Fargo seeks high-rise demo funding

The government of Fargo, North Dakota, is seeking additional funding so it can set a schedule to demolish a 22-floor apartment building in the city of about 125,000 people.

Local media reports indicate the city needs more money before it can move ahead with demolishing the Lashkowitz High Rise building in downtown Fargo. Valley News cites city officials as saying added expenses are tied to asbestos mitigation.

Valley News reports that in 2019 the Lashkowitz building had some 250 residents who were notified at that time the building was purchased by a new owner with plans to redevelop with the site. The Valley News calls Lashkowitz High Rise a “now-obsolete facility,” and another media report indicates the last tenants moved out in December of last year.

The same media report quotes U.S. Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota as saying, “The Lashkowitz High Rise is in a prime location, but due to a severely outdated design and health hazards, this building needs to be demolished and redeveloped in order for the city to make the best use of this land.”

Hoeven was in Fargo to say he has been working to secure funding for asbestos mitigation so the demolition project can move forward.

A listing on Emporis.com indicates the 204-foot-high Lashkowitz High Rise was constructed between 1968 and 1970 and when it was built was “thought upon completion to have been the tallest building in the world to use the [concrete] lift-slab method of construction.”

Information on bids and proposals pertaining to projects overseen by the City of Fargo are listed here.