Recycling for an historical use

A New Prague residence will be partly recycled for history instead of ending up in a landfill.

A portion of the building at 212 Main St. E was a log structure. During the Tuesday, Oct. 8, demolition of the building, the logs were being put aside and would later go to The Landing, aliving history site near Shakopee.

According to records with the Le Sueur County Assessor’s Office the structure was built in 1890. Dennis Dvorak of the New Prague Historical Society said the logs would likely be used in other buildings at the living history center. He noted at one time the building, across from St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, was a temperance saloon. A later addition to the structure was a tailor shop.

A small fire damaged the building on Sunday, Aug. 25. Estimates to repair and update the residence proved more expensive than it would be to demolish the structure. Marvin Sticha, the building’s owner, made a request to the New Prague City Council to tear down the structure, which was approved. Until the fire, the building had been used as a housing rental unit.

The October 8 demolition of the building took some finesse to prevent damage to a two-story complex behind it and a business, Sherco Construction, located west of the structure. The two-story complex will remain and is being used as a rental property