By the Closer Look Inspectors team · Facts checked October 2026 against the sources listed below · About our inspectors
A commercial property inspection in St. James shows a buyer, owner or lender how the 1891-92 Grand Opera House, nearby buildings of similar scale and age, and a growing industrial park have aged. The National Register form for the opera house describes a two-story brick building with a mansard roof, a flat membrane section and four ground-floor commercial units.
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Commercial buildings in and around St. James
The 1891-92 downtown building boom
The Grand Opera House, built in 1891-1892, stands on a corner lot near the center of downtown St. James. Its National Register form says it was built as part of a downtown business boom that occupied St. James residents in 1891-1892, that the boom also included two-story brick commercial buildings and a three-story brick building, and that the opera house is surrounded by commercial properties and is similar in scale and age to several of the buildings standing nearby.
The form describes a two-story Queen Anne brick building faced with reddish-brown brick and buff Kasota stone trim, with its ground floor divided into four commercial units. Its mansard roof is clad on the sides with pressed metal sheets made to simulate slate, brick and stone dormers project from it, and the flat section is covered with a continuous membrane. A roof that mixes pressed metal, masonry dormers and a flat membrane has several kinds of joints and flashings, and each is a place where water can enter.
The industrial park and its expanding employers
The city says it has invested in land and infrastructure in the St. James Industrial Park to spur industrial and commercial development, with expansions by Great River Energy, Doda and ICS. In 2018 the city's economic development authority constructed a 20,000 square foot industrial speculative building there and sold it to Great River Energy for a regional service center; in December 2024 the company completed an expansion that doubled the size of the office and shop.
Smithfield Foods added three production lines to its St. James facility in March 2022, the city reports. Processing plants and service centers carry heavy electrical loads and large roofs, and expansions put new construction beside older walls. An infrared camera is one way to see where heat escapes or builds up: at joints between old walls and new additions, in roof insulation that has gotten wet, or at an overloaded electrical connection.
Downtown conversions and a courthouse tower
Downtown buildings change use. The city says Madelia Health opened a family medicine clinic by converting a downtown building from a bank to a clinic, and it describes the Historic Princess Theater as showing current movies in downtown St. James. Former bank buildings often keep vaults, heavy masonry and deep floor plans when a clinic moves in, and the plumbing, wiring and ventilation added for the new use are worth understanding.
The Watonwan County Courthouse form records that the courthouse tower was shortened because of structural instability circa 1930. It describes a Romanesque Revival building of Kasota limestone foundation, St. Louis pressed brick and Kasota stone trim, surrounded by commercial structures to the north and west. Tall masonry features age under wind, water and their own weight.
Commercial buildings we inspect
Quick answers
What kinds of commercial buildings are in downtown St. James?
The Grand Opera House form says the opera house is surrounded by commercial properties and is similar in scale and age to several of the buildings standing nearby. The downtown business boom of 1891-1892 that produced the opera house also included two-story brick commercial buildings and a three-story brick building. The city adds that a downtown building was converted from a bank to a family medicine clinic.
What is in the St. James Industrial Park?
According to the city, the park has seen expansions by Great River Energy, Doda and ICS. The city's economic development authority built a 20,000 square foot industrial speculative building there in 2018 and sold it to Great River Energy for a regional service center. Industrial buildings have large roofs and heavy electrical equipment, which makes their condition worth understanding before a sale or loan.
Why does a repurposed downtown building such as a former bank need a close look?
Conversions layer new systems over an old structure. The city notes that a downtown building was converted from a bank to a family medicine clinic. Vaults, large open interiors, older wiring and added mechanical equipment are typical of such buildings, and a commercial property inspection helps a buyer or lender see how the pieces fit together.
Sources
- National Park Service: Grand Opera House, St. James (National Register registration form)
- National Park Service: Watonwan County Courthouse, St. James (National Register form)
- City of St. James: Why St. James?
- City of St. James: Spec Building Sold to Great River Energy
- City of St. James: Smithfield Parking Lot Expansion
- City of St. James: Princess Theater
Nearby towns
Commercial property inspection in Minnesota and Iowa · Home inspection in St. James
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