The communities of Spicer and Green Lake are facing an approaching crossroads on the future regarding the landmark restaurant/building, known as Melvin's on the Lake.
Owner Dave Baker announced this week that this summer could be the last for the restaurant located on the western shore of Green Lake.
The building has been a part of the Spicer/Green Lake community for nearly 90 years, first opening as part of the Green Lake Country Club in 1917. The building has housed a restaurant since 1983, under various owners.
Baker is in a tough situation. His restaurant is locating in an older building with high operating costs. The business faces increasing real estate taxes, forced ever higher by escalating land values on Green Lake, and the business is facing competition from other restaurant and service clubs in Spicer, New London and Willmar.
The economic reality is tough for a business when its land value, now $770,500, has increased more than 46 percent in the last three years. This creates significant cost pressure for the entity owning the land.
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In the past three years, Baker and his wife, Mary, have owned the property they have worked hard to make the business work. They have invested in the building. They have tried various events and menus. And, Baker reports his operating loss has declined each year, such a trend cannot continue.
We credit Baker for his effort to seek out a solution for the business as well as the city. He is talking with the Spicer Economic Development Association and the city of Spicer as he looks for potential solutions. All are seeking ideas from citizens and developers.
The Spicer/Green Lake community has an interest in the future of Melvin's on the Lake or certainly the property from which it operates. The property is a valuable 175-feet of shoreline located next to Salisbury Beach.
Hopefully, some unique concept can be conceived, developed and completed that would help continue the restaurant tradition on the shores of Green Lake.
