Processing plant wants to rebuild in St. Charles

Flames
The North Star Foods plant in St. Charles, Minn. is a total loss after a fire Friday afternoon. Company officials say they plan to rebuild in the town.
Photo courtesy of KAAL-TV, Austin

(AP) - The owners of a meat processing plant that was destroyed by fire say they want to rebuild in St. Charles, a small town in southeastern Minnesota.

Co-owners Brad Arndt and Patrick Thesing spoke a news conference Wednesday morning. They both live in St. Charles.

They say they won't rebuild on the current site. Instead, they are looking to get away from the city center because of issues with truck traffic.

The owners are looking at different sites in St. Charles, and have also received interest from Lake City and Rochester as potential locations.

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The plant was the largest private employer in town. It was destroyed by fire Friday, leading to the evacuation of the whole town.

St. Charles Mayor Bill Spitzer says the plant employs 53 full-time employees and about 200 temporary workers.

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Information from: Post-Bulletin, http://www.postbulletin.com

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)