By Jean Ruzicka
jruzicka@parkrapidsenterprise.com
Decisions on future plans for the Compañeros and Dorset House site remain in limbo, but the Dorset Business Association agrees.
“We’re moving forward,” said Joan Grover, owner of the Antique Stop. “Dorset is a viable asset to northern Minnesota.”
The businesses will reopen next spring.
Fire destroyed the two village hallmarks in early September, half of the eateries in the “restaurant capital of the world.”
Owners Rick and Laura Kempnich, attending a meeting this week with fellow Dorset business owners, said no decisions will be made on what they will do with the site until they receive “answers from the insurance company.
“People have been so supportive, so kind,” Rick Kempnich said. “It’s overwhelming.”
They have received untold offers for help, Laura Kempnich said of community response.
The restaurant employed more than 70 people on a seasonal basis.
“This is not just about us,” Grover said of moving forward. “It’s Nevis and Park Rapids too.”
“Dorset belongs to the people,” La Pasta and General Store owner Kathy Schmidt said. “We want to keep the Dorset family alive. We have spent a lot of years and effort to build this as a destination. We’re a family.
“And you don’t have to live here to be a part of it,” Schmidt added. “Generations have made it what it is,” she said, citing the outpouring of family memories of stops in Dorset they heard after the fire.
“People are on a first name basis,” said Nancy Freeman, owner of the Dorset Trading Post and two Lundrigan’s clothing stores. “They’ve been coming here for 30 years.”
“Every effort is being made to move forward,” Rick Kempnich said. But demolition has been put on hold, awaiting insurance decisions. He said he hopes to have the debris removed before the snow flies.
The restaurants may be in shambles, but the signature donkey is safe, undergoing some cosmetic surgery for its broken ear, the Kempnichs report.
The borough’s businesses include Meadowbrook Boutique, Lakewood Cottage, the Antique Stop, General Store, La Pasta, Dorset Café, Stained Glass Creations, Dorset Trading Post, Lundrigan’s Outback, Heartland Bed and Breakfast and Lundrigan’s (women’s clothing), which was damaged by the fire.
