A landmark store and restaurant that was lost to a failing dam last month in southern Minnesota will move into another local dining landmark, at least temporarily.

David Hruska, who with his sister Jenny Barnes operated the Dam Store next to the Rapidan Dam, said they hope to be in the Wagon Wheel space at 609 S. Front St. in Mankato by the end of August.

“It needs some improvements, a new floor and ceiling and then we’ll get it professionally cleaned and then inspected,” Hruska said

The Wagon Wheel has been closed for several years and is owned by Kyle Smith of the Tailwind Group.

The 112-year-old Dam Store was demolished late last month after being purchased by Blue Earth County. The county bought the building after the flooding Blue Earth River cut a new path around the west end of the Rapidan Dam, cutting into the bank and causing the Hruska family home to plunge into the raging river.

The bank continued to be eroded closer to the Dam Store and the county worried it too would fall in the river.

Hruska said Dain Fisher worked on putting the deal together for the Wagon Wheel location. Dain’s father is Curt Fisher, who lives down river from the dam.

“They’re like family. We grew up together,” he said of Dain. “He and Curt have been helping us out a lot.”

Hruska said they plan to rename the Wagon Wheel space as the Dam Store and to have the same menu they had at the dam.

“We will try to get the feel of the Dam Store as much as we can.”

The Dam Store wasn’t open in the winter and Hruska said they’re not sure if they will stay open this coming winter in the new space or not.

The ultimate plan, he said, is to rebuild the Dam Store near where it was originally located.

But he said there is only a sliver of the 2 acres of land they owned that hasn’t been washed into the river. “So we’ll have to talk to the county and the neighbors to see if we could get some property from them to build on out there.”

He said it will likely be a year or two before the county and state and federal entities figure out what to do with the dam and the property near it. “That’s going to be a long process.”

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