Dec. 10, 2006 - History of The Central Emporium
Central Emporium remodeling preserves history as new records emerge
By Tracy Tucker
Okobojian Staff
What would the Great Lakes be without the Central Emporium? For over 100 years, the building has over looked West Okoboji. People have danced and dined, loved and laughed, thrived and thieved there. Thanks to Dick Brown, the Central Emporium will be around for years to come.
In the 1900s, there were seven ballrooms in the Iowa Great Lakes. On West Okoboji there were five: Manhattan Beach, Roof Gardens, The Inn, The Casino and The Central Emporium, then known as the Central Pavilion. Big Spirit Lake was home to the Orleans Hotel and on East Okoboji the Wigwam was outdoors at Brook’s Beach.
The Central Emporium is the only one that remains a part of today’s Iowa Great Lakes.
The Walker family from Charles City built the Central Emporium in 1901, calling it the Central Pavilion. It was built on the bank of West Okoboji, behind the Okoboji Hotel, owned by the Milwaukee Railroad.
In 1910, Adolf Becker bought the Central Pavilion from the Walker family.
On Aug. 5, 1911, the Okoboji Hotel burned to the ground.
Becker traded Canadian wheat land to purchase the land where the Okoboji Hotel once stood. In its place, he built an ice cream parlor.
In order to pursue his vision of expanding the Central Pavilion to its current size, Becker moved the ice cream parlor in 1926. With the new expansion complete, Becker renamed it the Central Ballroom Nite Club.
The ballroom was a grand place. It gave people the opportunity to get dressed up and dance until dawn. During the 1920s, some of the biggest names in the country were featured at the ballroom. Count Basie, the Dorseys, Woody Herman, Louie Armstrong, and Glenn Miller were entertainers at the Central Ballroom during the “dime-a-dance era.”
Lawrence Welk even pitched his tent in the backyard of Becker’s home just down the street from the ballroom.
Becker owned the Central Ballroom until the late 1960s. His children were not interested in taking over the business so the building sat empty.
In 1967, Okoboji native Wayne Eves bought the building and used it as boat storage for his marina.
During this time, there were renovations of old buildings all across the area. Wayne Eves’ son, Bob Eves decided he wanted to preserve the history of the Central Ballroom. In 1971, Bob bought the building from his father and started the remodeling project.
Bob Eves renamed the building the Central Emporium and began leasing out space for stores. He started with only 3-5 businesses including The Diver’s Den, the Outrigger and a jewelry store.
Lee Hesse of Newton purchased one of the first leases at the Central Emporium from Bob Eves in 1971. You can still find him today behind the cash register or stocking shelves at his store Expressions in the Central Emporium. Lee’s wife Kay has opened three other stores at the Central Emporium including Kay’s Beach Boutique, Resort Footwear and a coffee shop called Java Boji.
Bob Eves finally had the main floor of the Central Emporium completed but finances were tight. He and owned and operated The Central Emporium until 1973 when the Boyle Company of Sioux City purchased it and finished the project.
A New Era
In 1994, Dick Brown was facing retirement after his company in Sioux City had been bought out. An avid golfer, he spent a great deal of time on the green.
“I love golf,” Brown said. “But it’s just like anything else, you get sick of it after a while.”
He needed something to occupy his time. He and his wife were toying with the idea of moving to Lake Tahoe or maybe Arizona.
Their children are grown now, but they used to take family vacations to the Great Lakes area. The Browns love the area and the decision was made to move to Okoboji.
In order to keep himself busy, Brown bought Ruben’s on Broadway in Arnolds Park. After turning it into the most successful night club in the area, Brown’s entrepreneurial hunger returned. He leased the Bavarian Gardens on the lower floor of the Central Emporium.
“That wasn’t enough,” Brown said. “I decided I wanted to own everything on that block of Broadway Avenue.”
In 1996, his vision changed a little. After being a liaison between the Boyle Company and the Central Emporium shop owners, the Boyle company approached him with a proposition.
The Central Emporium didn’t fit the Boyle Company image and they were looking to sell, to Dick Brown.
“Their asking price was so ridiculous. When I made my first offer they practically threw me out of their office,” Brown said.
He had been working in the building with the Bavarian Gardens for a year. Brown knew the shop owners and he knew how the building was run. Besides, Brown is an entrepreneur and this was a challenge.
