Two Riverfront Buildings on Sibley Street Set the Tone for Downtown Hastings' Holiday Season

Last Christmas Eve, the word went out at 50 Sibley Street. The American Legion club, which has served food and drinks at that riverfront address since 1956, would close at 4 p.m. "until further notice." The Hastings Journal reported that a private party that had booked the party room for several years running learned that day that its reservation was canceled.

Eleven months later, the same building is on the Hastings Downtown Business Association's 2026 Holiday Hoopla schedule as home of the all-day Craft and Vendor Fair. A block up the river, 100 Sibley Street, where the Levee Cafe and the Onion Grille once operated, has new owners who are asking the town what should go there next.

Both of these riverfront addresses spent the past year with their futures uncertain. This holiday season puts both of them back on the downtown calendar, and Nov. 28 is the first big downtown Saturday when residents can walk past each one with an open question about what it becomes.

50 Sibley: the club that was closed last Christmas

The Legion story depends on a distinction the Hastings Journal spelled out at the time. American Legion Nelson-Lucking Post 47, established in 1919, is the veterans' organization. The "club" is the building with the restaurant and bar. The December closure applied to the club. The Post stayed open and active.

According to the Journal, the Post's executive board had been tracking the club's checking account. It had set a threshold for a temporary closure, and an overdraft on Dec. 23 and 24 crossed that line. The Post's public statement that afternoon said the closure was meant to prevent a permanent shutdown, not lead to one.

A few days later, KDWA quoted Post Commander Neil Hoadley: "We are completing a full inventory with the intention of reopening Friday. A new set of hours of operation will be posted when the inventory is completed and reviewed."

The Legion's website now lists the bar open Monday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to midnight and the kitchen from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with breakfast daily and a large full-service patio. The DBA has booked the building for Hoopla's vendor fair. Hours are worth confirming before you go, but the room is part of this year's holiday plans.

Downtown has seen a split like this before. The Journal pointed out that the building now known as the 2nd Street Depot once housed the club run by Lyle Russel VFW Post 1210. The VFW sold that club property and kept its Post going elsewhere. On Hoopla day, the 2nd Street Depot hosts cookie decorating from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

100 Sibley: new owners asking for memories and ideas

Tommy and Lacey Parmeter bought 100 Sibley Street on Sept. 29, according to the Hastings Journal. The building's history covers most of what downtown Hastings has been over the past century. It housed Kingston's Garage, Bahls Motor and Implement, the Eagles Club, Hastings City Hall and the county court. Hastings Golden Gloves boxers trained in the basement. Later came the Levee Cafe and the Onion Grille, where families marked special occasions.

The couple told the Journal:

"Our hope is to build on what makes downtown Hastings special and give people another reason to spend time here."

They haven't announced a tenant or a use. The Journal says they are looking for tenants who can make the most of the building's historic character and "some of the best riverfront views in town." They have asked former employees, customers and anyone else with a connection to the building to share old photographs, menus, newspaper clippings and family stories, along with ideas for what comes next. Their introduction on the Hastings, MN Community Facebook group drew about 1,800 reactions and more than 450 comments. Many of those comments shared memories of meals, weddings and anniversaries in the building.

So the season starts with two neighboring riverfront buildings in different places. The Legion has its room back on the calendar. The Parmeters have an open invitation out to the public. If you have a Levee Cafe menu in a drawer or a wedding photo taken in that building, the owners have asked to see it.

Hoopla day, Saturday, Nov. 28

This is the 14th annual Holiday Hoopla, held on Small Business Saturday. The DBA says all times and details are subject to change. Here is the posted schedule in order, with Merchants Bank and the Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau listed among the Santa sponsors.

1. 8:30/9 a.m. and 10:30/11 a.m.: Breakfast with Santa at Lock and Dam Eatery. Reservations and a fee are required.
2. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Craft and Vendor Fair at the American Legion, 50 Sibley St.
3. 10 a.m. to noon: Coloring contest at Spiral Brewery, followed by a holiday sing-along there at 11:30 a.m.
4. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Paint-and-glaze ceramic ornaments at Squeaky Wheel Pottery, for a fee. A DJ plays holiday music on Second Street from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
5. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Arts & Crafts Fair at ArtSpace River Lofts, with free chili at 11 a.m. while supplies last.
6. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Hot cocoa at Geek Haven, for a fee, and cookie decorating at the 2nd Street Depot.
7. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Holiday Prize Patrol at Mandy Bremer Country Financial, with a cocoa bar, a photo spot and a spin-to-win wheel of local gift cards.
8. Noon to 3 p.m.: "WHO Hair" and face painting at Hastings Beauty School.
9. Noon to 4 p.m.: Horse-and-wagon rides on Second Street and gourmet s'mores in Oliver's Grove.
10. 1 to 3:30 p.m.: Photos with the Grinch at The Studio Downtown, which also hosts letter-writing to Santa from 2 to 5 p.m.
11. 2 to 4 p.m.: Santa and Mrs. Claus stroll downtown.
12. 4:45 to 5:15 p.m.: Elementary school choirs and the Spiral Singers at the Pavilion.
13. 5:15 p.m.: Downtown lighting, followed by the tree lighting at City Hall at 5:30 p.m.

The vendor fair at the Legion runs eight hours, longer than anything else on the list, so you can stop in early or late. If you want to make the whole day count, the Hastings Arts Center at 216 4th St. E. is staging Christmas on the Prairie at 7 p.m. that same evening, an hour and a half after the tree lighting.

The rest of the season, by date

The downtown calendar keeps going past Hoopla Saturday. The dates below come from the Hastings Arts Center, Hastings Family Service and CPKC's published Holiday Train route.

The Arts Center notes that some of its special events are still being planned, so check the Dec. 6 details before you go. The Holiday Train has a 30-minute window late on a December Saturday at 500 E. Second St., which puts it on the same downtown riverfront stretch as the two Sibley Street buildings.

Coming in on Highway 61

If you drive downtown on Hwy 61 this month, expect to see crews. MnDOT says it is starting to remove dead and unhealthy trees from the public right-of-way along the highway in late October or early November. That work comes ahead of a 2.7-mile reconstruction between just north of 3rd St. and just south of 36th St., with most of the construction in 2028 and 2029 and some early work in fall 2027.

The published plan includes new roundabouts at Hwy 316 and 36th St., a new traffic signal at 18th St., six-foot sidewalks on both sides of the highway, and an eight-foot trail from Hwy 316 to 36th St. MnDOT doesn't expect to fully close or detour Hwy 61 during the project, though lane closures are planned. None of that construction affects this holiday season. The tree removal is the only work you'll see on the drive in this year.

At Cooking Real Estate Team, we pay close attention to what happens to riverfront buildings like 50 and 100 Sibley because they shape how downtown Hastings feels to the families who live here. If you're curious how changes in downtown Hastings might affect what your own home is worth, start with a Free Home Valuation, and we'll walk you through the local picture.