Letter: Worst historic decision our city has ever made

When I first heard that Lund’s was not even just being sold to Nash Finch but the entire building was being razed, I was literally floored.

Lund’s has been a staple of River Falls history since before the city was formed. It is one of the only new merchandise retailers downtown.

It also has been a tourist attraction since the fly shop was added in 1993. River Falls has had two or more hardware stores in town since 1866!

The real blight to downtown is Riverside Square not Lund’s. The city has only allowed historic buildings downtown to be razed only three other times — 1965 for Sears, 1972 for the Holt building and 1984 for the mall.

The mall was supposed to be a viable indoor mall, but only lasted nine years. There wasn’t even a discussion about this at the city meetings so far.

While I know the Bensons were eventually going to sell, Nash Finch and especially the city itself should have a real vision and find a way to keep Lund’s open and not replace yet another historic building with a parking lot ruining that block forever.

River Falls continues to lose its legacy more each year thanks to the city itself.

Tags: opinion, letters, business, history