Last Tuesday a fire in Alexandria's downtown destroyed four historic buildings and left more with smoke damage. It affected half a dozen local small businesses.
It's a long road to recovery ahead for the city that prides itself on its vibrant center, especially approaching the busy summer season. But there is reason for optimism.
Madelia in southern Minnesota is looking forward after its February 2016 fire and now provides a blueprint for how to successfully emerge from such a devastating event. Commitment to community, hard work, and collaboration had a big impact in its comeback that locals say has left the downtown even more flourishing than before.
"It was disbelief," she said. "It was shock and disbelief. I could go up town and look at that side of Main Street. I was born here. I couldn't look at that side of Main Street without tearing up."
"They risked everything to do what they did," Main Street accountant Tom Osborne said of the small business owners. "Nothing was contingent on anything. It was a hope and a prayer."
"It was never a question of 'when,'" current fire chief and Hope and Faith Floral owner Ryan Visher said. "It was 'how.'"
Almost immediately after the fire, which broke out overnight and featured at least two explosions and a blizzard, business owners and community leaders were hard at work with a plan to rebuild for the future. Within a week, several businesses were up and running in temporary locations and folks were stepping forward to organize.
"I think everybody in Madelia's kind of 'take charge' kind of people," Karla Angus, executive director of the Madelia Area Chamber Commerce and Visitors Bureau said. "We just got our boots on and literally went to work to try and do what we could do."
"I guess we were desperate, but nobody really panicked," Osborne said.
A local printing company started making #MadeliaStrong t-shirts for free. More support was pouring in.
"People immediately started dropping off checks," Osborne said. "My kids were emptying their piggy banks and bringing donations to the chamber office."
Osborne helped set up a nonprofit right away to administer aid to the businesses and employees that were impacted. That later became the Madelia Community Foundation.
Madelia High Schools alums, former and current residents, and major assistance from organizations like Greater Mankato Growth collected about $500,000 altogether.
"We have a very active newspaper, chamber, you know, people that were willing to step up and take a stand," Nelson said.
It took about a year for things to mostly return to normal, but that was only because, they say, they acted quickly and didn't wait for funding, which came later. There were challenges along the way. They drove to St. Paul to testify multiple times only for the aid to initially get tied up in a contentious omnibus bill. Residents wanted to move on and reestablish its reputation as a quaint small town.Visher admits he "mortgaged my future" by committing to the rebuild, but there was no question about what united them and made it all worth it.
"It's the fabric of the community that would have been lost," Visher said. "You could have easily built a new insurance company in a strip mall on the edge of town. A national chain restaurant could have easily come in to replace a Mexican restaurant that wasn't local."
"It could have moved to New Ulm," Osborne interjected about La Plaza Fiesta.
"But the fabric if your community changes," Visher continued. "And now I would say the pride of this community is that much greater."
Tara Bitzan, the executive director of the Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, says their downtown is thriving, but losing four historic structures including the popular restaurant Raapers and boutique stores was a hard blow.
A fund through the Alexandria Community Foundation will support employees, around two dozen displaced residents and half a dozen business owners.
"The fire was still burning and people were already saying, 'What can we do to help rebuild? Is there a fund set up for rebuilding?' It was overwhelming how fast things happened," she said.
Commercial kitchens stepped up to help the restaurant fulfill its catering orders. Other communities like Hutchinson and Fergus Falls reached out to support.
Overall, Bitzan doesn't foresee it impacting the summer tourist season.
"We have a lot to offer in our area and we just know that it's all going to happen quickly and one day we're going to look back and say, 'I don't even really remember,'" she said. "I really truly believe it's going to be built up quickly and it's going to blend beautifully into our historic downtown and we'll be ready to roll sooner rather than later."
Folks in Alexandria can know that's possible.
