Cracks in the front door of the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame will be replaced by Nosbush Glass after their bid was selected by City Council. Though their bid was more expensive of the two sent in, the other bidder refused to include the door's unique metalwork in their proposal.

NEW ULM — New Ulm City Council approved a bid of $11,750 to replace the front door at the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame during their meeting Tuesday.

The current door has glass fractures which need to be replaced as soon as possible. Building Official Ellwood Zabel said the doors either came with the building or were put in soon after. The broken glass was discovered around a month ago and is believed to have been caused by a new addition.

“With the Prince collection in there, they put a reflective film on the inside,” he said. “I think that might have caused it with the heat buildup that cracked the cold plate glass.”

They received two bids, from Nosbush Glass and St. Peter Glass. Though the bid from St. Peter Glass came in at a lower amount of $8,620, it wasn’t chosen because they would not replace the decorative metalwork on the outside of the door.

“The problem coming in here is all the decorative metalwork and the glass in the door has to be replaced,” Zabel said. “The one bidder bid that in, that’s why there’s a higher price. The other bidder did not take that into account. We called them on that and they said they would not be putting it in and didn’t feel comfortable doing it.”

Councilman Dave Christian said in his experience the metalwork on the door is incredibly unique.

“If anybody goes over and looks at those doors, very unique to New Ulm,” he said. “The stuff that was done on the upper part 12 to 15 years ago was over $18,000.”

Zabel said that in line with historic preservation, they will look to make it as close to the original as possible.

“I’m actually trying to match the metal up as close as possible to what’s there,” he said. “But there’s ornamental metal that’s attached to that metal covering the glass on the sides and the door.”

Christian made the motion to approve the bid from Nosbush Glass for $11,750, which Councilman Larry Mack seconded. Though it will depend on how long it takes to order the glass and storefront pieces, Zabel believes work won’t begin for at least a month or more from now.