f you're relatively new to Fargo, there's something you might not realize: It wasn't always like this. We take for granted the bustling city center that Downtown has become—filled with trendy restaurants, farmers markets, and charming buildings— but not that long ago, the landscape was quite a bit different.
RENAISSANCE HALL
For the next eight issues and in partnership with our friends at Tellwell and Kilbourne Group, we'll be telling the story of Downtown's transformation in a series focused on the pivotal projects and historic renovations that paved the way for what the area has
BY Marisa Jackels • PHOTOS BY Hayley Johnson and Noah Kupcho & courtesy of Kilbourne Group
When Kilbourne Group Founder and current North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was young, his mother, Katherine, would walk with him down Broadway and tell him stories about the buildings. History, it seemed to him, was layered between the bricks and in the crevices of the wood-plank floors—remnants of the early pioneers and visionaries who built the city. As a young man, however, Burgum saw things begin to change. Businesses were shutting their doors, and people no longer wanted to stay and build in Fargo. As a result, the beloved buildings of his 50
JUNE 2017
now become.* Each story will also have an accompanying mini-documentary that can be found on Kilbourne Group's blog: KilbourneGroup.com/News
mother’s stories were disappearing one by one. One such building was a 100-year-old structure on Eighth Street North, right next to the tracks of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The structure,originally built as a farm-implement warehouse and dealership, had most recently served as a retail outlet for Northern School Supply. In 1997, though, after nearly 90 years of use, the business was closing its doors. The four-story, 50,000-plus-square-foot building was facing demolition.
“It was one day away from a wrecking ball,” says Dan Mahli, a city planner with the City of Fargo. There were many who didn't want to see that happen, though. Champions of Fargo’s historic preservation met to discuss how to save the building and how to protect the rest of historic Fargo from a similar fate. Saving the Northern School Supply building was not an easy sell. Walking through its dilapidated halls was not unlike