A historic southern Minnesota store demolished in June due to severe flooding will soon have a new home in downtown Mankato.
The Mankato City Council approved a proposal Monday night that will put the Rapidan Dam Store where the former Wagon Wheel Cafe was located. For David Hruska and his family, which has owned the Rapidan Dam Store for 52 years, the move almost seemed impossible just a couple of months ago.
"It's been a crazy couple of months," Hruska said. "From getting woke up in the middle of the night because the water was rising and coming through our yard basically around the dam and over the top of the dam. We were just sitting there watching it chip away and erode away the bank on the side of the river we lived on."
Blue Earth County bought and demolished the store in June to keep it from falling into the Blue Earth River. Hruska's nearby home collapsed into the river as flooding caused an abutment of the 114-year old Rapidan Dam to partially fail.
"It was hard to sit there and watch everything that you grew up with disappear," Hruska said. "Something you never imagined would ever happen, happening. Just kept thinking you were having a nightmare and just never wake up."
Known by fishing enthusiasts, tourists, and locals the Rapidan Dam Store served everything from burgers and fries, shakes, homemade pies, and was a southern Minnesota staple.
Hruska says they plan to capture the ambience of the old store in their new location. That includes having the same menu.
"I'm just really excited to get it up and going. We've still got quite a bit of stuff to do in there to get it ready so we don't really have an opening date for it yet. I'm super excited to just get back working and seeing our customers."
A fundraiser at Mankato Brewery on August 9th drew more than 600 people.
"It was nice to see all the customers and friends who we've not seen," added Hruska.
Those customers and friends continued to show their support by raising tens of thousands of dollars in the wake of the store getting demolished. While the fate of the dam itself remains in question, the Rapidan Dam Store could one day return to its original roots.
"We still plan on rebuilding out at the dam, we just don't know how long it will take. That could be two, three, or four years down the road. That's our main goal and it's just nice we have a place to be at until that happens."