Lang
8/3/23
Multiple sources have told KCJJ that one of Eastern Iowa’s most popular restaurants is closing its doors against its owners’ wishes.
Staff and management at Iowa River Power on Hayden Fry Way say the property’s owners have declined to extend the restaurant’s lease. Owner Danise Petsel told KCJJ that the restaurant was served with legal papers indicating the business must be out of its current location by January 7th. Iowa River Power’s final day is now set for November 26th.
Petsel and IRP employees have told KCJJ that the original lease was scheduled to end last year, but both sides signed a five-year extension to the original October 2022 end date after the flood of 2008. Property owner Randy Ward told KCRG television the lease extension was never signed. He claims he instead extended the lease on a month-to-month basis.
Ward also told the television station he plans to eventually reopen the restaurant after extensive remodelling. That comment caught the ire of one IRP employee who told KCJJ that Ward regularly ignored requests to fix what he called “countless” issues with the building over the last two decades. The employee says he was outraged that Ward plans to reopen the restaurant after kicking Petsel out instead of offering to buy it from her, claiming the rent was based on the restaurant’s sales and that Ward has already more than doubled his investment based on her work.
Petsel says she plans to retire once all of the legal issues are settled.