Hilltop Square Apartments Project Brings Senator Klobuchar to the Former Eagle Bend School
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by Trinity Gruenberg
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar visited the former Eagle Bend School on Tuesday, August 18, to tour the ongoing conversion of the building into Hilltop Square Apartments, a 23-unit senior housing project that has been in the development stage for several years.
The visit included project partners from the Central Minnesota Housing Partnership (CMHP), architects, city officials, and community members who are working to preserve the building and address the lack of senior housing in the region.
The brick school building, originally built as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, was completed in two phases: the classroom wing in 1942 and the auditorium in 1952. Classes ended in 2017, and the building has been vacant since then.
Jay Eckel, a lifelong Eagle Bend resident and former school graduate, emphasized the building’s importance to the community, stating, “If we lose this building, it’s gone. Nothing will ever be rebuilt like it.”
He pointed out that many residents have ties to the school and even made efforts to repair the roof over the years to maintain the structure.
The renovation will transform former classrooms into one-bedroom senior apartments ranging from 600 to 800 square feet, according to Deanna Hemmesch, executive director of CMHP...
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