public agencies or private organizations, and in such cases the City will need to take all steps necessary to insure that the distinguishing historical qualities of the building will not be destroyed, removed, or altered.

4. Changes which have taken place in the course of time are evidence of the building’s historical development and have acquired historical significance in their own right. These include the modifications to the building made in 1935 and its relocation to Frank Tupa Park.

5. As a matter of policy, the City of Edina will consider the effects of its projects on city-owned properties designated as Edina Heritage Landmarks. The Edina Park Board shall also give the Heritage Preservation Board (HPB) a reasonable opportunity to review for appropriateness all plans for routine maintenance, repairs, and improvements at Frank Tupa Park. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties are the required basis for the HPB’s recommendations.