Welders rescued after sparking fire at historic Minneapolis building redevelopment

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City of Minneapolis

Developer Jay Dworsky is leading the $15 million conversion of the Ceresota Mill from an office building into senior living with assisted living services. He said Thursday morning's fire on the eighth floor shouldn't set back construction more than one week.

Sam Black

Senior reporter- Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

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Firefighters rescued workers from a downtown Minneapolis roof Thursday morning after they accidentally started a two-alarm blaze in the 10-story building.

No one was injured, authorities said.

Welders inside the historic Ceresota Mill building at 512 Second St. S. accidentally ignited insulation on the eighth floor while working on a solarium, causing a "massive fire" that forced them to the roof, according to the building's owner.

"It was a bad fire. The eighth floor is just torched," said Jay Dworsky of Ceresota Funding LLC, who is overseeing the office building's $15 million redevelopment into senior housing.

The fire broke out at 7:32 a.m., causing heavy black smoke. The Minneapolis Fire Department quickly knocked down the fire.

"The only reason the building didn't burn down is because the whole thing is made of steel and concrete," Dworsky said.

Insurance investigators and a clean-up crew are on their way, he said.

The redevelopment started earlier this year and is expected to be complete in mid 2015. Dwarsky didn't expect the fire to cause a big delay despite water damage from the sprinklers all the way down to the first floor.

"I think we're going to be set back maybe a day-and-a-half," he said. "All the damage that was done is being repaired alongside of the construction crews."

Ceresota (pronounced "Sarasota") will have senior living facilities with services including memory care and Parkinson's care, Dworsky said.

The structure was built in 1908 as the Northwestern Consolidated Elevator A to clean and store grain for neighboring mills. It is one of the largest brick grain elevators ever built. It was converted to offices in 1987.

Sam Black covers real estate, manufacturing and economic development.