LTE: Resident Disappointed in Rejoice! Church Building Plan Process

To the editor:

I was disappointed when the Dundas City Council voted against the need for an Environmental Assessment Worksheet for the Rejoice building plan for the historic Holy Cross site at the public hearing in April of  2011.  I was doubly disappointed when our appeal of this decision was rejected by the District Court of Appeals one year later, May 7 of this year.

I was not altogether surprised we lost, since higher courts try to uphold local government decisions for the most part. And, with the downturn in the economy, there has been a pro-business climate across the state which is very resistant to environmental concerns. The two experts in the Minnesota Planning office in St. Paul who handle EAW petitions retired and there has been just a skeleton crew left there until recently. 

We do feel our appeal had merit. When there will be "destruction in whole or in part" of a historic site on the National Register, an EAW is required. City of Dundas jumped to the conclusion early on that only the original stone church was protected, not including the parish hall, and that the interior was not included. This turned out to be wrong on both counts.  In an email of March 14, 2011, Linda Pate, preservation specialist at MN State Historic Preservation Office, made this very clear. Her letter was somehow ignored.

The saddest part, to me, is the stripping of the sanctuary when Rejoice took possession in January 2010, despite the promise that it would remain intact for future weddings and funerals. Other historic churches, such as Valley Grove, have been successful in this. Many thanks to those who appealed to Rev. Clites, however unsuccessfully, to allow return of some of the artifacts  purchased by community members in order to preserve them--pews, organ, altar, memorial plaques, etc. Northfield Councilperson Rhonda Pownell, prominent member of Rejoice, among them.

Stephanie Henriksen
PO Box 267
Dundas, MN 55019