Hometown landmark supporter chips in to save the Big Fish

Star Tribune

Bena's Big Fish: Originally called the Big Muskie Drive-In in the 1950s, the 65-foot-long fish once served hamburgers and ice cream on County Road 2 about 30 miles east of Bemidji. Now, its wooden ribs are rotting and it serves as a storage shed for an adjacent restaurant.

Four months after landing on a list of Minnesota's endangered historic sites, a 65-foot-long, muskie-shaped roadside icon is undergoing a critical facelift in the North Woods.

By CURT BROWN, Star Tribune

Last update: September 12, 2009 - 11:29 AM

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The big fish didn't get away.

Four months after landing on a list of Minnesota's endangered historic sites, a 65-foot-long, muskie-shaped roadside icon is undergoing a critical facelift in the North Woods.

And preservationists, folk-art fans and residents near tiny Bena (pop. 102) couldn't be more thrilled.

"People are honking and giving us the thumbs-up all the time," said Paul Reimer, who owns the adjacent Big Fish Supper Club. "The older people in the area stop and tell us they just love that it's getting done."

Built in the 1950s with a rib cage of white ash 1-by-4s, the Big Muskie Drive-In once featured a lunch counter in the belly of the beast and a walk-up window by its eye. Countless kids on fishing trips up north stood in the gaping jaws for snapshots. The fish even made a cameo appearance in Chevy Chase's movie: "National Lampoon's Vacation."

But the old fish was rotting and Reimer doubted it would make it through another winter. When the Minnesota Preservation Alliance added it to its annual list of jeopardized sites in May, Gary Kirt took notice.

Kirt, 57, lives in Medina and owns Minneapolis-based Bell Mortgage, the state's largest independent mortgage company. Kirt grew up in Bena. His family sold bait, liquor and lumber in the area for generations before moving away following his father's death when he was 6.

"I remember throwing frogs at semis on Highway 2 when I was a kid and I've driven by the Big Fish frequently over the years," Kirt said Friday. "It would catch the corner of my eye and it was looking tired-er and tired-er."

Kirt's philanthropy has included funding the Twin Cities Boys and Girls Clubs, Simpson Housing Services in Minneapolis and providing basketball backboards on the Red Lake Reservation north of Bena.

"Seeing as this was my old stomping grounds," he said, "the Big Fish was a natural."

Although he declined to give the cost of the restoration, it's expected to run between $10,000 and $20,000.

"It's a feel-good thing when there's not a lot positive going on," Kirt said. "It's a landmark people have enjoyed for years during happy times on vacation and northern Minnesota commerce could use a boost."

Kirt is trying to find local painters from Red Lake to put on the finishing touches in the next few weeks. In the meantime, Reimer, his wife, Linda, and carpenter/brother-in-law Randy Seitz have been bending sheets of plywood and using weather shield roofing material intended to keep the fish vibrant for another 60 years.

Eric Dregni, author of "Minnesota Marvels: Roadside Attractions in the Land of Lakes," thinks preserving the Big Fish is more important than saving old cathedrals and mansions on Summit Avenue.

"You can find those things out East and in Europe," he said. "You can only find one big thriving fish and that's in Bena, Minnesota."

The original builders wouldn't have imagined it, but the Big Fish has attracted more than 200 fans on its Facebook page.

"It's awesome," said Erin Hanafin Berg of the Preservation Alliance. "We put out our list to empower local people to save the resources important to them and we'll be delighted to put this one in the 'saved' column."

Curt Brown • 612-673-4767

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