In the end, Brown decided to buy the Central Emporium rather than take over a block of Broadway Avenue.
Brown wanted to expand the Bavarian Gardens that he had leased since 1995. In September 2003, construction began. What they found was horrifying.
While excavating under the building, they discovered the wooden pillars holding up the 1.5 million pound building were solid above ground, but underneath the surface they had deteriorated to nearly nothing.
Brown was faced with a decision. Tear the historic building down, or spend the time and money to salvage it.
Brown chose to save this piece of Great Lakes history. One by one, skid loaders moved 800 tons of dirt to push back 90 feet so the building could be saved.
Now Brown had enough room to triple the size of the Bavarian Gardens.
For additional support, 800 feet of steel I-beams and 42 eight inch steel columns were used to reinforce the current wooden supports.
“There is no way the building would have lasted another 10 years in its previous condition,” Brown said.
Dick Brown is a visionary, and it was his vision that has saved this piece of Great Lakes history. He is devoted to preserving the Central Emporium for future generations to enjoy.
Recently, he has been given offers from developers hunting for new property to build condominiums.
Brown turned them down and will continue to safe guard this fascinating building.
The administration of the Central Emporium has begun the long process to get the building registered with the state of Iowa as a historical landmark.
The Central Emporium, the last remaining ballroom of the Great Lakes was on the verge of catastrophe, and now thanks to Dick Brown it will last through another century.
History and Whiskey Dick’s
As for Brown’s vision, it is slowly coming together. The expansion of the Bavarian Gardens is nearing completion. It was set to reopen as Whiskey Dick’s Spirits and Provisions on Thursday, May 27.
Why Whiskey Dick’s? Most would assume the name derives from the owner, Dick Brown.
However, while excavating to restructure the building, artifacts were discovered that unearthed a new legend of pirates, lost loves and thieves.
Elizabeth Mabel Rickmer was born March 3, 1886, in Scotland to an admiral of the British Navy, Louie Beatty and his wife Sarah.
She was born into privilege and became one of the most notorious female pirates on the high seas under the name Mabel Rickmer.
Through an interesting twist of fate, she captained a pirate vessel heading for the Caribbean. Sir Richard Barthalomew Lewiston Browningberg the third happened to be a passenger on this voyage.
Sir Richard fell in love with Mabel and joined her on the seas. Together they smuggled whiskey out of Scotland. Sir Richard became known as Whiskey Dick for his love of the amber alcohol.
In search for her cousin, William John Beatty, Mabel headed to northwest Iowa in 1909. When she failed to find her cousin she got a job as a maid with the Okoboji Hotel.
While there she befriended Emily Fannella Johnson, who Mabel called Fanny. Fanny was born in Arkansas and was 14 years old when her mother died and her father left. She moved to northwest Iowa to live with a relative that had built a hotel.
Fanny decided that when Mabel left, she was going to go with her. She dreamed of adventure beyond Iowa.
In 1911, Whiskey Dick joined Mabel in Arnolds Park and was hired by the Hotel to unload steamer trunks from the train and put them on the boats to be delivered to the lake homes.
Eventually the authorities got word of where the Mabel was staying and she needed to come up with a plan. She discovered a washout under the building and with the help of Whisky Dick and Fanny, they made the washout into a small cave to be used as an emergency hide out.
At 6 a.m. on Aug. 5, 1911, the Okoboji Hotel caught fire giving Mabel and Fanny a distraction to make their escape. Everyone assumed the two ladies had perished in the fire. Whiskey Dick played the part of the distraught companion and shortly left town.
Now Mabel and Fanny had to figure out a way to make a living without being noticed. The ladies attended functions at the seven ballrooms of Okoboji dressed up to dance or costumed as serving girls.
They would use their ladylike charm to snatch valuables from rescuers after they had rowed out on the lake and feigned helplessness. Sometimes they would dress as dock boys and help unload trunks in front of the Pavilion. Not only did this allow them to steal items from the trunks, but it also got them into the homes on the lake. They used great discretion and never took too much or hit the same person twice.
They may have been thieves, but the two ladies had a generous side. They used their gains to help the needy and unfortunate.
As for Whiskey Dick, he returned to Mabel and the Okoboji area on occasion, but he spent most of his time at sea living a life they both loved.
Mabel, Fanny and Whiskey Dick will live on as a part of the Central Emporium’s history through the new club, Whiskey Dick’s Spirits and Provisions.
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