История отеля Forest View: 63 года жизни между пожарами и переменами владельцев

The Forest View Hotel was an iconic building located on the southeast corner of Broadway Avenue and Lake Street. Its unique, chamfered facade was branded with Hamm's beer advertisements and owned by the Theodore Hamm Brewing Company. It was also a doomed building that was plagued by fire, as if the very ground on which it sat was predisposed to burn. Piecing together area newspaper articles, the hotel was once called the Germania Hotel, built by St. Paulite and early Forest Lake sheriff, Fred Richter. The Stille brothers took over the hotel in the spring of 1898, making extensive renovations to the building and the adjacent annex, which would become the saloon. Both buildings would burn to the ground the following year.  Undeterred, the brothers rebuilt the hotel that same year. Instead of three floors, it now had two, with the saloon on the first floor and guest rooms on the second. Several years later, Christian and Fred Stille sold the Forest View Hotel to Phil Fabel, and the building was aptly named "Phil's Place." Christian then formed a partnership with the local marshal, Nels Kloster, and opened a saloon on the northeast corner. In July of 1908, both saloons were fined for selling bottled beer on a Sunday. The charges were later dropped when it was discovered that the so-called "detectives" who purchased the beer had actually obtained it elsewhere. Soon, Prohibition would force the bar's closure and replacement with a cafe.  In the early 1920s, Phil Fabel sold the business to his bartender, Steve Hendrickson. Hendrickson had been working with Fable for more than 10 years and knew the business well, but the cafe venture would be much different than bartending. As if by initiation, the building suffered another fire on Aug. 30, 1922. Around midnight, two men from St. Paul were walking through town when they discovered smoke. Shouting up to the second-floor rooms, they managed to awaken a Mr. and Mrs. Stone, who were able to lower themselves to the pavement by rope. Fire Chief Thomas Rolseth and his firefighters battled the blaze until daybreak. The cause of the fire was a broken stove pipe between the first and second floors. The entire top half of the structure was nearly destroyed. Although the building was saved, it received an unexpected facelift.  Steve and his wife, Eugenie, got right to work making the business profitable. Within a few years, Hendrickson's Cafe had an ice cream machine, a grocery section for vacationers and a new private dining room for banquets, parties and club meetings. The new "Spanish Room" had a stone fireplace; black, wrought-iron trim and black-lacquered carved chairs. Due to public demand, a ping-pong table was later added, with "a small charge for each game to cover the cost of fuel and lights." The cafe soon became the local Greyhound bus depot, with six buses traveling each way per day. A one-way ticket cost 50 cents.  In 1932, Steve Hendrickson died suddenly, leaving behind Eugenie and their four young children. Prohibition was repealed the following year, and Eugenie applied for and received a liquor license. In 1938, she had a separate tap room built just south of the building and leased it to Bert & Elsie Vogel, the next owners. They purchased the building and business in 1945.  Almost like clockwork, a fire broke out; this time, at Cody Hoekstra's Motor Garage to the immediate south. A welding spark ignited some gasoline nearby, and before long, the entire garage was in flames. A strong south wind fanned the flames toward the cafe and hotel, but was stopped before it could reach the building. Although it had smoke and extensive water damage, it survived to see another day. By then, the cafe had been converted to a restaurant and was leased by multiple tenants during the next several years until Bert Vogel decided it was time for Forest Lake to have a supper club. With no expense spared, the interior and exterior were completely renovated, and Vogel's Supper Club opened for business in 1959.  Less than two years later, the Vogels decided to sell the business to the Lakeites Corporation, a group of local businessmen who would keep the name and continue the Supper Club. Fate stepped in one last time on June 6, 1963. Just before closing time, smoke was seen coming from the kitchen. The bartender for the evening, John Saxe, opened the swinging doors and saw a wall of flames. Neighboring fire departments assisted with the blaze, but it was a total loss. Despite all its previous fires, the building survived for a remarkable 63 years. Its successor lasted just 23 years. It burned down, of course.  Justin Brink is the president of the Forest Lake Historical Society.