Beaver Creek Council accepts donation of bank building and grant for splash pad

At their Jan. 8 meeting, the Beaver Creek City Council accepted two significant donations on behalf of the community — a $50,000 grant and the historic bank building.
 
$50,000 for a splash pad
The council accepted a $50,000 grant from the Frank Boon Trust for a community splash pad that was proposed for the city park on the southeast side of town.
Rough drawings call for a 20-by-40-foot oval splash pad surrounded by an 8-foot-wide observation deck attached to a wider cement deck between the splash pad and the picnic shelter.
A cement pad would house a fenced outdoor pump, which would save the expense of an equipment shed and prevent corrosion associated with trapped indoor moisture. Its fence would share the baseball diamond backfield fence.
Splash pad pumps, which aren’t much louder than air-conditioning units, activate water spray jets for 10, 15 or 20 minutes at a time with the press of a button, similar to a public hot tub.
The water jets would operate on a timer that allows their use between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the summer months between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
In July the council voted to proceed with plans for the park not to exceed $100,000, but later discussion considered amenities that would bring it closer to $200,000.
With the Frank Boon grant in the bank, the council will resume discussion at future meetings.
“We’re still looking for grants and donations, but this is a good start,” Mayor Josh Teune said at the Jan. 8 meeting. “We said if we got this grant, the city would go forward with the splash pad.”
 
Minnwest Bank building
Beaver Creek City Council also accepted the historic bank building as a donation from Minnwest, which announced last fall its Beaver Creek branch will close Jan. 31.
A letter to customers signed by Minnwest Bank president Isaac DeBoer said the Beaver Creek office “... with its limited hours, personnel and infrastructure cannot provide the level of service and delivery that our customers deserve …”
The two full-time employees in Beaver Creek will be employed at the Luverne locations.
Minnwest Bank has served Beaver Creek and surrounding communities since 1987, according to DeBoer’s letter, but the Beaver Creek location has a long history of ownership changes dating back to its start as First National Bank.
The historic structure was built at 304 East First Avenue around 1917 of brick, stone and concrete, according to Carl Kahler’s book, “Roaring Beaver, a Story of a Prairie Village.”
“Two pillars and pilasters in classic Greek style are topped by four kasotas (limestone). Stone capitals that support a massive frieze are carved with ‘The First National Bank.’”
The book goes on to describe the interior of the building, which is now listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
“The floor of the bank is Tennessee marble and the interior of the bank is Rosetto marble. Interior trim is quarter-sawed oak. The materials in the bank are, and were, the very best obtainable.”
When Minnwest closes its Beaver Creek branch Jan. 31, it will mark the first time in over a century that the building will be empty.
The city accepted the donation of the building with no immediate plans for it, except to maintain control over future entities that might buy it.
“It’s a beautiful building, and we would have the final say about who and what goes in there,” Mayor Teune said at the Jan. 8 meeting.
Council members have toured the building and said they’re pleased about its condition and amenities.
For example, the roof was redone in 2013, the furnace dates back to the mid 1990s, the electrical wiring is current and working Internet connections are in place.
 
In other business at the Jan. 8 meeting, council members:
•agreed to participate in Rock County’s 150th celebration next year with walking tours of the community that offer history of the town.
•approved 4-percent salary increases for part-time city clerk Jane Blank (now at $15,287) and full-time city maintenance worker Travis Helgeson (now at $41,230).
•approved the 2019 firefighter payroll at $2,630 for 529 hours in 2019.