FARGO (KFGO) – A long-time issue between the city of Fargo and the owners of an historic home may be resolved soon.
The home of John and Sherri Sterns is on the National Register of Historic Places and was headed for a buyout and demolition by the city to make room for a levee to protect the Belmont neighborhood and the nearby water plant from Red River Flooding.
John Stern said the city has spent a lot to time, effort, and engineering on the issue. After “brain storming” with former City Administrator Bruce Grubb, Stern said they came up with a plan to build a flood wall in front of the home that not only protects the neighborhood, but saves the taxpayer money because it’s the cheapest alternative and continues to pay property taxes as the home will remain. Sterns calls it a “win, win, win situation.”
Monday evening, city commissioners review several evaluated alternatives for the property from a city engineer and make eventual decision on whether to approve the front wall flood control plan
Stern says after brain-storming with former City Administrator Bruce Grubb, they came up with an alternative plan to save the house that is much less expensive to buy out than other plans and much easier to put up.
The home was built in 1958 by Elizabeth Wright Ingraham, the granddaughter of famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
It was one of three Wright-Ingraham built in the Fargo-Moorhead area in Wright’s style, but only the Sterns home survives. The other two were lost to flood control projects.
