Fate of Deluxe hangs in the balance
Story from McMinnville N-R/News-Register 10/27/2016
Photos from Mac News 12/2014
As workers renovate the apartments gracing the second-floor
of the Douglas Hotel building, and negotiations continue with a potential
tenant for ground floor space at the corner of Third and Galloway, the fate of
The Deluxe Billiard Parlor hangs in the balance.
The popular bar is living on borrowed time. Owner Mark
Baisch, whose parents purchased it in 1972, is scrambling to find a new
location before his scheduled Dec. 20 eviction.
At his request, building owners Denny and Lucetta Elmer have
offered him an extension until the end of the year. But that’s not much of a
reprieve.
Other existing tenants are being invited to stay, but not
The Deluxe.
“We don’t have a plan,” Denny Elmer said. But he said, “We
know we want something a little quieter in the evening for the tenants
upstairs.”
Baisch is working with a commercial real estate broker to
find a new home, preferably downtown. He concedes that it’s tough to envision
The Deluxe in any other space, but sees that as his only option at this point.
“It’s hard for me to imagine,” he said Thursday. “But I’m
trying to keep a positive attitude and hope that something comes up.”
Baisch took a look at the Taylor Dale building on the
southeast corner of Third and Ford, but ruled it out.
“They’re asking for $12,000 a month,” he said. “That’s a
little out of my league.”
Thanks to the bar’s popular owner, deep roots and dedicated,
multi-generational clientèle, it long ago transcended the moniker of merely a
“long-time McMinnville business.”
Like the Blue Moon a few blocks west, it’s become an iconic
hangout, opening early for workers finishing the night shift and closing late
for serious pub patrons.
Twenty-somethings go there for a drink, burger and pool
game. They mingle with older patrons who might be found enjoying pinot and
pasta at Nick’s Italian Restaurant another night, or even earlier the same
night.
The Deluxe has operated out of 711 N.E. Third St. for 65
years. Prior to that, Baisch said, it was occupied by Timmreck & McNicol
Jewlers.
“I’m not sure the year it was established there,” he said, “but
it was turn-of-the century, I know that.”
The bar moved to its current location, closer to the
railroad tracks, in 1951. It was purchased by his parents, Harriet and Eldore
Baisch, in 1972.
Baisch started working there when he turned 21. He arranged
to pay off his parents’ loan when his father died in 1985.
Having now worked there 44 years, Baisch occasionally finds
himself carding the children of customers he carded decades ago.
The Elmers, who own other properties downtown, bought the
building around 2008. They’s been mulling a remodel for years.
The building features 14 apartments upstairs. For years, it
hosted a computer shop in the corner space.
The second-longest ground floor tenant is the Thai Country
Restaurant. The Odditiorum, an eclectic art gallery, recently moved into the
space between Thai Country and The Deluxe.
Originally known as the Eggleston Block, the two-story
stuccoed concrete structure was put up in 1928 to house the Hotel Bays. Later
housing the Douglas, it featured rooms upstairs and a lobby and set of office
tenants downstairs.
The land and building cost a combined $50,000, according to
the McMinnville Downtown Association’s Stroll Historic McMinnville guide.
The structure has housed several prominent businesses over
the years, including the As You Like It Café, The First Motor Company and
Maloney’s Barber Shop, in addition to Timmreck & McNicol.
Renovation began earlier this year on the upstairs
apartments and first-floor corner space.
The Elmers originally envisioned a boutique hotel upstairs.
They settled instead on upgrading the existing apartments, aiming them for
people in the market for downtown living, but might set a couple aside for
tourist rental.
The corner shop remains a work in progress. But a sign in
the window advertises upstairs apartments at “Douglas on Third,” with a
starting price point of $800 a month.
“We’ve got some very interested people, a really good
tenant,” for the corner space, he said. He declined to identify the prospective
tenant, beyond saying it was an existing Third Street business interested in
relocating.
As for Baisch, he said he’ll retire if he can’t come up with
a new location. He said his biggest concern isn’t for himself, but for his
half-dozen employees.
“I’ve got a number of people who work for me I’m concerned
about,” he said. “They depend on me to make a living and so I’m trying to find
a new location so I can continue business and they can continue to make a
living.”
