Since first announced in the March 20, 2024 True Dakotan that the American Legion and Prairie Lounge would no longer have a post home “up on the hill” in Wessington Springs, the future of the building appeared far more bleak than hopeful.
The building, financed through the Small Business Administration (SBA) is in the process of being forfeited to foreclosure and last month, Willman-Fee Post 14 held an “everything but the building” auction in order to satisfy local Prairie Lounge debts with area vendors.
After months of working through the red tape with SBA, holding breakfasts, raffles and auctions in order to repay local debt, Post 14 Commander Kyle Everson received a phone call that tipped the scales toward hope.
“I got a call right before the auction from a Wisconsin resident who also has property south of Springs and spends quite a bit of time here,” Everson said. “He inquired about how he could help save the legion and to make a long story short, we entered into a lease agreement with him just last week.”
Erik Mullett, whose primary residence is Oconomowoc, Wisc., plans to lease the building from the local American Legion, understanding that the building is in foreclosure with SBA.
“When the foreclosure goes through, which could take as much as two years, he will try to get it. Although he reached out to us right before the auction for all the contents, we had to go through with it because we have so many bills to pay,” said legion member Darrold Rounds. “The great thing is he wants to keep it the American Legion and we get to use it for our monthly meeting, hold pot lucks after Memorial Day programs and other things we use it for.”
City Attorney for Wessington Springs Gary Blue, who is also a Post 14 member reviewed the lease and confirmed that the legion can indeed still use the facility.
“They’re leasing it from the legion and allowing the legion to have their meetings there, to be their post. They also will use the liquor license that Prairie Lounge used,” Blue said. “The building is still in foreclosure but he and his lawyer are trying to work with SBA on a solution with hopes to buy the building.”
Mullett told the True Dakotan that his reasoning behind doing this is simple, community.
“It's about the people there. I’m doing this because I love the community. My dad bought that farm 10 years ago and they welcomed us all. We've made a lot of great friends out there,” Mullett said. “I think it's sad to see the Legion close and that's the gist of it for me. I have the ability to try to see if I can save it for the people there in the community, and that's all I'm trying to do.”
With plans to open the front half of the building as a restaurant/bar, Mullett, who is the principal owner of aviation company Private AirShare, admits the restaurant business is a bit outside his wheelhouse.
“Unfortunately, I don't know anything about restaurants. So I've been doing a ton of research trying to figure out, how do I even start? I have a lot to learn, and in that process, we want to get feedback from the community on what they want,” he shared. “We've put some social media posts out there, just trying to get some feedback from people in the community. We are asking, ‘What did you like? What did you not like? What do you want to see? How can we make it better?’ We want to incorporate the people of Wessington Springs’ opinion so we can try to make it something that they're all proud of and want to enjoy with their families.”
With an original goal of opening in three months, Mullet realizes that the initial time frame could be challenging, especially having to start from scratch when it comes to kitchen equipment, furnishings and everything needed to operate a restaurant/bar.
As for the event area in the back of the legion, Mullet said he wants to brainstorm with the community when it comes to the best use of the space.
“I don't know if that huge space getting used just 6-12 times a year is really beneficial to the community or the business itself,” he explained. “Bottom line is that we want it to be what the community needs and the people want. So that's just going to take us some time to figure that out. And it’s going to take some brainstorming with the people there.”
Mullett plans on returning to the area next week and as plans to brainstorm about the use of the space unfold and develop, he said the community will be the first to know.
“I’m excited for this place to have a community feel of businesses working together, businesses thriving together, that benefit the community as a whole,” he said. “I'm coming in and hopefully making it something that they can be proud of as well.”