Last Wednesday, November 29, the building located at 629/633 N Main was brought down by Soukup Construction of Sioux Falls.
This past summer, the building had been condemned after a portion of the facade on the south side fell off, damaging the building next door. When the city's building inspector entered the space with a structural engineer, it was deemed unsafe until repairs could be made, but those repairs would be on the level of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Property deed holder Ken Leedy opted to pursue the demolition in conjunction with the city of Garretson, as the investment required for those repairs would likely never pay out.
As one of the oldest buildings in Garretson, it had a long and storied history.
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According to the Garretson Centennial book, the building was erected in wood with a brick veneer by M.H. Wangsness and B.I. Havdahl, who opened a general store and drug store within its walls. As one of the first buildings built during the move from Palisades, it was approximately 133 years old.
When it was first built, it housed the Wangsness family in the apartments above the store, and the apartments were in use as recently as this past summer.
While not a comprehensive list, other businesses located at 629/633 N Main over the years included Dischners Restaurant, Roosters Cafe, Crabby Bills, and KCs Tap.
Most recently, it housed the congregation for Rescue Church (now known as Renovation Church), and before that, it was the Garretson Steakhouse.
