Hot spot

Barrett Pavillion booked throughout summer

By Amie Steffen | The Daily Journal

Published Monday, February 26, 2007

In the winter, the Barrett Lakeside Pavillion hibernates like a great, cavernous icebox. Closed from November through April, it sits on the edge of frozen Barrett Lake unheated, so cold inside the building you could keep meat fresh.

But Tony Ray’s breath steams as he talks of summertime inside this place, how it gets so hot when the place is packed with a wedding reception or a great band, and how one of the first things the city’s going to do to this place is install an air conditioner because the lake-facing windows don’t bring in enough cool air.

“It’s booked almost every weekend during the summertime,” Ray said.

And just like that, it feels a little bit warmer inside the Pavillion.

Maybe it’s the way Ray talks about the temperature this building can reach. But more likely it’s his obvious passion for the place, what’s been called one of the last great lakeside ballrooms.

Built in 1929, the Pavillion is truly historic with modern conveniences. A large dance floor faces a stage capable of handling musical entertainment with full electric hookups. A kitchen and bar area, recently built, add to the appeal for those looking to host their reception there. Plenty of tables, chairs and booths line the sides of the dance floor, while outside a picnic and gazebo area face the fishing pier and the lake.

As a little boy, Ray would come to the Pavillion with his parents, who sold concessions at parties and during the popular teen dances.

He would listen to the bands and soak up the atmosphere until some unlucky teenager was roped into taking him home and putting him to bed. Eight hundred people would pack into the Pavillion in its heydays.

Those were the years that kept with Ray, fostering a love of music that spurred him on to become a drummer when he was a teenager.

But that all changed in the late 1970s, when bands stopped coming to the Pavillion. And, for almost 30 years, the Pavillion occupied itself with rented events, mainly wedding receptions, booked at $200 a pop.

It’s the way many other once-great ballrooms fade into reception-hall obscurity. And like many other Barrett residents, Ray — now a member of the city council — wanted to halt the downward spiral and get the Pavillion hopping again. But he wasn’t sure how.

“For a lot of years, I just thought there should be bands here again,” he said.

Then, in 2005, the unbelievable happened — The Unbelievable Uglies, that is. The popular band from Detroit Lakes was doing a reunion tour and contacted Ray’s brother, a music buff, to see if they could book the Pavillion. He contacted Ray, and Ray contacted their agent. More than 500 people showed up to hear them play, and it sealed the deal for Ray.

“It kind of convinced me maybe it would work,” he said. “Maybe the time was right.”

Armed with his ambition and the blessing of the Barrett council, Ray began Good Clean Fun Productions in 2006 and started booking acts. Five bands played that summer, and Ray even held a very successful Battle of the Bands.

Some shows brought in more people than he thought, some brought less. Ray also found he might draw people from as far as Battle Lake and Fergus Falls, but none from neighboring Ashby.

But, he contends, it’s only his first year marketing and advertising. He may have quite the learning curve, but he’s already booking more bands for this summer.

“I’m doing something I’ve always wanted to do,” Ray said. “I want to see this building used.”

And after nearly 80 years, the Pavillion is not only getting used, it’s getting a complete facelift. New shingles, a kitchen and bar area, new tabletops and paneling and new windows have all been completed in the last five years, thanks to the city’s ambitious renovation project brought on by the Pavillion committee. A cooling system could be installed as early as this spring.

Standing in the 20-degree Pavillion, one can only imagine how hot it will get. Ray’s already thinking about how he can make it a year-round place.

“It would cost a lot of money to heat it,” he said. “But I would love it.”