August 17, 2010

Revitalizing Downtown Fargo…

We’re excited to announce that Kilbourne Group has purchased a property in downtown Fargo known as The Loretta Block. The property, located at 208 through 212 Broadway, has interesting roots.

The Loretta Block was planned by Peter Elliott and was named after his youngest daughter. A businessman, Elliott owned several downtown hotels and served as an early mayor of Fargo. In 1909, J.B. Bergstrom and George R. Crowe moved into the southern two-thirds of the Loretta Block (that is, 208 and 210 Broadway) when their furniture store ran out of space. The northern one-third of the Loretta Block was built in 1912. These classical commercial-style buildings were built in two stages because of business entanglements.

The Loretta Block encompasses 18,000 square feet. Currently only the first floor is occupied by tenants Billiards on Broadway and Boerth’s Gallery.

Opened by Marc and Pam Oelslager in August of 1991, Billiards on Broadway began as a family center and billiard hall. In 1996, they added a bar and pool leagues. “Today, more than 50 percent of our business focuses on new and used pool table sales.  We also sell pool hall equipment such as lighting, cues, signs and chairs,” said Marc Oelslager. “We’ve seen a real shift in the industry over the years. More and more people want to have a game room or ‘man cave’ in their own home versus going out to a bar and pool hall.” Billiards also repairs and refurbishes pool tables and sells antique pool tables.

Boerth’s Gallery, a Downtown Fargo fixture since 1902, is the region’s premiere art gallery and frame shop and is owned by Doug Scraper. Customers entrust their treasures to Boerth’s for custom framing because of the company’s reputation for unsurpassed quality, conservation expertise and attention to every detail. Boerth’s has an extensive inventory of art from originals to posters. “We look forward to continuing our tradition as a Downtown Fargo business for many years to come,” said Doug Scraper.

We look forward to renovating, restoring and revitalizing The Loretta Building with deep respect to its past. Initial plans are to create mixed use commercial office space, retail space or residential within the property.