When people get off Highway 10 to head to downtown St. Cloud on Highway 23 the first thing they see is a big, abandoned, run-down Burger King. In a recent survey of one me, respondents overwhelmingly asserted that something needs to be done about this dilapidated fast food fossil.

The former East Side staple closed abruptly in 2018 and since then has sat empty with paint chipping, the giant sign built to be visible from the highway covered in a flapping, unsightly tarp and the grass growing up to ten feet tall (height estimated and may not be accurate).

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Someone even had the gall to draw a giant Richard on one of the windows that was left there for way too long. No pun intended.

There should be some sort of rule that if your building isn't sold within a certain amount of time it automatically becomes a teardown. An empty field would be much easier to stomach than an abandoned burger factory.

I have two questions. The first question is why this location hasn't been sold in the first place. It seems like it is in a great location on a major highway and a busy local street. It has solid neighbors like Target, U-Haul and a Country Inn hotel. Those are certainly places that lend themselves to fast food consumption.

The second question is what responsibility the city should have when it comes to abandoned buildings, specifically those in prominent areas. Shouldn't the city be concerned with how it looks to have this crusty cafe front and center in such a busy area?

I would think that plot of land would be more desirable as a field than a going-on-four-years closed former palace of the king.

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