Like most of the buildings in this area, this building was built in 1949. It may have been known as 7030 at some point.
EARLY SAFECRACKERS
Branham-Mareck-(H.M.) Duepner Inc., designed and manufactured custom-made lighting fixtures for commercial buildings.
On June 25, 1949, two “yeggs” (old time slang for burglars) named Jimmy Joe Hendricks, 19, from Corpus Christi, Texas, and R. Arthur Foster, 32, of St. Paul, worked very hard to break into a safe owned by the company. Although the safe was unlocked, they forgot to check the handle, and they hammered away looking for treasure. They stopped hammering on the safe and ran when employee L.J. Riegert arrived. Riegert chased them toward Minnetonka Blvd., where they were apprehended by officers James Dahl and F.J. Senander.
By 1956 the name Riegert had been added to the name, making it BMD&R. In 1964 Louis Riegert was listed as the president. Lou Riegert was a popular disk jockey at the time – a coincidence? Tax records mention the owner as A.M. Riegert. In 1971 the company had 15 employees.
From about 1972 to 1997, the name Charles R. Elert was associated with the property in tax records. A liquidation of business sale took place here in April of 1991.
In 2004 it was purchased by Wayne R. Benson for $250,000.
From about 2007-2009 it served as a temporary location for STEP.