It was a combination of flood protection, the construction of a new bridge, and a downtown redevelopment project.
After the historic 1997 flood, the North Dakota and Minnesota Departments of Transportation proposed replacing the 61-year-old Main Avenue Bridge with a new span 3-6 feet higher to allow the flood-prone Red River room to flow. That required longer bridge approaches, so all the buildings between Ralph’s and the river were demolished. The back side of Ralph’s and four other businesses along the west side of 4th street were now the first thing people saw when entering Moorhead. The City of Moorhead took the bridge construction project as an opportunity to rebuild this section of downtown. In June 2004, the City told the businesses to either create plans for fitting into the new development or have the City take their businesses through eminent domain. Four businesses quickly sold their properties to the City. Ralph’s was the last holdout. |
The Minnesota DOT demolished Sturdevant’s Auto Part Store and the local Kentucky Fried Chicken corporate office (marked with arrows) to make way for a longer approach to the new Main Avenue Bridge. That exposed the rear of Ralph’s and other businesses on 4th Street. HCSCC Photo, June 2003.
Moorhead city officials found the newly exposed west ends of five businesses on 4th Street ugly. Adapted from Michael Vosburg photo, The Forum, June 24, 2004.
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“What do you do when your back door becomes your front door? … You come over this bridge and what do you see, the back [side] of Ralph’s.”
Bruce Messelt, Moorhead City Manager.
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“This is one of the most important pieces of culture in Moorhead. It’s unfortunate the city doesn’t realize that.”
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Patrons of Ralph’s started a grass-roots campaign to save their bar. Letters to the editor written by musicians, a professor, and the president of the Fargo- Moorhead Heritage Society tried to convince officials that this bar was special.
To this day, Moorhead residents are still bitter about losing most of their historic buildings to urban renewal in the 1970s. “Of all the advice the public offered for Moorhead’s proposals for downtown,” reported The Forum on March 2, 2000, “one point was clear. Leave the old buildings alone.” The editorial board of the The Forum scolded the City for their unwillingness to work with the business owners and the High Plains Reader helped the bar organize a petition to let Ralph’s stay. On November 2, 2004, threatened with eminent domain and just hours before the City Council met to discuss condemning the bar, owner Don Wood accepted a buy-out offer. |