Gasoline Alley demolished 17 years after closing

On Monday, Jan. 29, the building and last remnants of the amusement center were demolished by Bollig & Sons, Inc., of Hopkins.

The land will not be marketed and the adjacent 500-unit Blaine International Village mobile home park will remain untouched, according to Bloom family members who own the nearly 40-acre property on the west side of Highway 65 at 10454 Central Ave. NE.

“There are no plans for the property,” said Cathy Bloom, a majority owner of Blaine International Village, LLC.

Matt Bloom, Cathy’s son, said the city did not force the demolition.

“The city of Blaine has been good at leaving us alone on it,” Matt Bloom said.

Matt Bloom also emphasized that the mobile home park is here to stay.

“We have no interest in selling it or anything like that,” he said. “We take pride in the community we created here.”

Bryan Schafer, Blaine’s planning and community development director, said the Blaine City Council had talked about the vacant Gasoline Alley some years ago.

“The city has been in discussions with Matt Bloom for several years but not to the point of ordering the removals,” Schafer said. “The City Council direction was to provide assistance if needed, but it was clear that Mr. Bloom had a timetable that the City Council was comfortable with.”

The Bloom family has owned this property for many years. Cathy Bloom does not know exactly how long the mobile home park has been in place, but said it was many years before she and her husband Marvin Bloom opened Gasoline Alley in 1984.

The go-kart track, bumper boats and miniature golf were the first amenities when the business opened. The building that included a concession stand was later expanded to add an indoor game room.

Cathy Bloom said the family chose to close the business in 2001 for personal reasons.

Marvin Bloom died in 2009 but the mobile home park and closed Gasoline Alley remained in the family. Cathy Bloom said the family never seriously considered selling Gasoline Alley to anyone else so that the business could re-open.

Bollig & Sons received a license from the city of Blaine in November 2016 to demolish Gasoline Alley over two phases.

The first phase was to remove the go-kart track, bumper boats and miniature golf course, and that happened quickly after the city license was received.

The second phase to remove the building was scheduled to happen soon after, but it was delayed for a year. Cathy Bloom said the family hired an auction company to sell the remaining go karts, bumper boats and other equipment and it just took time to get everything sold.

eric.hagen@ecm-inc.com