Tad Johnson Jessica Harper John Gessner
Exceptional Businesswomen honored 8A Which Wich opens in Eagan 5A Volunteer a fixture at Fairview Ridges 5A
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date ##, March 7, 2009 2013
Volume 34, 30, NUMBER Number 2 # VOLUME
Dakota County Tribune Since 1884
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Burnsville woman invests in a vision Grant House is a Rush City landmark by Jon Tatting
special to the Tribune
Barb Johnson wants the story behind The Grant House known to all who visit and treasure it. She’s inspired by the nostalgia, the architecture, the old brick and mortar, the French carpet, the history — from the fire of 1895 to records indicating frequent visits by President Ulysses S. Grant — and the people who take pride in its place in the Rush City community. They drive her to bring the establishment back to what it once was. Johnson, who lives in Burnsville, is in her third month of owning The Grant House Hotel & Eatery, 80 West 4th St., which was previously owned by Todd Johnston. She closed on the business last Nov. 29, which was not in her plans after retiring from a rewarding career as a flight attendant for the U.S. government. Johnson said she discovered the opportunity when her ex-husband in San Diego contacted her about a hotel and restaurant business that was up for sale in a town north of the Twin Cities. “I said to him, ‘Why in the world would I buy a hotel and eatery, and where is Rush City?’ ” she recalled. “He said to check it out and see.” So she made the trip north in June of last year and instantly fell in love with what she saw and felt upon setting foot in the front entry. “Right when I walked in, I knew I had to have it. It was mine,” she said with enthusiasm. “I remember saying, ‘This is beautiful, this is beautiful.’ It kind of spoke to me. The rest is history, and I jumped in with both feet.” In her first days as owner, Johnson said she “Barbified” the place by dressing the dining room tables with fresh, new tablecloths and putting her collection of antique china on display. Also helping out have been her daughter and sonin-law, Shannon and Dan Clarke,
who are minor partners with a share of the ownership. In switching from the government world, which had Johnson serving thousands of troops being transported to the Middle East earlier in her flying days, to small-town business ownership, she admits she still feels stress, but in a different way. She consumed herself with thinking about the hotel and restaurant all last summer. And it has yet to stop. “I’m feeling more stress because I want to get The Grant House up to speed,” she said. “When I purchased it, I saw a lot of things I wanted to do immediately. For one, I wanted to redecorate all the rooms in the hotel.” Johnson calls herself a “repurposer,” meaning she likes to use
things that are secondhand, things that had meaning in another’s life at some point. She began collecting and purchasing items reflective of the historic eatery and hotel and put them in storage throughout the summer. “I shared my vision with my good friends (one, an artist; the other, a professional floral designer) who helped redecorate the rooms,” she noted. “The first room took three days.” From the main dining area to the Rose Room to the 11 renovated rooms that make up the hotel in the upper floors, her mission has been adding the right touch that complements the history, beauty and environment that make The Grant House so special to Rush City.
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Tribune to return to community news roots
To our Dakota County Tribune subscribers: Nearly four years ago the staff at Sun Thisweek and the Dakota County Tribune decide to convert the Tribune to a Business Weekly focusing on business and related items in the south metro. In that time we have had nearly 200 cover stories and hundreds of other stories focused on the local business community. In addition we have provided numerous columns and articles from local experts that helped many small business owners with issues they face on a regular basis. As we continue to move forward with our main mission of providing great community news coverage, the March 7, 2013, edition of the Dakota County Tribune will be the last issue as a Business Weekly mailed to our subscribers. Beginning March 14, 2013, the Dakota County Tribune will become the community newspaper for Photos by Jon Tatting the cities of Farmington and RoseAbove: The Grant House Hotel mount. & Eatery is a prominent piece of This new combination will proRush City history. vide focus on those two great comLeft: Barbara Johnson of munities, while retaining a newspaBurnsville is the new owner per name now in existence for 130 of The Grant House Hotel & years. Eatery in Rush City, Minn. The Dakota County Tribune will be home delivered to residents in these communities and to various In fact, she is planning a “hispoint-of-sale locations as well as mutory wall,” complete with old picnicipal offices and apartments upon tures and things to show people request. Residents in those commuthe historical path The Grant nities who now receive home delivHouse has taken. ery of either Sun Thisweek Apple “I want people to know where Valley-Rosemount or Sun Thisweek it started, how it got here and Farmington-Lakeville edition will everything in between,” she exnow receive the new Dakota County plained. “It’s been traumatic for Tribune in the same way and in the the old girl.” same size they currently do. In her research of The Grant Sun Thisweek and the Dakota House, Johnson quickly became County Tribune will also continue attracted to the interior’s fine to strive to provide the best business woodwork, done by a gentleman coverage in Dakota County with who spent around six years and much of the Buzz, Business Calenlikely seven figures on the renovadar and other recurring features of tions. the Business Weekly continuing to “It took a lot of love and vision week news on ourthisnews pages. of grandeur to renovate this girlCode Type:appear UPC Version A Stats: 0 3242-ECM WePublishers look forward to this exciting from the way she started out, andCustomer: Order #: P34915-017 MAG: 1.00 and P.O. #: change for our readers BWA: 0.0020ourselves. it took him four years to completeOrdered By: Symbol Width: 1.4690 Polarity: Positive Up Symbol Height: 1.0200 the woodwork,” she said. Yet itDate Run: 05/29/2002 Flexo Width: 0.0000 Michael Jetchick was never in good enough shape Sun Thisweek and the Dakota to open for him at the time, she County Tribune sales manager added. She has learned about the unique relationship between The Grant House and the community that’s housed it since 1880. “Rush City was an integral part of the hotel, and the hotel was important to the town. It has stood the test of time, as other 8 34493 00023 6 See Johnson, Page 2A