The first thing you might notice at Selke Field, owned by St. Cloud State University — is the giant wall around it — 3500 feet long.

“That wall’s coming down, and who knows what’s going to come up?” Lori Russell says.

Russell — out for an afternoon walk — says her grandfather helped build the wall in the 1930s as part of a Works Progress Administration project during the Great Depression.

Now, she wonders about the future.

“So, we have this green space, but how much are we going to have?” she asks. “Are they going to try to develop that? That idea has been floated.”

Those questions, after an announcement by the university, that it’s putting the 16-acre field up for sale — with an asking price of $290,000.

“Selke Field holds a special place in the history of our university and community,” Larry Dietz, SCSU’s Interim President, said in a statement. “While it is bittersweet to part with such a historic site, we are excited about the opportunities this sale will bring for future development and growth.”

The wall is pretty high, at around eight to ten feet tall.

The wall and the field around it were built in 1937 and have been used for all kinds of activities.

But most neighbors here say they don’t want it developed into something else.

“Some of my best moments as a kid had the track and field days going out there,” notes Danielle Meyer, who grew up in the neighborhood.

We found Meyer visiting her mother, Jan.

They remember track events, and SCSU football and softball games at Selke Field.

“It’s nice to know it’s quiet around here,” Jan Meyer says. “People come to visit with children; it’d be nice to have a park here.”

The field is now zoned for single- and two-family homes.

The city planning commission recommended against an SCSU request to rezone for apartments and townhouses.

Any other attached housing or multi-family housing would require rezoning,” Matt Glaesman, Community Development Director for St. Cloud, explains. “That was presented last spring and was not received well by the community.”

Glaesman says if a buyer chooses to build single- or two-family homes, development could happen pretty rapidly.

But getting approval for multi-unit structures, like apartments or townhouses, would take longer.  

The field’s fate? That’s unknown right now — but likely, that will be the focus of a serious community conversation in the future.

“There’s enough apartments all over,” Jan Meyer declares. “They can find someplace farther out. There’ll be traffic. Just going to be too much.”