The historical bank in Cedar is under new ownership as Corey Flaska purchased the building from previous proprietor Bill Kasben for $150,000 last week.
“It’s a historically identified building for us locals,” Flaska, who owns and operates Leelanau Construction, said. “What I would like to do is preserve the integrity of the building.”
A fire in the beginning of March, 1926 had Cedar residents in shock as they watched flames burn out the building.
The fire originated somewhere near the furnace, destroying the two-story brick building which housed the State Bank of Cedar and the general store of Sbonek and Skeba at 5:30 in the morning. The loss was estimated at $50,000, according to historical notes from “Remembering Solon,” a collection compiled by the late Carol Drzewiecki.
When the fire was discovered, residents from all around drove to assist in fighting the fire, but they were helpless because of lack of water and fierce flames.
The electric pumps which furnished the closest water supply were out of order, so crowds were forced to stand idly by and watch the building burn.
The building was a two-story tile structure with the store and the bank on the ground floor and an excellent dance hall on the second. This was once recognized as one of the best buildings in Leelanau County at the time. This was undoubtedly a loss.
Flaska is in the “research and development” stages on what to do with the building that has plenty of limitations.
After the fire claimed the building, it was rebuilt with only one floor and remains today.
Flaska said he would like to add a second story to the building once again and modernize it.
“(The building) has a lot of challenges,” he said. “One thing the public needs to know is Cedar does not have water and sewer. People hope this building can be something extravagant. It’s very unlikely because there’s nowhere to flush the toilet.”
Flaska said the use of the building could best serve as a small office or retail building with a small amount of employees.
Flaska and Kasben came to a deal and both will be hands-on in renovating the building that is expected to take “several years.”
“We want to clean up the exterior of the building. It’s been great working with (Kasben) to make this deal happen and get the bank back to its old glory,” Flaskfa said.
Cedar does not have a sewer, and has very limited space to expand anything that would require a septic field of any size.
