Letter to the editor: to the community of Kasson

Letter To the Editor:

To the Community of Kasson, Minnesota-

I was raised in the community of Kasson, Minnesota. The pleasures and learning experiences of growing up in a small town in America's Upper Midwest have been happily carried with me ever since I left the area over fifty years ago. There is no question that I have a great sentimental attachment to the old Kasson, the Kasson Mantorville, Public School building. My sisters and I received most of our pre college education in this building, my mother was a substitute teacher as well as frequent declamation judge in the building, her close friend Amanda Otterness was school librarian, and our close family friend John Southworth was a major figure on the Building Staff.

But I do not wish to dwell on the sentimental aspects of preserving this beautiful old building, but rather the financial impact that its destruction could very well have on every property owner in Kasson.
During my adult life away from Kasson, I have lived in three very special and unique communities: Sausalito, California, Woodstock, New York and Greenwich Village, New York. Each of these communities has based the character and charm of its village life on its historic heritage and its wise reuse of its historical buildings. Each of these communities now has residential property value that is among the highest priced in the nation. This is directly related to the citizens of these villages honoring and preserving  its historic buildings. In Greenwich Village our local library, The Jefferson Market Library, is the reuse of a Mid Nineteenth Century courthouse. It is not only a model of building reuse, but one of great historic and architectural treasures of New York City, honored, loved and photographed by people from the four corners of the earth.

Each community has faced men and corporations who have wanted to "modernize" these communities by destroying the communities’ history and replacing it with condo developments and shopping malls. Each of these communities has banded together and defeated these "modernizers" while with self satisfaction; they have sat back and watched their property increase in value. (In Greenwich Village during the current recessions we were one of the few communities in the United States where property prices actually went up as the nation's residential property values declined!)

The home you own most likely represents the largest investment your family has. With the destruction of the Kasson School building you put not only a beautiful piece of history in danger, but the security and future of your own families’ financial security.

Please unite to stop the destruction of this building. It is not only a part of Kasson History, it's also a part of Minnesota and United States History, but it's also an important part of your own financial security. Remember there in strength in unity, and only in the United States does the individual have the power to decide the destiny of the community in which they live.

Stand strong on the side financial security and respect for our history.

With kindest regards
David B. Lostegaard
212-254-1008

Biographical Note: David B. Lostegaard was raised in Kasson, Minnesota. He was graduated from Kasson Mantorville High School in 1959. He attended the University of Minnesota. Since that time he has owned and operated Grand Central Telecommunications, a national telecommunications company with offices in San Francisco, CA, Santa Fe, NM, Colorado City, CO, Minneapolis, MN, Miami, FL and Washington, DC. His work in the Off Broadway Theatre includes:
And Puppy Dog Tails (1969-Playwright), Ubu Roi and Ubu Bound in Repertory by Alfred Jarry (1973-Producer), The Women’s Representative by Sun Yu,(1974-Adapter, Producer-First play from The People’s Republic of China to be presented in the United States, American representative to Pan American Theatre Festival), Mother Courage (1975-adapted from Berthold Brecht), The Marilyn Project (1976-Playwright), About Bernard Carlton (1999-Playwright, Director), All’s Well That End’s Well by William Shakespeare (2000-Director-Production awarded Audience Favorite Award, New York International Fringe Festival), Dead End by Sidney Kingsley (2001-Director-Production awarded Audience Favorite Award, New York International Fringe Festival) and Stonewall Stories by Carol Polcovar (2006-Director-Named Year’s Best Docudrama by Playbill Magazine and New York Drama Critics Assn). He has also worked as marketing consultant to Madison Square Gardens, Radio City Music Hall, American Ballet Theatre and The New York Philharmonic, in addition to many Broadway and Off Broadway productions.