1330 W Blair Ave
Saint Paul, MN, USA

1330 W Blair Ave, Saint Paul, MN, USA

The former St. Columba School is currently (4/2009) home to the Hmong Academy Charter school.

This a "brick school with concrete Gothic detailing" according to the 1983 Ramsey County Historical Society and St. Paul Heritage Preservation Commission's historic site survey.

This school was originally the St. Columba Catholic church's school which closed in (?) and was temporarily home to the (?) school before being leased to the Hmong Academy in (?).

The school is located "on a block with church & rectory". The former priory is on the NE corner of Lafond Avenue at Hamline, and St. Columba church is on Lafond just east of the priory. The modernist rectory is to the east of the church also on Lafond.

History:
The site survey states that the school is "a straightforward, collegiate Gothic style school similar to many others built in the city during the 1920s."

The site survey references this article "Contractor's bids too high, St. Paul priest builds own $100,000 school."

See the Historical Sites Survey Architect & Contractor notebook at Ramsey County Historical Society for more information about John Wheeler.

"This school was built for $100,000 with Father Case, a priest, acting general contractor because he believed all of the contractor's bids were too high. An addition was added in 1931."