Caledonia Argus

Phase one at old school complete; mall project next

Posted: 3/23/04

By David Heiller
Argus News Editor

Work is moving forward on remodeling the old Caledonia Elementary School building.

Mike Nanof, who owns the building with his wife, Dawn Twaiton-Nanof, and their business, Matinee.org, bought the building in January from Keith Comstock and Joe Welch of Caledonia.

Their plan for the building has four phases, the first of which is now complete: Tumble Fun Caledonia, a gymnastics business in the old gymnasium run by Nora Schultz of Caledonia.

The second phase will be an indoor retail shopping center in the single story classroom section along Ramsey Street. It will hold up to 10 retail shops starting at 900 square feet. A parking lot will be added in the area between the building and Ramsey Street.

The Nanofs plan to do much of this work themselves. They have also applied for a $16,000 loan from the Small Cities Development Program Funds. The application has been authorized and processed by the Caledonia City Council.

The council passed a resolution on March 8 designating the area in which the former elementary school stands as a ìslum and blight areaî to clear the way for the Nanofs to qualify for the funds.

The area was recently rezoned to from residential (R-2) to Central Business District (B-1).

Joyce Iverson, who works for the Southeastern Minnesota Development Corporation, said the money in the fund was originally received as a grant to the city for community rehabilitation in the downtown area. The school, which is just a block off the downtown area, has been designated as a spot they can use, Iverson said.

The funds will be used for improvements to the buildingsí heating and duct work and for outside facade improvements, she said.

The ownersí equity and own financing needs to be 40 percent of the total project, Iverson said.

Half of the $16,000 is a loan that is to be repaid in the sixth year of the contract. If the Nanofs stay in business at least 10 years, the other half will be forgiven. Otherwise it all has to be repaid.

ìSo it helps to improve a building and also gives the owner a break,î Iverson said.

An indoor mall

Mike and Dawn Nanof plan to cut new openings in the block walls of the old classrooms so that the stores have the look of a shopping mall, with gated doors that pull shut after hours.

They will put new ceramic tile on the floor, with slate blackboards from the old building sprinkled in. They will take out the suspended ceiling, which will give it a high tech look and an open feeling.

New heating and air conditioning units will go in the skylights. ìSo it should have a really cool look to it in here,î he said.

Nanof said things like a coffee shop, cafe, bookstore, or a gift store would work well. ìWe want retail-oriented things,î he said, then added, ìBut whatever pops up.î

ìI think we can fill the mall,î he added. ìWe want to give some good things for the community to do.î

The Nanofs will put their company headquarters, which are now in Winona, in the old principalís office.

This could all happen before this summer if there is interest, Nanof said. ìWeíre ready to start working on this right now.î

Phase three will be to turn the two-story building facing the new elementary school into an office complex and community room. Phase four is not certain, but could involve making residential apartments. There is no time frame on either of these plans.

Things in the old school that contained asbestos, namely the glue under the tile floor and the insulation on heat pipes, will be sealed over so that wonít be a concern, Nanof said.

Air quality was an issue in closing the old elementary school, but Nanof said he will rehabilitate places where it was a problem, and he will close off the boiler room, which he said was the cause of the majority of the problem.

Mike said they chose Caledonia for all this because of the gymnastics business. He owns At the Matinee gymnastics business in La Crosse, and had people asking him to bring a similar business to Caledonia. In searching for a place to do that, he chanced upon the old elementary school. ìWe pretty much fell in love with the potential of the building,î he said.

Itís a new venture for him and his wife, but a fun one. ìWe like doing the work,î he said. He said they plan to do ì99.9 percentî of it.

For more information on the project, call 608-782-7400 or e-mail matinee@hbci.com.

Gymnastics going well

TumbleFun Gymnastics is running full steam. The gym has a springboard floor and foam mats, plus lots of gymnastics equipment such as balance beams and uneven bars of various sizes.

Some other areas are just for fun and exercise, like a trampoline, a pit five feet deep that is filled with foam rubber cubes, and a climbing wall.

The walls are freshly painted, and there is a new heating and air conditioning system in the wall. Access to the rest of the school building has been sealed off. ìWe want kids to be confined to being here,î Nanof said.

Nanof is proud of how it has turned out, and of the fact that 80-90 spots in the various gymnastics program have been filled.

Owner Nora Schultz said she is happy with how things are going so far. Some classes are filled up, and she just started a new one on Saturday, March 13. She has 6-8 kids per class.

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