The Prairie Skyline Foundation received notice on Monday they have been awarded the ‘Legacy’ Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grant in the amount of $206,608 for work on the old Cathedral. Board Chair Kay Hegge said, “I opened the letter on Monday telling myself to be prepared to be turned down again and found out that our application was approved for funding.” The grant will go towards replacing the flat roofs of the sacristies and other roof repairs.
The Prairie Skyline Foundation is grateful to all who helped them get to this point including; the City, for donating sewer, water and building permits as a match, plus the adoption of the Downtown Development Plan that includes the old Cathedral; CHEDA for future assistance with handling the grant funds; and to their prayer warriors who won the award for the foundation.
When completed, the “Community Center with Art and Heart” will be a benefit to the community as an amenity. The Foundation hopes that the Center will be a great amenity that assists in attracting a workforce to Crookston.
The Foundation will be actively seeking donations to help with the match in contingency funds for the grant. They are currently planning to remove the hardwood floor in the nave and some of the subfloor to clean the crawl space, remove the concrete altar, steeple inspection, and reinforcement, replacing lost shingles, inspection of the attic for repairs to the main roof decking, and inspection and repair of the flashings. They also have plans for future work on the steps, windows, and masonry. The Foundation has spent a lot of time, money and labor removing over 72 tons of “foul matter,” so the project can move forward with construction.
The Foundation is looking for one more volunteer board member, hopefully, someone from the construction trades. They are expecting to let bids for the work by the first week in January and plan for work to begin in March.
The next board meeting for the Prairie Skyline Foundation will be Saturday, November 10 at 10:15 a.m. at the Library in Crookston. Information on the ‘Legacy’ Grant and the proposed work will be available.
