Edina to Receive $347K in Building Demolition Grant Funds

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 By Echo Menges 

The City of Edina has been approved to receive a community demolition block grant (CDBG) in the amount of $347,350. 

The city was notified in writing on Dec. 31, 2024, with a two-week embargo on sharing the information with the public or the press at the request of former Missouri Gov. Mike Parson. 

“We had to give the governor a chance to make the public announcement, but since he’s no longer governor,” Mayor Linda Kerr told the Edina City Council, “that was hard to keep quiet.” 

Kerr shared the news with the rest of the council during their regular monthly meeting on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. 

“Three hundred (thousand) was the most we could have asked for. They went above and beyond that,” Kerr said. 

Being approved for the CDBG means a number of dangerous and dilapidated buildings—residential and commercial properties—can be demolished at a greatly reduced expense to the property owners. 

In 2024, property owners signed up 20 residential and three commercial properties for the program in hopes the project would be approved. 

“We had a time that you had to sign up to get your name on the list and go through a process to prove that you owned the property. The houses and the buildings that were on that list will be the only ones we can get taken care of,” said Kerr. 

The commercial properties on the list include two historic buildings at 102 S. Main St. and 300/302 E. Lafayette St. on the Edina Town Square. 

The partially collapsed building (300 and 302 E. Lafayette St.), located north of The Citizens Bank in Edina, was deemed to have asbestos materials in the basement, which will have to be removed before the building can be demolished. 

The deteriorating building at 102 S. Main St., east of the Casey’s General Store parking lot, has long passed the demolition deadline set by an area engineer hired by the city several years ago. 

Knox County resident and Edina business owner Randy Carlson is in the process of taking possession of the downtown buildings now that the grant has been approved. The buildings fell into disrepair under the ownership of the late Asa Shaw, who held the deeds to many of Edina’s most derelict structures prior to his passing. 

The properties remained in probate for several years after no one would take ownership of them following Shaw’s death. Carlson has agreed to pay the reduced rate for demolition of the properties and has asked both the City of Edina and the County of Knox to waive any back taxes owed on the properties, which is currently in process. 

Carlson could be required to pay up to 20% of the demolition costs, which could amount to tens of thousands of dollars. 

Property owners of the residential properties are expected to pay $500 of the demolition costs. 

Residential properties on the list include: 

705 N. Fulton St. 

401, 1004 and 1100 E. Morgan St. 

507, 708 E. Marion St. 

303, 304 and 305 N. Fourth St. 

404 and 604 N. Main St. 

501 N. Fulton St. 

205, 504, 507 N. Fifth St. 

1101 E. Randolph St. 

605 N. Cottey St. 

506 E. Lafayette St. 

204 S. Wilson St. 

301 SW Morgan St. 

Chris Feeney, a transportation planner and economic development specialist at the Northeast Missouri Regional Planning office in Memphis, Missouri, helped the city collect, compile, and submit the CDBG application. 

The City of Edina can now begin the process of putting the project out for bid. The City Council is hopeful the funds will be enough to complete the entire project