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y Rin Porter 

Now that the county has sold bonds to

ance the remodeling of the Historic

ourthouse in Long Prairie, the project will be

derway in June. Requests for bids for the

modeling work have been published and

ds were due May 10. The county board

ends to open them May 12 at 2 PM and

ake the awards May 17. Contegrity

onstruction Managers of Little Falls has

en hired to oversee the project. County

ficials will work together to serve as the

neral contractor.

 At the end of April and beginning of May,

cal contractors were invited to tour the

ilding and gather information to help them

epare their bids. All building trades will beeded: electricians, plumbers, carpenters,

ment workers, etc.

The Blade took a tour of the building with

ounty Administrator Nate Burkett. We were

le to learn which original parts of the

ourthouse will be retained and which parts

ll go. The goal of the project is to keep as

uch of the original building as possible, but

cause there have been so many remodel-

g projects in the past, a lot of the original

sign of the building is already gone.

The current interior wall paneling, paint,

rpet, ceiling tiles, and shelf systems of the

ilding were probably installed in the 1970s

d 1980s, although the dates are not cer-

n. Green shag carpet, painted paneling

eets, white acoustical ceiling tile, andadorned shelving are found in some com-

bination in almost every space on all three

floors. Many rooms have multiple layers of 

wall covering, as revealed through holes

made in the walls by architects or engineers

hired by the county to evaluate the building.

Parts of the building that will be kept and

refurbished or restored include the yellow

brick walls wherever they can be uncovered,

woodwork from the third floor courtroom, the

terrazzo floors and stairways, some of the

built-in wood cabinetry, the wood banisters,

the MacNeale & Urban safe, one of the four 

vault rooms manufactured by Diebold Safe &

Lock Company of Canton, Ohio, the metal

doors of all the vault rooms, the courtroom

ceiling, and possibly the stone framing of the

original window openings.We did not see the “fine, seasoned oak

floors” that were described by the writer for 

The Long Prairie Leader in his Nov. 21, 1883,

article about the new courthouse. We saw

terrazzo floors, cement floors, and floors cov-

ered with carpet. Perhaps when the carpet is

removed, there will be rooms that still have

the original oak floors.

The yellow brick used to build the Historic

Courthouse came from a brickyard in

Clarissa. The Blade is looking for that brick-

yard to see what remains. It is not known if 

the exact color of the brick could be matched

with clay from another location to repair dam-

aged bricks during the interior remodeling

project.

The four vault rooms are probably uniquein Central Minnesota. They were manufac-

tured by the Diebold Safe and Lock

Company, incorporated in 1876, formerly the

Diebold Bahmann Company founded in 1859

by Charles Diebold of Cincinnati

(http://antiques.lovetoknow.com). The com-

ServingServing TTodd Countyodd County, MN, MN June is DairJune is Dair y Monthy Month

VOLUME 20; NUMBER 9 - FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011 CIRCULATION 10,000 - FREE

Remodeling of HistoricCourthouse starts in June

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Now that the county has sold bonds to finance the remodeling of the Historic Courthouse in Long 

Prairie, the project will be underway in June.

 By state park standards, Lindbergh State Park, is small, just 570 acres,

but acre-for-acre it is one of the most beautiful parks in the state.

Lindbergh State Park may be small,

but it’s big on beauty

Continued on page 16

By Sue Farmer 

The birds are back.

With every step along the wooded hik-

ing trails of Charles A. Lindbergh State

Park near Little Falls, I hear bird songs.

Skiing through these same woods last

winter revealed only silence. On this lus-

cious spring day with the temperature in

the mid 70’s and a clear blue sky over-

head, the air is resplendent with the

sweet sounds of returning migrators, war-

blers, finches, bluebirds and robins,Year-round residents, the black-capped

chickadees, nuthatches and sparrows

 join the chorus.

One of the singers raises his voice

above all others, an American redstart.

How can such a petite bird create such a

big sound? The striking little bird is black

with orange-red markings on his sides,

tail and wings. He is flitting through the

mixed hardwood forest along the east

bank of Pike Creek, putting on a light

show every time he flaps his wings. When

the bird alights on a tree branch, it lifts its

head and sings. The bird is known to be

hyperactive, but he pauses long enough

for me to click the shutter, once.

By state park standards, LindberghState Park, is small, just 570 acres, but

acre-for-acre it is one of the most beauti-

ful parks in the state. Pike Creek runs

through the middle of the park. The creek

is still warbling its song of spring as it

dashes from the wetland it drains to the

mighty Mississippi. The rhythmic sound of 

fast-moving water over rocks is the per-

fect accompaniment for the chirping birds.

 A strong breeze ruffling the fledgling lumi-

nescent green leaves of the aspen com-

pletes nature’s opus to spring.

The park is named for Charles A.

Lindbergh, Sr., a former Minnesota

Congressman, who owned a farm/sum-

mer home just southeast of Little Falls on

the bank of the Mississippi. Famed avia-

tor Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. spent hisgrowing up years on the farm and also

managed it for two years prior to heading

off to college and world-wide fame as the

first person (1927) to fly an airplane solo

from the United States to France. In

1931, the Lindbergh family donated the

farm house and 110 acres to the state as

a memorial to the senior Lindbergh. More

acres were added to the park over the

years. While the history is interesting and

I’m sure it would be fun to tour the farm

house and see the exhibits in the visitor 

center, all I really care about is the park’s

wild side and that it saves a diverse natu-

ral area for birds, mammals and reptiles,

that is is a great place to hike and ski and

that it is a nice, close-to-home respitefrom a complicated world.

I start my hike on the west bank of 

Pike Creek just down the hill from the

parking area/picnic grounds. It is here I

begin my search to find the perfect large-

Continued on page 16