Remembering the Edgewood
By Phillip BockLake Benton lost a landmark structure Wednesday morning when the Edgewood Bluff building, a former "place to be" for the area, burned to the ground.
The structure, built in 1975 on the north shore bluff of Lake Benton, was formerly known as Edgewood Bluff, a supper club with six apartments located in the building.
"We could see it when it was under construction in the mid-1970s," said Barb Krog, who lives across from the former structure. "Once it was built it was something; it was such a beautiful building."
The lower floors housed a banquet hall and dance floor that could hold 250 people. They had been used for everything from weddings to class reunions over the years. Lorna Beyers, who owned the building with her husband, Elvin, said people had came from all over the country for banquets at the building.
"It's been quite a landmark for the whole area," Beyers said. "We've done weddings from as far as Massachusetts and New York."
The main floor of the building originally held a supper club that was popular among residents of the area.
"It ran as a supper club from 1976 to 1980," Beyers said. "I think of all the good times we had there. It was quite the place; we often had a two-and-a-half hour waiting list on Saturday nights."
Krog said she still remembers taking her kids to the supper club.
"It drew people from all over," she said. "We would go over there mid-week for supper. It would be insanely busy on weekends."
When the restaurant was at its peak it employed more than 40 people. But in the early 1980s, the Beyers wanted a change of pace in their lives and decided to close the restaurant. They remodeled the upper floors into apartments.
"We had gotten married and were tired of staying up till two or three in the morning," Beyers said.
However, in 1987 they decided to get back into the restaurant business and converted the main floor back into a restaurant.
"We remodeled part of it to a family-type of restaurant," Beyers said. "The dance floor and the banquet halls stayed there."
Over the years the restaurant and banquet hall played host to many high-profile events for the region. Beyers said business was especially busy when the first wind towers were put up outside of Lake Benton.
"We had a reception with Governor Arne Carlson when the first wind towers were put up in '94," she said. "CNN televised their program off of the deck when they covered the wind towers."
Lake Benton resident Barbara Johnson said she remembered going to dances and wedding receptions when the restaurant was open.
"It was a beautiful place," Johnson said. "It was huge and had different levels."
In 1995 the restaurant was again closed and the building was ran as a hotel until 2002.
"We lived in it until we closed the restaurant in 1995," Beyers said. "We were having trouble keeping cooks and I had hurt my back, so we closed the restaurant and just ran the hotel."
Beyers said they often rented to crews working on the wind farms and to fishermen and hunters that would come to the area. In 2002, however, Beyers' husband was injured and the hotel was closed.
"In 2002 my husband had a bad accident and we had to close," she said.
"We continued to use our apartment and the building as a family compound and a lake house."
This past spring they had planted new trees on the property and a year ago new carpeting and a brick flower box were built on the patio. Beyers said the building was well kept up and was fully furnished when it caught fire Wednesday morning. No one was in the building at the time of the fire.
The building was still full of the furnishings as if it had just closed, Beyers said. Her husband had visited the property recently to mow the lawn and water the newly planted trees.
"It's still hard to believe," she said after visiting Lake Benton on Thursday morning. "There was smoke rising from the trees."
Krog said she woke up at around 5 a.m. Wednesday and saw the structure burning across the river.
"I got up and all I could see was this orange ball. I had to get my glasses to see what it was," she said. "All we see now is no building and scorched brown trees where the building was. That's the sad part; people have a lot of fond memories of the place."
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farmkid
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07-23-10 11:46 PM
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I notice that the location is under investigation for arson.
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jettpaul17
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07-17-10 12:49 AM
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@Roger, Sorry to hear about your friend, What your friend needs is a free consultation with a personaly injury lawyer, here is the one that I know of *******bit.ly/aK73S0 hope he feels better soon
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