No. 1: Madelia loses much of its downtown to fire

Dec. 30--MADELIA -- The gaping hole left in Madelia's downtown is filled again with the shells of new buildings, and crews are working on interiors as businesses hope to return by the spring, more than a year after fire devastated the town.

"They're beautiful buildings. We can't wait for people to open the doors and get back to normal, if we can ever really get back to normal," said City Administrator Jane Piepgras.

"We'll feel whole again when they get back in there."

Amid a heavy snow on the early morning of Feb. 3, Madelia lost much of its heart and soul to a fire that ruined nine businesses and removed a major chunk of the farm community's downtown Main Street.

When Madelia crews got to the scene, two explosions went off from inside the buildings, fueling the fire. From 2:30 a.m. until around noon, firefighters showered water over the fire. Area fire departments had trouble getting to Madelia to assist because of snow-covered roads and blowing snow.

La Plaza F!esta restaurant, Hope and Faith Floral and Gift, a Culligan store, a sewing business, a Mexican grocery store, dental office, American Family Insurance brokerage, and Tressa hair salon were all damaged or destroyed.

The cause of the fire could not be determined. Some witness reports suggest it may have started in the Hope and Faith Floral & Gifts shop.

In the days following, support and visitors flowed into the community, including visits from Gov. Mark Dayton, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, area legislators and others.

Support for the community, particularly the business owners hit by the fires, was widespread. The Region Nine Development Commission and Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation quickly raised $60,000 and coordinated support to help business owners with the things they needed to quickly reopen temporary spaces. The Hope and Faith Floral shop, for example, got a new cooler to keep flowers fresh.

Pioneer Bank contributed $50,000 to relief efforts, including $10,000 through the foundation. The bank also gave a total of $2,500 to fire departments that battled the fire, $1,000 grant to a builder or new or reopening business on Main Street in 2016, a $500 incentive per employee hired who lost a job due to the fire, and $35,000 available in interest-free loans for new or reopening businesses in Madelia.

Gofundme pages created by the Chamber of Commerce quickly raised tens of thousands of dollars.

By April, almost all of the nine businesses stalled by the fire reopened in different locations, with the popular Mexican restaurant La Plaza F!esta operating out of the Madelia Golf Course Clubhouse.

Meanwhile, work was underway designing new buildings to be constructed, giving them a historical look that would fit the area. There are spaces for five businesses in the new buildings, which are owned by the owners of the buildings that burned. Four will be filled with returning businesses, including the popular Mexican restaurant. One space is so far unleased. The other businesses that were displaced by the fire will stay in their relocated spots.

The city and the county provided tax abatements to help cushion the blow of higher property taxes for the business owners. The community is still hoping that the state will come through with funding to also help.

There was support in the Legislature last session to provide help through the bonding bill, but the bill never passed. "We're all hoping it will be included in the bonding bill in 2017," Piepgras said.

Follow Tim Krohn on Twitter @TimKrohn

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